Airyield takes that job off your hands. We price your rooms every day, check your motel against its market every morning, and show every rate change and the reason for it on a live dashboard. You keep your own accounts and your own data. Fees are published, and there is no lock-in contract.
What motel revenue management involves
Motel revenue management means selling each room type at the right rate, through the right channel, for the right length of stay. For a 20-room motel, that means three things:
- Setting rates by room type and date, often 12 months ahead
- Deciding when to open or close minimum stays
- Watching how fast each date is filling compared with the same time last year and with your competitors
The goal is not to be full every night or to charge the most. The goal is the most room revenue after commissions, across the whole year.
Large hotels have revenue managers for this. Most motels have an owner-operator doing it between check-ins, cleaning and the evening arrivals. That is where revenue slips: rates left flat for months, long weekends priced like ordinary weekends, and quiet midweek dates discounted too early.
Why motels need a different approach to hotels
Online travel agents drive most bookings
Many Australian motels take most of their online bookings through Booking.com, Expedia and Wotif (part of Expedia Group). Commission depends on your agreement with each OTA, and it rises once promotions and visibility programs are added, so check your own contracts for the rates you pay. A booking on an OTA is worth less to you than a direct booking at the same rate. We look at what each booking is worth after commission, not just the headline rate.
Drive-in, trades and corporate midweek, leisure on weekends
A typical regional or highway motel has two businesses in one. Midweek it sells to tradespeople, contractors, sales reps and corporate travelers, often booking late and staying several nights. On weekends and holidays it sells to families and couples on road trips. These guests book at different times and respond to price in different ways. One flat rate for the whole week leaves money on the table on both sides.
Events and school holidays move demand sharply
A country show, a football final, a race day, a concert or a school holiday period can fill every motel in town. The following week can be half-empty. In coastal towns, the difference between January and a wet week in July can be several times the rate. Pricing those dates well, months in advance, is where most of the upside sits. We keep an events and school-holiday calendar for each market and price into it early.
Room types need their own rates
Queens, twins, family rooms, executive rooms and a spa suite all sell differently. If the gaps between them are wrong, the cheaper rooms sell out first and the better rooms sit empty, or the reverse. We price each room type on its own demand and keep sensible gaps between them.
Seasonality in regional and coastal towns
Regional and coastal motels often earn most of their profit in a few peak periods. Shoulder seasons decide whether the year is good or average. We use booking pace (how fast future dates fill) to decide when to hold rates and when to move them, instead of discounting just because a date looks quiet.
Pricing levers we manage for motels
Daily rates by room type
We run daily rate management in PriceLabs, connected to your channel manager or PMS. That covers base and minimum rates, day-of-week patterns, last-minute and far-out adjustments, and event pricing. PriceLabs connects to 150+ PMS platforms and channel managers, including systems motels use. Tell us what you use and we will confirm how we connect before you sign anything. PriceLabs is our default; if your motel already runs another tool, we also work in RoomPriceGenie, Pace (FLYR Hospitality), Beyond, Wheelhouse, AirDNA (Adapt), DPGO and Rented (ART).
Length-of-stay restrictions
Minimum stays protect peak dates, but set too rigidly they create gap nights that never sell. We set minimum stays by season, day of week and event, and relax them as the date gets closer if the gaps are not filling.
OTA programs: Genius, visibility boosts and mobile rates
Booking.com’s Genius program asks for at least a 10% guest discount. Preferred Partner status and date-specific commission boosts raise the commission you pay, and the higher rate can apply to bookings you already had for those dates. Mobile-only and member rates are further discounts. These programs can be worth it, but they compound. We model what each program costs you on your actual bookings before recommending it, and we review the results monthly.
Channel mix and direct bookings
Every direct booking you win back saves the commission. We track your direct share and suggest where a phone, walk-in or loyalty rate could do more, within your OTA contracts.
