Garni Kedul Lodge

Tell us about your property.

My father-in-law built the lodge back in the 1970s and managed it himself until 2013, when he handed it over to us.

The Kedul Alpine Lodge is a Garni hotel with 16 beds and a total capacity of 23 guests.

My husband and I are passionate mountain bikers, so we’ve focused the lodge even more on that target group and earned certification as a Bike Hotel.

We’re located right in the heart of the Dolomites and operate from December through April in the winter, and from mid-June to early November in the summer.

Around 20% of our bookings come through Booking.com, while the rest are direct, either through our website or email – mostly from returning guests.

Since when have you been using Smartpricing, and how did you manage your pricing before?

We’ve been using Smartpricing since January 2022.

Before that, I handled pricing together with my brother, who’s a tax consultant. We based our rates mainly on operating costs.

Talking with colleagues in the area, I noticed that many of them kept a close eye on competitor prices and adjusted their rates accordingly.

But I never followed that approach. Instead, I always tried to strike a balance between improving our offering (we renovated the lodge and raised service levels) and maintaining a price point that made sense for a three-star property.

What problem were you trying to solve?

One of my long-standing goals was to attract a new guest segment – one that’s less price-sensitive.

But I knew I couldn’t calculate optimal rates on my own.

Setting prices used to take up so much of my time that we often found ourselves scrambling to publish them at the last minute.

That’s why we were specifically looking for a solution tailored to smaller properties like ours – and one that made financial sense.

What results have you achieved with Smartpricing?

Our revenue has increased by 18% (from January to November 2022).

We’re hosting guests with higher spending power. That means we may have fewer bookings, but we’re earning more.

For example, in the summer, we have fewer guests overall, but the ones who do stay tend to book lots of add-ons and extras.

With improved services and higher rates, we also no longer attract guests who are simply looking to haggle for a discount at any cost.

Another huge plus is that I can access our prices for the next 365 days in advance, which allows me to send out offers much faster than before.

Has Smartpricing helped you save time?

Absolutely! I only need to check in periodically and make adjustments when needed (like setting minimum or maximum prices) if rates seem too high or too low.

What do you like most about Smartpricing?

What I really appreciate is being able to publish rates much further in advance with Smartpricing – it saves me a lot of time and stress.

Plus, I like that Smartpricing calculates its fee based on the number of rooms. That makes it a great fit for both small properties like ours and larger ones.