Koncept Hotels: a digital guest experience with 95% automated check-in-rate

How KONCEPT HOTELS achieved a fully digitalized guest experience through digital check-ins and check-outs, leading to a significant increase in efficiency and improved guest satisfaction.

PMS: Apaleo

LOCKS: Messerschmitt

PAYMENT: Adyen

As a climate-neutral hotel, KONCEPT HOTELS enables guests to check in via smartphone, become part of the local community, and preserve “one square meter of nature” with every booking made through their own platform.

With four locations in Germany and one in Switzerland, the fast-growing limited-service brand KONCEPT HOTELS offers tech-savvy travelers a modern, efficient hotel experience, welcoming over 100,000 guests annually. Its staff-free model addresses both the industry’s labor shortage and its environmental footprint.

We sat down with Sabine Schrempp, Director of Revenue & Systems, and Martin Stockburger, Managing Director and Founder. They shared how their partnership with Hotelbird enabled them to establish a fully digital guest experience with 100% digital check-in and check-out processes — resulting in a significant boost in operational efficiency and guest satisfaction.

Previously, regulatory requirements prevented KONCEPT HOTELS from introducing a fully digital check-in. There were even manual inefficiencies such as placing printed registration forms on guests’ beds, which still had to be signed by hand after the digital check-in. As legislation evolved, compliant digital solutions became available – finally making their digital vision a reality.

Hotelbird’s solution for a digital and distinctive guest experience was a core part of KONCEPT HOTELS’ digital guest journey from day one. With Hotelbird as a partner, they were able to further refine and implement their vision of 100% digital check-ins. However, the lack of seamless integration in conventional systems compounded the problem of a fragmented guest journey.

Before adopting Apaleo, KONCEPT HOTELS relied on a legacy PMS that required manual data entry for check-ins, check-outs, and payments. Apaleo is an API-based, open property management platform for hotel and apartment groups, enabling accommodation providers to create the ultimate digital experience for both guests and staff.

The deep integration between Hotelbird and Apaleo enables KONCEPT HOTELS to fully digitalize the guest experience.

Within moments, all relevant information – including guest data, room assignments, and check-in status – is exchanged between the two systems, ensuring a smooth and reliable process from digital check-in through door access, payment, guest communication, and check-out.

Without a digital check-out option, housekeeping staff had to go door to door to determine whether guests had left and rooms were ready for cleaning. This not only risked disturbing guests and negatively affecting their experience, but also led to inefficient use of housekeeping staff and higher labor costs.

Upselling opportunities for late check-outs could only be offered at fixed points in the guest journey, making it difficult to reach the right audience effectively. Without visibility into exact check-out times, it was hard to identify and target guests who would be most interested in the service.

KONCEPT HOTELS leverages the integration of Apaleo and Hotelbird to run a fully digital check-out process. Guests can check out conveniently via the Hotelbird app or website. This information is transmitted directly from Hotelbird to Apaleo, allowing housekeeping staff to see on their tablets which rooms are ready for cleaning and which guests are still in-house. This automation replaces manual room checks with streamlined data transfer and processing, improving both efficiency and accuracy.

The guest data gathered at property level through the Hotelbird–Apaleo integration helps KONCEPT HOTELS better understand guest behavior, optimize housekeeping schedules, and identify upselling opportunities such as early check-ins and late check-outs.