Bogentrakt Hostel Maximizes revenue with Cloudbeds' Split Inventory feature

OPERATIONS

Bogentrakt Hostel in Chur, Switzerland, was known as the “toughest prison in Switzerland” before it was transformed into its current concept: “a place of freedom, creativity, social exchange and above all a place where travelers meet locals and experience a stay in a lively neighborhood.”

Why it matters: The hostel welcomes people of all ages, offering micro rooms, family rooms, backpacker rooms, and a dormitory exclusively for female travelers. The Laundrette, located in the former prison’s laundry room, is a hybrid room that can be booked for a solo traveler or for up to six people.

Marco Leibundgut, Co-owner and Host at the Bogentrakt Hostel, says, “we spent three years rebuilding and renovating — we did all of the interior work ourselves, including the interior design, which was quite a challenge with the small prison cells. We like to say that we brought freedom back into this former prison.”

Top 3 Core Objectives: When considering a solution to run Bogentrakt, Co-owner and Host, Marco Leibundgut, knew he wanted software that would be flexible to match the needs of the hostel and also easy for his staff to learn.

Hostel-friendly software: Marco wanted a solution that would work well with hostels specifically, and all the specialized needs hostels have when it comes to selling beds in a dorm and having flexible inventory.
Easy to train on: It was important to Marco that all staff members at Bogentrakt, from the front desk agent to the housekeeper, could quickly learn how to use their PMS software.
All-in-one solution: Marco had experience with logging into multiple systems in the past, and he wanted to make sure he adopted an integrated solution at Bogentrakt to save time and run more efficiently.

Innovators Mentioned

Cloudbeds

Marco Leibundgut

Co-owner & Host at Bogentrakt

Bogentrakt Hostel

"Cloudbeds has a lot of really good functions for hostels - it has shared inventory where I can sell dorm beds but also sell that room as a private room at the same time."

Marco Leibundgut

Co-owner & Host at Bogentrakt

👍 Co-owner & Host at Bogentrakt Marco Leibundgut said that Cloudbeds has great functions for hostels:

"Cloudbeds has a lot of really good functions for hostels - it has shared inventory where I can sell dorm beds but also sell that room as a private room at the same time."

⚖️ The selection process: During their research process, Marco Leibundgut evaluated Cloudbeds's product differentiators, customer support, and holistic value as a strategic partner and ultimately decided that Cloudbeds was the best fit solution:

Co-owner & Host at Bogentrakt Marco Leibundgut said, about their decision: "It's easy to use because it offers an all-in-one solution. I don't have to check five different systems because Cloudbeds is my booking engine, website, channel manager, PMS, and revenue management tool."

📈 The results: Having used Cloudbeds at another hostel in the past, Marco was confident that it was the right software partner for Bogentrakt. With Cloudbeds he's been able to train his staff within three days and maximize revenue by selling his room inventory in flexible ways.

Marco took a unique approach to training his staff. All staff members are compensated equally and have each been trained to check in guests, the housekeeper included. Their training was completed within three days.
Bogentrakt makes excellent use of Cloudbeds' Shared Inventory feature which makes it easy to sell the same space as either a bed in a dorm or a private room.
The days of logging into five different solutions are long gone for Marco and the team at Bogentrakt now that they've implemented Cloudbeds' integrated software solution.