How Novotel Geelong Achieved a 58% Online Check-in Rate and Increased Room Upsell Revenue by 200% with Duve

GUEST EXPERIENCE

Novotel Geelong, a 109-room Accor property in Australia, replaced a patchwork of separate tools for messaging, guest app, and upsells with Duve. The result: a 58% online check-in rate, 8 fewer reservation staffing hours per week, and upsell revenue up more than 200% with no third-party commission.

Why it matters: Most hotels run guest communication, digital check-in, and upselling on separate systems, each with its own cost, login, and blind spots. Novotel Geelong shows what happens when those touchpoints are consolidated into one platform connected to the PMS: lower costs, less front-office workload, and more revenue from the same guests.

Duve is a guest experience platform that connects online check-in, automated messaging (email, SMS, WhatsApp), pre-arrival upselling, and a guest app in one system. At Novotel Geelong it integrates with OHIP PMS and HubOS task management, so guest data, add-on purchases, and service requests flow straight into existing operations.

Top 3 Core Objectives: Leadership wanted to cut costs, ease the load on reception and reservations, and keep guests informed during an on-site construction project, while creating more consistent upsell opportunities.

Reduce manual check-in: Every check-in was handled manually at reception, and the reservations team fielded a heavy volume of pre-arrival calls, adding admin work and limiting efficiency.
Consolidate disconnected systems: Separate tools for messaging, the guest app, and upselling made it hard to control communication and optimize the guest journey.
Proactive guest communication: With construction underway on site, guests needed structured pre-arrival messaging so they would not arrive unaware of disruptions, leading to complaints and pressure on staff.

Innovators Mentioned

Novotel Geelong

Duve

Scott Bear

General Manager

Novotel Geelong

Todd Jones

IT Manager

Novotel Geelong

"Duve is a proven platform that allows you to not only reduce your expenses but improve the guest experience. It has an overall operational improvement to your bottom line P&L, customer satisfaction, and employee satisfaction."

Scott Bear

General Manager

👍 General Manager Scott Bear said that Duve improved the bottom line while lifting both guest and employee satisfaction.:

"Duve is a proven platform that allows you to not only reduce your expenses but improve the guest experience. It has an overall operational improvement to your bottom line P&L, customer satisfaction, and employee satisfaction."

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

IT Manager Todd Jones said, about their decision: "We wanted to be a driving force of innovation, to reduce expenses while improving our service and connect personally with guests. Bringing Duve in replaced quite a number of tools we were using individually (communication tools, the guest app, upsells) and brought all of those together, while integrating with our PMS and task management system."

📈 The results: By digitizing check-in, automating pre-arrival communication, and bringing every guest touchpoint into one PMS-connected platform, Novotel Geelong cut front-office workload and tripled upsell revenue while lowering costs.

58% online check-in rate, cutting inbound calls and reducing reservation staffing by 8 hours per week
Upsell revenue up more than 200%, while eliminating the 21% commission charged by the previous provider
Construction updates sent seven days before arrival via email, SMS, and WhatsApp, significantly reducing complaint intensity