Increase your profitability
without adding complexity
to your organisation.

In most independent hotels I've audited, procurement is managed by instinct. You order when things run out, throw away when they expire, and have no clear idea of stock value at any given time.

This approach has a cost. Not a dramatic one — a silent one, eating away at your margin every week.

1. Untracked perishables. Without logged expiry dates and FIFO rotation, fresh products go in the bin. Over a month, the total can be significant.

2. Ghost stock. Products ordered but poorly received, stored in two different places, or "borrowed" with no traceability. Actual stock is lower than theoretical stock — and nobody knows.

3. Unoptimised purchasing. Without consolidated volume or supplier comparison, you often pay 10 to 20% more than necessary on standard references.

Three simple actions to regain control: a monthly valued inventory, a systematic purchase order with validation, and loss tracking by category. This isn't complexity — it's method.

I've been involved in several hotel openings — from Geneva to Paris, Toulouse to Switzerland. Different contexts, different budgets, different teams. But the same mistakes keep coming back with unsettling regularity.

It's not a competence problem. It's a method problem — and a timing problem.

1. Late recruitment. Onboarding teams 2 weeks before opening guarantees chaotic first weeks. A minimum of 6 to 8 weeks is needed to train and bed in the team.

2. Undocumented processes. Without SOPs written and validated before opening, every team member improvises. The result: an inconsistent guest experience from day one.

3. Unmonitored stock. In the early weeks, the temptation is to order generously. Without tracking, costs spiral and losses accumulate silently.

4. Insufficient pre-opening training. Theoretical training isn't enough. Teams need simulation, role-play and practice on difficult situations.

5. No KPIs in month one. If you don't measure from the start, you don't know what's working. Bad habits set in and become very hard to correct.

Several studies — including Cornell University and ReviewPro — have established a direct correlation between a hotel's average OTA score and its RevPAR. A one-point improvement (out of 10) is associated with a 10 to 15% revenue increase.

The mechanism is straightforward: a better score allows you to raise rates without losing volume, and improves ranking in OTA search results.

1. Standardise the guest journey. Inconsistency is the main enemy of your score. A guest can accept an imperfect hotel — not an unpredictable one.

2. Systematise review requests. The highest-rated hotels have a precise process for requesting reviews at the right moment.

3. Respond to all reviews. Positive and negative. Responses to negative reviews have a direct impact on future guests' perception.

4. Manage by indicator. Tracking the overall score isn't enough. Identify the weakest sub-scores and address them first.