Residence Cristine

Tell us about your property

Residence Cristine was built by my father in the late 1960s in Riva del Garda, right on the lakefront. Initially, it consisted of twelve apartments. We undertook two significant renovations in 2009 and 2019, and today we offer fourteen apartments in various categories.

Our guests are mainly couples and sports enthusiasts, with the majority coming from Northern Europe. We are present on Booking.com and Airbnb, and around 60% of our bookings come from these platforms.

Smartpricing has made me realize that I wasn’t truly aware of the value of my property. In fact, my rates seemed right to me—sometimes even high. However, after using Smartpricing, I realized that I wasn’t exactly giving away the apartments but almost.

How did you calculate rates before Smartpricing?

My pricing resembled a roller coaster: I set them based on events and holidays, then adjusted them up or down depending on my experience or the type of apartment.

Even before Smartpricing, I applied small pricing policies via the management system, but they lacked real logic and didn’t make a significant difference.

What convinced you to try and adopt Smartpricing?

I was one of Smartpricing’s earliest clients—I started in 2019 before it was officially launched!

This decision was influenced by my approach; I consider myself a pioneer and trust my instincts. When I met Luca Rodella, one of Smartpricing’s founders and now CEO, I immediately thought this software was revolutionary compared to what was available at the time.

I put my full trust in it right away, especially because Smartpricing did exactly what I had been searching for. I needed a system to save me time and eliminate the constant worry about whether my prices were accurate.

For instance, I would sometimes receive two or three bookings at once—great news! But then I’d check and see they were all for the same week, and I’d realize my price was too low. Even if I hurried to change it, I had already sold two-thirds of the apartments.

Has Smartpricing affected how you perceive your property?

I’ll never forget a phrase you said at the start of our collaboration: “When you get a booking for August, you might celebrate with a bottle of sparkling wine. But on the other side, someone else is celebrating with champagne because they got an apartment at a bargain price!”

This made me realize I wasn’t truly aware of my property’s value—and I wasn’t! My rates seemed fine to me, sometimes even high. But compared to what I sold after implementing Smartpricing, I realized I was practically giving away the apartments.

How quickly did you see results with Smartpricing?

I saw exceptional results immediately. I met you in January 2019 and officially started using the software in July. By August and September, revenue and occupancy had increased significantly. The same thing happened at New Year’s 2020—we were extremely busy.

For me, Smartpricing is pure profitability. It’s like having fuel that makes your car go 30% faster while using half as much.

Besides increased revenue, what other benefits have you seen with Smartpricing?

I’ve certainly saved time, though not in the physical sense of creating a price list. I call it “mental time,” which is hard to quantify because it’s tied to the freedom of not constantly worrying about prices.

For example, today I received a request for a quote four months in advance. Without Smartpricing, I would’ve looked at last year’s rates, knowing I’d be making a mistake. Instead, I opened the dashboard and provided a quote within minutes, specifying that it was valid at that moment and could change.

Mental time savings require familiarity with the algorithm’s dynamics. For me, the most reassuring feature has been the ability to set minimum prices I know I never want to go below.

Would you recommend Smartpricing?

I’ve been contacted by colleagues asking for my feedback. I always tell them, “Go for it! What’s the worst that can happen? If it doesn’t work out, you can always go back.” But honestly, I struggle to understand why anyone wouldn’t want to try it.

The time spent debating whether to try it is already lost time, and seasoned hoteliers recognize this immediately.

For me, Smartpricing is a revolution, just like Booking.com was when it arrived in Italy in 2006. I’d be in serious trouble today if Smartpricing didn’t exist.