Independent city hotel · Brussels

Upsell revenue up 22%, without a word at the desk

A 90-room independent hotel in central Brussels was selling breakfast and late checkout the only way it could: at reception, if somebody remembered. Moving those offers onto WhatsApp, timed to the moment guests were most likely to say yes, lifted upsell revenue 22% in a quarter. The review score followed.

Rooms
90
Location
Brussels, Belgium
Live since
2024
City hotel, Brussels
The result+22%More upsell revenue
+22%
More upsell revenue
8.18.9
Review score
91%
Issues resolved before checkout
+38%
More positive reviews

A hotel that was leaving money on the desk

Ninety rooms two minutes from the Grand-Place, and a front desk that never stops. Breakfast, late checkout and the occasional walking tour were all on the price list. Whether a guest ever heard about them depended on who was on shift and how long the queue was.

The team knew it. They had tried a printed card in the room and a line in the confirmation email. Neither survived contact with a guest arriving at eleven at night after a delayed train.

The reviews had the same problem in reverse. Nobody mentioned the shower that ran cold until they were home and typing.

City hotel, Brussels

The same day, before and after

One ordinary Thursday at a 90-room city hotel.

  1. 07:30

    Before

    Breakfast is half empty. Nobody told the guests who checked in late that it runs until half past ten.

    Now

    Everyone who checked in after ten at night gets a message at seven: breakfast is on until half ten, add it to the room. Some of them say yes before getting out of bed.

  2. 11:15

    Before

    A guest asks about late checkout at the desk. The receptionist says she'll check, gets pulled onto a phone call, and forgets.

    Now

    The offer goes out on its own to every departure with an empty room behind them. Nobody has to remember.

  3. 16:40

    Before

    A shower on the second floor has run cold since Tuesday. Nobody knows.

    Now

    The mid-stay check-in asks how things are going. The guest says. Maintenance is in the room before dinner.

  4. 21:00

    Before

    A guest writes a six out of ten from the airport, about a cold shower nobody fixed.

    Now

    The same guest gets a review request the morning after checkout, and writes about the maintenance guy who turned up in ten minutes.

What they switched on

Upselling and review collection first, because that was where the money was sitting. The inbox came with them.

The traveller journey, from discovery through to post-stay
  1. Discovery
  2. Booking
  3. Pre-arrival (this part)
  4. In-stay (this part)
  5. Post-stay (this part)

Connected to

The numbers, in full

  • +22%

    More upsell revenue

    Breakfast, late checkout and city experiences, all sold through WhatsApp at the moment a guest is most likely to want them. Commission-free, straight onto the room.

  • 8.18.9

    Review score

    Their public score on the platform most of their guests book through, one quarter to the next.

  • 91%

    Issues resolved before checkout

    Problems the mid-stay check-in surfaced that the team fixed while the guest was still in the building - a cold shower on Tuesday instead of a two-star on Friday.

  • +38%

    More positive reviews

    Guests who had a good stay now get asked to say so on the morning after checkout, when they still mean it.

Our upsell revenue jumped 22% in the first quarter. But the real win is catching an unhappy guest while they're still in the building.
Revenue ManagerIndependent city hotel · Brussels

Sounds like your hotel?

  • 40 to 150 rooms, independent, with nobody working on upsells full time
  • Breakfast, late checkout or experiences that only sell when someone remembers to mention them
  • A review score that moves for reasons you find out about too late to fix
  • A PMS you intend to keep - AskWhisper connects to it rather than replacing it

Want a story like this one?
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A 90-room independent hotel in central Brussels was selling breakfast and late checkout the only way it could: at reception, if somebody remembered. Moving those offers onto WhatsApp, timed to the moment guests were most likely to say yes, lifted upsell revenue 22% in a quarter. The review score followed.