WORQ Group revamps properties to deliver premium, forward-thinking guest experiences

WORQ Group is a leading hospitality group specializing in both facilities management and the hospitality sector. Starting as a small hospitality group with four restaurants and hotels across Scotland, WORQ has grown to include 17 hospitality venues across the United Kingdom, including 9 hotels and 8 restaurants & bars, and another 34 additional sites currently under catering contract in Scotland and England.

Closely after its inception, WORQ was faced with the Covid-19 pandemic. In response to the challenges the hospitality industry faced, WORQ decided to pursue the facility management side of their group and took on board empty hotels that had been recently shut down. Partnering with government organizations, WORQ opened up their empty rooms to workers and others looking for housing to provide accommodations, meals, laundry, and other services for those during these difficult times.

Due to the sheer amount of inventory available, WORQ was able to acquire and renovate multiple properties in preparation for lifted restrictions and return to travel. Marcus Hills, IT & Software Manager at WORQ knew that they needed to prepare their properties for increased demand with modern hospitality solutions to deliver luxury experiences for their guests.

Prior to Cloudbeds, WORQ’s properties used an array of legacy systems that felt dated and inhibited their ability to scale. These systems lacked integration capabilities to help WORQ achieve its vision of developing premium, forward-thinking accommodations.

The construction of WORQ’s Revolver Hostel prompted Hills to search for a more modern hospitality platform. He knew that in order to stand out, they needed a platform that was user-friendly and had functionality to support integrations such as mobile keys.

What he liked about Cloudbeds was that it was “very user-friendly and required basic training to use the system which was great for smaller sites and those new to technology.

WORQ currently utilizes Cloudbeds’ Akia integration, a powerful messaging platform that enables properties to streamline operations, facilitate contactless check-in, and provide two-way communication with guests and staff.

Their first property to move away from legacy software into a modern, cloud-based hospitality platform was Riva Boutique Hotel, a picturesque, 14-room seafront hotel located in Helensburgh, Scotland.

Prior to Cloudbeds, Hills said that adjusting our room rates was nearly impossible, and now with Cloudbeds we have the freedom to do it whenever and it immediately filters out to all the OTAs which is absolutely brilliant.

This flexibility has resulted in WORQ experiencing a dramatic increase in their average daily rate (ADR) from £75 to £110 – a 45%+ increase!

No stranger to the onboarding process, Hills notes that “it’s at the point where I’ve onboarded quite a few times, we’re now on our sixth property with Cloudbeds.” With the process down to a science, the last WORQ property to implement Cloudbeds was able to get up and live within a record 5 days.

As the demand for travel ramps up, WORQ plans to continue its scaling efforts and have a new property launching in June 2022. They also plan to continue to support those in housing crises, most recently providing accommodations for those displaced from Ukraine.