LUGGit Partner Interviews - TimeCooler

TimeCooler

The short-term rental accommodation market has its specifics. Flexibility, price, and proximity to contact with guests are factors that, when well-handled, significantly increase the quality of the tourist experience.

In 2017, while managing a small local accommodation, I realized the constant requests from my guests to store luggage before check-in or after check-out. At that moment, it was clear that if that small-scale problem prevented me from providing excellent service to my guests, many more managers of outstanding local accommodations would undoubtedly feel the same.

And that's why, in 2019, when LUGGit was launched, we focused on looking for local accommodation managers who were concerned about the customer experience. People who put the way guests feel throughout the entire journey from the moment of arrival to departure in 1st place.

One of our first and most active partners is TimeCooler, who has been with us since the beginning (July 2019) and whom we want to introduce today

TimeCooler is a company founded in 2017 that currently has seven employees, and its main activity is the management of 40 local accommodations in Lisbon.

With us, we have its founders, Elsa Luís and Rui Sousa, who will be able to give us some clues about the sector and their specific activity.

LUGGit: Hello Elsa! Hello Rui! Let me start by asking you how you and your families are doing in these times of pandemic.

TimeCooler: Hello! We are fine at the moment. Fortunately, none of us, nor anyone on our team, has had the experience of contracting COVID-19.

L: I'm glad to hear it. Tell us a little about your story. How did you get into local accommodation and why TimeCooler?

TC: We started in local accommodation in 2014. The first apartment was just an experience we did to have a joint project. Our base is information technology. Elsa was still working full-time in this sector, and I (Rui), had already changed my professional career and was busy with my event company. The decision was made without great expectations and at the end of the holidays. In September, we had our first apartment. We enjoyed the experience, since, at that time, we had very close contact with each guest we accommodated. We always picked them up at the airport in our private cars, which allowed us to be very close and have a pleasant exchange of experiences in each reservation.

L: If you could identify a significant change in your daily management since you started, what would it be?

TC: From the sixth apartment, we had to hire an employee to help us with daily tasks, such as communication with guests, registrations, quality controls, and maintenance. Perhaps that has been the most significant change. It stopped being almost a hobby to become a more serious business, which we began to consider more professionally.

L: Is today's guest different from the one before the pandemic? If so, why?

TC: The most significant difference is the advance booking. Today, we quickly have 100% bookings, 80% the next day, and 50% three or four days in advance.

We have always had very flexible cancellation policies, so we don't notice much difference in this particular aspect.

We also began to notice the demand for longer-term reservations from remote workers, who prefer quiet neighborhoods to lively ones, more comfort and equipment in the units, and a lot of attention to the speed and stability of telecommunications.

L: What tools do you use to help you manage? And why?

TC: As we said, our base is information technology, so our system was developed to measure, which allows us great flexibility and agility in processes, very agile change management, and the extraction of very personalized indicators.

For technical reasons, we use a channel manager that allows us to quickly communicate with the different distribution channels.

L: LUGGit is a tool whose main objective is to help local accommodation managers in the daily management of the moments before check-in and after check-out. Can you tell us how we have contributed to this?

TC: The family nature of TimeCooler, which we try to maintain despite the growth, has sometimes led us to delicate situations when trying to make check-ins and check-outs flexible. We see each of our guests as friends who are staying in our home and logistical problems are often created with cleaning, maintenance, and even last-minute reservations.

LUGGit is a partner that came to give us excellent help in this aspect of the business, allowing us to suggest its service with the comfort of giving a very valid suggestion and at the same time facilitating our logistical processes and also increasing the quality of the guest experience.

L: How do you see the future of local accommodation?

TC: Local accommodation is increasingly a valid and differentiated alternative to conventional hotels. It allows a much more personalized and convincing experience of local customs. In addition, it offers an easy dispersion in the territory, opening new tourist places where, until then, the establishment of conventional hotels was not justified.

In our case, as a large family with four children, we always prefer local accommodation, either for the simple reason of being able to spend time together during the holidays or because, as traditional Latins, we really like to cook and enjoy family meals, something that, unfortunately, daily life robs us of availability.

With the increase in quality and professionalism that has been observed in this area, I believe that it will continue to be assumed as an increasingly vital element, both in the tourist and business spheres.

L: Thank you very much!