Hotel Technology Next Generation

High-end hotel luxury may be synonymous with posh revenues, but well-run limited service properties can be more profitable. The key is good management, says Janet L. Bush, vice president of operations for SKY Hospitality, LLC. SKY opened its first Microtel Inns & Suites in 1999 and now manages 10 properties for 10 different owners.

Sound Management, Solid Data Produce $125 ADR
"Microtel has been a very successful brand for our owners," says Bush. "The franchisee contract agreement is fair, the fees are good, and the return on investment (ROI) has been excellent." So excellent, in fact, that Microtel now attracts serious investor attention. "In the past, it was hoteliers who built and opened Microtels. Now it is investors going after high ROI," notes Bush. She pointed to SKY's two latest properties opened in Williston, ND, in the heart of oil and gas country. "We have contracted a high percentage of our rooms to oil field companies at an ADR of more than $125."

SKY's successful strategy for hitting revenue highs while keeping costs low now includes Profitvue enterprise back office reporting system from Aptech Computer Systems, the leading provider of hotel software for business intelligence systems and enterprise financial accounting. Aptech hosts Profitvue from its secure data server that interfaces directly with SoftHotel, Microtel's property management system (PMS).

Profitvue Produces What Owners Demand: Accurate Financial Reporting
"Besides cutting back office equipment costs, Profitvue ended the need for tedious staff rekeying of night audit totals," explains Bush. "We save a great deal of staff time that used to be spent on manual data entry, because the data flows seamlessly. The interface also eliminates manual data entry errors." SKY prepares 10 different ownership packets of operating statistics each week and produces full monthly reporting statements. "Cash, occupancy, ADR, RevPAR, and all other metrics go smoothly into Profitvue, cutting back significantly on the number of journal entries and simplifying ownership reporting," says Bush. "By capturing more data, we can make better management decisions based on current, accurate operations information, and this adds to profitability. We're getting positive feedback on our Profitvue ownership statements."

Profitvue options also include single property accounting and a standalone application. All versions incorporate accounts payable, general ledger, statistics, and financials. The system provides open database compliance (ODBC) within a scalable, client/server, open systems architecture and is available as an ASP service or on a licensed basis. "We work to offer options that keep the price point down for our whole spectrum of customers, from major hotel chains to limited service properties," says Cam Troutman, Aptech vice president. "SKY demonstrates that success is just as scalable as our Profitvue system."

Past Performance Predicts Future Success
SKY also loaded Profitvue with three years of property performance history. "We can now run trend reports to base decisions on real historical data," says Bush. "This gives us more flexibility and better information. We had historical data before, but it was in a file format that was difficult to access. Profitvue enables us to add journal entries, roll up all of our properties, and review performance metrics for all of our accounts easily."

Aptech customer support gets high marks as well. Bush, said, "The Aptech team consists of hospitality industry professionals who understand our needs and speak our language." She notes that SKY has just installed Aptech's Execuvue web-based business intelligence application for data enterprise reporting and analysis. "Based on the time and costs saved with Aptech so far, we are excited about unleashing Execuvue's full capabilities in the future."

SKY Hospitality
Sky Hospitality, LLC offers a wide range of hotel development and management services to clients. Its team has more than 100 years of combined industry experience as owners, operators, developers, managers, trainers and marketers which is enhanced by their backgrounds in franchise field support, banking, and commercial construction and development. SKY is recognized as an industry leader within the Microtel franchise community and other franchise communities it has been a part of in the past. SKY hotels are consistently recognized as top performers in terms of revenue, occupancy, RevPAR and guest satisfaction. SKY operates from an ownership perspective. Its management services are comprehensive and truly turnkey for clients. SKY's team performs all areas of hotel operations, allowing clients to focus on their primary business, knowing that their hotel investment is being cared for by successful, seasoned industry veterans.

Aptech Computer Systems
Aptech Computer Systems, Inc., based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, leads the hospitality industry in leveraging change by valuing human relationships and applying technology to solve business problems for people. Incorporated in 1970, Aptech is a financial and operations technology solutions and service company whose products include state-of-the-art back office, business intelligence and enterprise planning products: Profitvue®, Execuvue®, and Webvue®. Over 2,500 properties, including very large chains, multiple-property management companies, and single-site hotels utilize Aptech solutions to understand their financial and operational data. Execuvue and Profitvue are registered trademarks of Aptech Computer Systems, Inc. All other trademarks are owned by their respective holders.

Contact
Cam Troutman
Vice President
Phone: 800-245-0720
Email: vueinfo@aptech-inc.com