HOW WE THINK ABOUT TECH

Unlike most managers in our space, we don’t use much technology in our day-to-day property operations. Our systems are built differently.

Most of the solutions we’ve encountered create extra steps, remove flexibility and individuality, and offer zero value-add — i.e. bottleneck.

It’s not that we treat things like restocking toilet paper or soap, or the occasional replacement of sheets, towels, or dinnerware like rounding errors. But most day-to-day decisions at the asset level simply do not require a top down approach when you have the right people and systems in place.

If something serious pops up where we should be part of the decision making process, like a large reorder or a broken lamp, there needs to be proper protocols for direct communication and approvals, not a note or flag in some task tracking system.

If an emergency pops up, like an important appliance shutting down or a hole in a wall, we treat it as such. The problem gets fixed above all else in the home.

And if there’s a wish list of simple property improvements, it goes into a simple task manager for asset management to track progress. Larger improvements go to design.

Ultimately, anything added, restocked, replaced or repaired is documented with receipts, and always available for our owners to access without robust software.

We use property design software

This is a must, for creating and visualizing plans, layouts, and 3D designs. We use it for bigger remodels and even simpler things, like picking the perfect table size for a space.

We’re also playing around with artificial intelligence tools (stuff that’s already available) for basic or concept mock-up renderings and some photography post-production for the finished product, but not for anything related to the actual real design process yet.

We do not use smart pricing tools

We do all of our market research, data collection, regression analysis, and active yield management in-house (you can read more on this here).

It might be controversial take, but the luxury segment of the industry is actually quite micro, and often, there isn’t enough actionable data for an algorithm to provide an accurate estimate.

In our world, smart pricing tools oversimplify the nature of the luxury segment, and ignore key factors in consumer preferences or how they might evolve.

The luxury segment and its markets aren’t static, they’re dynamic and often redefined by the players within them, driven by innovation.

And while all the data may be pointing towards increasing ADR and adding more inclusions (daily housekeeping, private chefs, butlers, excursion planning with a concierge, etc…) in order to compete, sometimes going the opposite way just might be what it takes to take a $3M property from $175k per year to over $700,000+.

However, we do use some A.I. enabled tech (not our own) to help visualize certain market metrics that we monitor, and to help with some prediction modelling, but this is used more for broader market research.

We don’t use chat bots with guest

We’re staying away from replacing real human interaction for the time being. I believe people go on a luxury vacation to experience deeper human interaction, and at least a base level of personal hospitality, no matter how turnkey a property might be. I think basics about a property and its amenities can be communicated in better ways, and removing the human aspect altogether deteriorates value - at least for now.

We use some smart tech in our homes

But we don’t go crazy. Just the basic stuff that’s been around long enough for most people to know it or understand it easily.

And the last thing people want to do right now is have to download yet another app, or read an instructions manual on how to use the beds or lights, or whatever, when all you want is to relax.

In general

We aren’t managing massive supply chains like hotels do.

Although we produce much higher occupancy rates compared to the averages in our segment, our average length of stay hovers around 5 nights, so there are rarely more than 6 turns/stays to coordinate at any given property in a whole month.

And it’s not as if homerun deals are falling out the sky, so we don’t have 20+ multi-million dollar projects going on at the same time.

We are a boutique firm and tech in the “buzz” sense of the word isn’t really a thing in our business.

Instead, we focus on creating proper systems that help run property operations efficiently and profitably. So we only implement tech that helps enable that, and we ignore the rest.