We set and maintain your room rates every day, check your performance against the market every morning, and explain every change on a live dashboard. Fees are published, and you sign no lock-in contract.
What hotel revenue management is
Hotel revenue management means selling the right room, at the right rate, through the right channel, at the right time. In practice that means setting rates by room type and date, managing length-of-stay restrictions, watching how far ahead guests book, and deciding when to hold rates and when to move them. The aim is not the highest occupancy or the highest rate on its own. The aim is the most revenue per available room after distribution costs.
Large hotels have revenue teams and enterprise systems for this. A 12-room boutique hotel usually has an owner or manager doing it between check-ins, which is where most of the missed revenue comes from.
How independent hotels differ from chains
Room types, not single listings
A short-term rental is one unit. A boutique hotel might have standard doubles, deluxe rooms and a suite, each with different demand. Pricing has to move each room type on its own while keeping a sensible gap between them, so the cheaper rooms do not sell out while the suites sit empty.
Channel mix and commission
Most independent properties depend on Booking.com and Expedia. Commission varies by property and agreement, so check your own contracts for the rates you pay. A booking through an OTA and a direct booking at the same rate are worth different amounts to you. We look at net revenue, not just the headline rate.
Rate parity
OTA contracts often limit how you price on your own website compared with their sites. The rules differ by country and by agreement. In Australia, for example, the OTAs’ parity terms were narrowed in 2016, and hotels can offer lower rates by phone, to walk-ins and to loyalty members. Terms change over time, so check your current agreements. We price within your contracts and point out where your direct channel could do more.
Local demand, short notice
Small hotels feel events, school holidays and weather sharply. A boutique hotel can fill for a festival or conference weekend and sit half-empty the next week. Daily attention matters more than a rate plan reviewed once a quarter.
Software, consultant or managed service
Independent hotels usually choose between three options.
Revenue management software on its own (RMS). Tools such as PriceLabs for hotels (check PriceLabs’ plans page for current hotel pricing), RoomPriceGenie, Atomize, Duetto and IDeaS recommend or push rates automatically. Software is affordable, but someone still has to set it up, choose the comp set, set floors and rules, and check its output. Without that, an RMS follows the market down as readily as up.
A revenue management consultant. A consultant reviews your strategy, sets up systems and trains staff, usually on a project or a capped number of hours. This suits properties with someone in-house who can do the daily work. See revenue management consultant.
A managed revenue management service. Someone does the daily work for you. This is what Airyield does.
How Airyield manages revenue for independent hotels
Daily rate management in PriceLabs
We set up and run PriceLabs for your property, connected to your PMS or channel manager. We set room-type groups, base and minimum rates, day-of-week patterns, lead-time adjustments, minimum stays and event pricing, then maintain them daily. PriceLabs is our default; if you already use another tool, we also work in Beyond, Wheelhouse, AirDNA (Adapt), DPGO, RoomPriceGenie, Rented (ART) and Pace (FLYR Hospitality). More on how we work inside the tool: PriceLabs management.
A morning check against the market
Our software checks your property every morning against its comp set on RevPAR index, ADR index, MPI, booking pace and booking window. If you are falling behind for a weekend three weeks out, we see it in time to act. More on the core measure: RevPAR and RevPAR index.
A revenue manager makes the decisions
Every flagged change is reviewed and approved by a revenue manager before it goes live, and the reason is recorded.
Weekly call and monthly review
A weekly call covers the weeks ahead: events, pace and any rate moves. The monthly review covers performance against the market and channel mix.
A dashboard you and your owners can see
Every rate change is logged with its reason on your live dashboard. If you report to an owner or investor, you can show them exactly what was done and why.
Built by an operator, not a software company
Airyield was built by an Australian operator managing around 200 listings, including motels. We price rooms ourselves, so we know what a quiet Tuesday in July and a sold-out long weekend look like from the front desk.
Who this suits
- Independent and boutique hotels, guesthouses and serviced apartments, whatever the room count
- Properties without a dedicated revenue manager
- Owners who manage the property themselves and want the pricing off their plate
- Operators with a mix of hotel rooms and short-term rentals (see also property managers)
Run a motel? See motel revenue management.
What it costs
We charge 1.5% of room revenue, with no monthly minimum and no setup fee. Pricing is published, with no lock-in contract. For context, a full-time hotel revenue manager in the US earns around $53,000 base on average (PayScale), before benefits. Outsourced help for a small independent hotel is often a fraction of that. See pricing and the cost of a revenue manager.
Frequently asked questions
Do you work with our PMS or channel manager?
PriceLabs connects to 150+ PMS platforms and channel managers. Tell us what you use and we will confirm how we connect before you sign.
Will you take over our OTA extranets?
We manage rates and restrictions through PriceLabs and your channel manager. Your OTA accounts and contracts stay with you.
Can we still set our own rates for groups or regulars?
Yes. Group, corporate and negotiated rates stay with you. We manage public rates around them.
How is this different from an RMS like RoomPriceGenie or Atomize?
An RMS is software. We are people using software. We set it up, watch it every day and take responsibility for the results.
What size property do you work with?
Independent and boutique hotels, guesthouses and serviced apartments, of any room count.
Do you work outside Australia?
Yes. We work in any market your pricing tool has data for. Airyield itself is based in Australia.
Is there a contract?
No lock-in. You can cancel any time with 30 days’ notice.
PriceLabs and the other products and companies named on this page are trademarks of their respective owners. Airyield is an independent company and is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by any of them.