Rate parity in Australia
OTA contracts can limit how you price elsewhere. In Australia, the ACCC reached agreements with Booking.com and Expedia in 2016 that let accommodation providers offer lower rates by phone, to walk-ins and to loyalty members. Terms differ by OTA and change over time, so check your current agreements. We price within your contracts. Outside Australia, the rules differ again.
How Airyield works with your motel
- Set up. We connect PriceLabs to your channel manager or PMS. Then we map room types, build your comp set of nearby motels and hotels, and load your events and school holidays. Your accounts stay in your name.
- Morning check. Our software checks your motel every morning against its market on RevPAR index, ADR index, MPI (market penetration) and booking pace. If a long weekend six weeks out is filling slower than the market, we see it in time to act. More on the core measure: RevPAR and RevPAR index.
- A revenue manager approves changes. Every flagged change is reviewed and approved by a person before it goes live, and the reason is logged.
- Weekly call. We talk through the weeks ahead: events, pace, any rate moves and anything you know about your town that the data does not.
- Live dashboard. You can see every rate change and why it was made on your dashboard. That is useful if you report to an owner, a lessor or a bank.
Built by an operator that prices motel rooms itself
Airyield was built by an Australian operator managing around 200 listings, including motels. We built our morning checks and dashboard for our own properties first. So we know what a wet Tuesday in July and a sold-out long weekend look like from behind the desk. See how we measure results on our results page.
Who this suits
- Independent and franchised motels, whatever the room count
- Owner-operators who currently set rates themselves, usually at night
- Motels with high OTA dependence that want a better net rate
- Motel investors and lessees who want clear reporting on pricing decisions
- Operators with a mix of motel rooms and short-term rentals
It may not suit you if you want software only and are happy to run it yourself. A motel-focused RMS such as RoomPriceGenie may be the better fit there. See RoomPriceGenie vs PriceLabs.
What it costs
We charge 1.5% of room revenue, with no monthly minimum and no setup fee. Pricing is published on our pricing page, and there is no lock-in contract: you can leave with 30 days’ notice. The PriceLabs subscription is paid by you directly, so you keep the account if you leave.
Frequently asked questions
What is motel revenue management?
It is the daily work of setting room rates, minimum stays and channel strategy so a motel earns the most room revenue after commissions. It covers pricing by room type and date, tracking booking pace and comparing performance with competing properties.
How is a motel different from a hotel for pricing?
Motels usually depend more on OTAs, have a stronger split between midweek trade and corporate guests and weekend leisure guests, and feel local events and school holidays more sharply. Room counts are smaller, so each unsold room matters more. For larger properties, see hotel revenue management.
Do you work with our channel manager or PMS?
Most likely. PriceLabs connects to 150+ PMS platforms and channel managers. Tell us what you use and we will confirm before you sign anything.
Will you take over our Booking.com and Expedia extranets?
No. Your OTA accounts and contracts stay with you. We manage rates and restrictions through PriceLabs and your channel manager.
Can we still set rates for regulars, groups and corporate accounts?
Yes. Negotiated, corporate and group rates stay with you. We manage the public rates around them.
How do I increase my motel’s occupancy without cutting rates?
Start with minimum-stay rules that block gap nights, rates by room type, and pricing that reacts to how fast dates are filling. Also review which OTA programs are actually adding bookings. Discounting across the board usually lowers revenue, because guests who would have paid more get the lower price too.
Should we join Booking.com Genius or Preferred Partner?
It depends on your bookings. Genius requires a guest discount of at least 10%. Preferred Partner and visibility boosts raise your commission, sometimes on bookings you already had. We model the cost on your own numbers before recommending either.
Can we offer lower rates on our own website than on Booking.com?
It depends on your current OTA agreements. Since 2016, Australian providers have been able to offer lower rates by phone, to walk-ins and to loyalty members. Website terms have differed between OTAs. Check your contract or ask us to review it with you.
Is there a contract?
No lock-in. You can cancel any time with 30 days’ notice.
Do you work with motels outside Australia?
Yes. We work in any market your pricing tool has data for. Airyield itself is based in Australia.
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