What Makes Cloudbeds a Top PMS for Hostels
Although Cloudbeds began as a platform to serve hoteliers, the popular property management system (PMS) has become one of the top choices for hostel owners around the globe. Its platform caters specifically to hostel owners with its ease of use, its wide collection of data that comes from bookings, payments, guest information, and reservations, and its ability to split inventory at hostels, among other features.
Stephan Leuenberger, who has worked at Cloudbeds for more than a decade and is currently the Head of Market Development, spoke about the many ways that Cloudbeds stands out as a premier PMS for hostel owners.
“The intuitiveness (of Cloudbeds) is something that hostels really love because of the high turnover they have with their staff,” said Leuenberger. “Within a couple of days, when you sit with it, even if you’re not a hospitality expert, in a few days, a week, you’re able to learn many things, and it’s very easy to learn by yourself.”
Part of what makes the platform so accessible, and its many features and programs learnable, is its Cloudbeds University feature, which is a database of onboarding and informational videos that help educate users on using the software.
With everything from podcasts and webinars to articles and videos, Cloudbeds University offers its users a wide range of informational material on how to get the most out of the platform. That includes articles about how to implement the best practices hostel owners and staff can take for things like reducing the amount of time it takes to check in guests or creating more efficient housekeeping practices.
Leuenberger also added that, for as much as Cloudbeds offers hostel owners from an informational standpoint, he notices that not all hostel owners take advantage of the full range of features and in-depth data that the platform can offer. For example, with Cloudbeds, hostel owners are able to pull data on the guest travel experience, which helps identify the guests’ needs, the different prices that guests book at, and also demographics such as which country the guests are from and what their age ranges are.
“That sort of information is super valuable for hostels to create campaigns and build promotions,” said Leuenberger. “Not all hostel owners use that information, so we want to give them the tools that do that job for them, so that they don’t have to work too hard on that, and they can better take care of the guests.”
The Impact of AI
As trends in the way guests book and backpackers travel has change, so has the technology and data that performance management systems like Cloudbeds use. Specifically, AI and the innovations behind gathering and storing data have evolved significantly over the last several years, and the new technology has understandably caused some concern about employment and the labor force. However, Leuenberger noted that Cloudbeds deploys AI in a way to assist its users, not compete with them.
“We look at AI from two perspectives. One is more on the operational side, and the other is pricing and marketing,” explained Leuenberger. “From an operational standpoint, AI can unify all your reviews on one screen and give you suggestions on how to reply to them. From a marketing standpoint, AI has the capacity now to manage and give suggestions on pricing, not only based on data from last year but also on what’s happening in your area, or based on the weather, or if the hotel next door is boosting their prices.”
The AI wave continues to impact both travelers and hostel owners, but as Leuenberger emphasized, its power can be applied in a way to enhance the experience for hostel staff, allowing them to shine as entertainers and hosts instead of getting buried by the operational tasks required at a hostel. Additionally, the ability to run campaigns and tailor them specifically to certain markets is one of the main benefits of using AI, and its ability to capture copious amounts of information.
"It's not that AI is taking over. It's AI suggesting things, and then you can take action based on those suggestions," said Leuenberger. "Then it shows you the type of revenue you can achieve by doing all these things, so it sort of gives you already a forecast of how much revenue you can make by using and putting all those pieces together."
At the end of the day, the things that helped Cloudbeds build a loyal usership are still the things that it relies on today. As Leuenberger emphasized, that's the support that Cloudbeds offers its users. Since their staff have experience in hostels, whether that comes from formerly owning or working in hostels, the type of insight and understanding that they have on the industry is part of what makes the customer support so strong at Cloudbeds.
"Hostels are more out of the box and forward driven, so it's important that we can give them that kind of support," said Leuenberger
