Customer Stories One Hostel

The One Hostel uses the Cloudbeds API to seamlessly boost revenue and the guest experience

Key Insights

Seamless API integration with their custom POS solution

Seamless payments ensure a better guest experience and increased revenue

User-friendly platform helps train new and inexperienced staff

We have the Cloudbeds API integration, so everything I do is through Cloudbeds.

Daniel Fillion, General Manager at The One Hostel

Among the bustling streets and centuries-old architecture of Hanoi, Vietnam lies The One Hostel – the city’s premier smart-tech hostel.

Boasting 204 comfortable beds, a rooftop swimming pool and tiki bar, and cashless payments made possible through NFC-tagged wristbands, The One Hostel is the perfect place for the modern, tech-savvy backpacker who wants greater comfort and convenience.

As Daniel Fillion, The One Hostel’s General Manager, puts it, “you walk in and it looks like a 4-star hotel, but then it’s young people, a good atmosphere, young and friendly staff – hostel vibes, with hotel facilities.”

With collective experience in tourism, hotels, tour desks, and food and beverage – and a pioneering vision of how the hostel experience could be – the team at The One Hostel wanted a property management system that they could test and fine-tune to suit their evolving needs and those of their guests.

Therefore, they wanted a technology partner with easy integration capabilities that matched their drive for hospitality innovation and could help them organize and streamline the property’s operations.

Cloudbeds API: Seamlessly integrated and flexible

The One Hostel team considered a few options before deciding on the Cloudbeds Platform with its open API. After a smooth and seamless onboarding experience, it quickly became apparent that the team made the right choice, “The beginning was rushed and if we didn’t have Cloudbeds to at least organize for us and help manage all the bookings and guests for us, it wouldn’t have been possible,” remarks Daniel.

To make things simple and convenient for their guests, The One Hostel collaborated with a team from Logistech Global, a cloud-based business management software, to design their own branded waterproof wristbands with an NFC tag that guests can wear and use to enter their rooms and private lockers, order food and drinks, and even book tours. Thankfully, the Cloudbeds API integration makes managing all these transactions a breeze.

Daniel explains,

Everything is synced to Cloudbeds, so at the end, we just print out the Cloudbeds folio for the guest, and that's their room charge, their laundry bill, their food and drinks, and even tour charges.

Beyond guest convenience, this setup also helps boost revenue for The One Hostel. As Daniel puts it, “It increases profitability when your guests are not thinking about the cash they’re spending, and increases customer service.”

Easy to train new and inexperienced staff

With the importance that The One Hostel places on creating a fun, social atmosphere, the ease of use of the Cloudbeds Platform has also allowed the team to hire enthusiastic staff even if they were inexperienced in working with a PMS, “I hired a lot of people who had never even worked a job in their life or had no experience in the industry,” explains Daniel.

With over 50 staff on their payroll, such a move could be viewed as risky, but so far it’s paying off: “If you look at any of our reviews, it’s the people, the people, the people. I mean, the hostel is amazing and the facilities speak for themselves, but that’s not what makes your stay memorable. It’s the people you meet and the staff there,” continues Daniel.

All in all, the Cloudbeds API has proven incredibly useful in catering to the unique needs and innovation of The One Hostel. When asked what makes him recommend Cloudbeds to other properties, Daniel replies,

Hosteling simplified. It's like having a reservation manager working for you. I just can't imagine doing this job without really good software to help me organize it.

He continues, “With 204 beds, the biggest hostel to open in Hanoi, we had our first fully-booked day in under a month. I can’t imagine a hostel would have managed that without good technology.”