This award-winning hostel duo increased direct bookings by 30% and decreased hours worth of manual work when they switched to Cloudbeds
Rodrigo (Rod) Medina and Kraig Cooper met at a hostel in Prague in 2008. At that time, they both helped run the hostel for the property owner. After gaining experience, the two friends started having ideas to improve the hostel. That’s when they decided to open their own hostel together. Inspired by their love of Prague’s bars, clubs, pubs, and party scene, the pair opened their own party hostel,The Madhouse Prague, in 2012. Their main goal was to run the hostel their way and focus on fostering genuine connections with guests.
Within two years of opening, The Madhouse Prague was named “Best Hostel in the Czech Republic” and “6th Best Small Hostel Worldwide” by Hostelworld. Following the success of Madhouse, Rod and Kraig opened The Roadhouse Prague in an effort to provide a smaller, more laid-back accommodation for travelers who wanted to socialize, but in a non-party environment.
Rod and Kraig pour their heart, soul, and personalities into their properties and promote a “be yourself” atmosphere that has resulted in loyal guests who often return once or twice a year. As Rod puts it, “We are unique because our place is genuine. It’s a representation of everyone’s personality who works here.”
Both The Madhouse and The Roadhouse properties lacked a channel manager which was causing a lot of manual work and mistakes in their system. Rod and Kraig started implementing myallocator because it was “simple, easy, and had all the channels we used.” Soon they realized the properties also needed a full Property Management System (PMS). “We looked around and researched, but Cloudbeds was the best for us due to its simplicity and user-friendliness,” says Rod.
Rod and Kraig have always been cautious of changing systems due to concerns about training their employees on a new system.. But getting up and running on Cloudbeds was easy. “As soon as you play with the trial and know how it works, everything is very easy to understand. The implementation coach gives all the info needed,” explains Rod. The easy implementation process and intuitive interface make Cloudbeds simple for new users to get acquainted with the platform so the learning curve is short.
Automating business processes usually means saving time, but in Rod and Kraig’s case it also equals running a paperless operation. When asked what part of their day-to-day operations Cloudbeds helped automate, Rod said “Everything. We can take bookings online, allocate bookings, and make sure bookings don’t fall through the cracks. This prevents double bookings, makes check in/out seamless, and automates emails– we went completely paperless!” Cloudbeds has certainly aided them in saving time and clearing the clutter.
The Cloudbeds booking engine is designed to make the booking process stress-free for both property owners and guests by providing a secure system and safeguarding against dreaded overbooking issues. Since switching to Cloudbeds, Madhouse and Roadhouse Prague have experienced a . Rod credits myallocator for this bump in bookings since it’s helped manage the properties’ availability and given them the possibility of having their own booking button.
With their genuine approach to hospitality and Cloudbeds supporting their management on all levels, The Madhouse Prague has been able to celebrate continuing success, including becoming an honored 2018 Hoscar winner in 2 categories: 5th Best Small Hostel Worldwide and Best Hostel in the Czech Republic. Cloudbeds looks forward to providing ongoing assistance in growing businesses with new and improved features added regularly.
Increased direct sales by 30% while also raising occupancy rate
Cloudbeds’ software automations reduced paperwork, manual input, and number of mistakes
Easy and intuitive interface with great customer service support during implementation phase
Learn more about Rodrigo, Kraig and the rest of the crew at themadhouseprague.com
