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Business

How Breezeway Helped Locale Save 100+ Hours Weekly by Automating Operations

Locale, a trailblazing operator in the short-term rental and apart-hotel industry, has been redefining hospitality with its tech-forward approach. Managing a portfolio of 13 properties and over 300 units across nine cities in the U.S., Locale’s unique model blends traditional short-term rentals with apart-hotel management in multi-family buildings. Their goal: to redefine hospitality management by marrying cutting-edge technology with apartment-style accommodations and personalized guest experiences. We spoke with Michael Colvin, Director of Operations, to understand how Breezeway is a key part of this strategy.

Locale Case Study

The Situation

With operations spanning multiple markets and a diverse mix of staffing models (from fully contracted labor to internal housekeeping teams), Locale faced significant challenges in streamlining housekeeping and property management tasks. Prior to implementing Breezeway, the team relied on manual processes and disjointed communication through text messages, WhatsApp, and email to schedule and track housekeeping.

The Solution

Partnering with Breezeway allowed Locale to tailor automation settings for each property, accommodating different staffing structures and operational needs across markets. Plus, Breezeway integrates seamlessly with Locale’s reservation system, MEWS, to automatically create and update housekeeping tickets based on real-time bookings and schedule changes.

The Results

100
Hours saved per week scheduling housekeeping
100%
Employee satisfaction with work-life balance
85%
Reduction in guest complaints about room readiness

Creating a sustainable housekeeping process

One of the key issues Locale was facing was their manual communication and task scheduling process. Before implementing Breezeway, market leaders spent between 5-10 hours weekly managing housekeeping schedules and updates. These tasks included communicating with vendors, tracking down unit statuses so guests could check in, and manually updating their reservations in MEWS. Plus, market leaders often had to check in on their days off to complete these tasks for last-minute bookings.

“Across our nine markets, this added up to 80-100 hours a week,” shared Michael. “Now, those hours are freed up for higher-value tasks that contribute to our properties’ performance.” By automating these processes, Locale significantly reduced operational strain, enabling teams to focus on strategic initiatives and guest satisfaction.

“Now with Breezeway, 99% of our housekeeping scheduling just runs in the background, and our market leaders don’t even have to think about it. Breezeway is constantly updating or creating tickets as reservations are booked or changed in MEWS. And, once tickets are completed in Breezeway, it automatically updates the property status in MEWS. Breezeway and MEWS are continuously communicating back and forth.” - Michael Colvin, Director of Operations, Locale

 

The power of accurate property status

Having real-time visibility into room readiness with Breezeway + MEWS has been a game changer for Locale, resulting in:

  • Reduction in guest complaints about room readiness

Before Breezeway, questions or complaints from guests about whether their room was ready for check-in were almost a daily occurrence. Michael shares, “It often took someone physically going into the unit to confirm if it was ready or not for a guest.” Now with the cooperation from housekeeping vendors using Breezeway to complete tasks, property readiness is accurately and automatically reflected in MEWS.

  • Time saved by guest services

The arrival process has improved across Locale’s portfolio, not just from a guest satisfaction standpoint, but also from an employee satisfaction standpoint. Michael shares, “We've seen a huge reduction in our guest services team having to escalate and do emergency calls to the property for room status updates.”

  • Increase in revenue with the ability to offer same-day bookings

Previously, Locale couldn’t accommodate same-day bookings because they couldn’t account for how many units were actually available, especially on weekends when market leaders weren’t on site to physically check on room statuses. Michael explains, “Now we can rely on what we're seeing for room status in MEWS because it’s updated in real-time from Breezeway.” With this added visibility, Locale has added the option for same-day bookings in four new markets, improving their revenue and occupancy rates.

  • Improved guest satisfaction by offering early check-in and late check-out

“Early check-in and late checkout revenue has been a big focus for us,” Michael says. Breezeway has helped make this more efficient for Locale because instead of waiting for market leaders to come back in on Monday to manually check and refresh room statuses, that has automatically happened through the Breezeway + MEWS integration.

Increase in employee satisfaction (and work-life balance)

Through their annual employee engagement survey in 2022 and 2023, Locale identified an issue with employees managing work-life balance. Previously, many felt tethered to their responsibilities, even during off-hours, to manage housekeeping schedules and address urgent issues.

"We recently redid that survey again in 2024, and received 100% employee satisfaction on work-life balance.” Michael says, for example, “We just went through a Thanksgiving week where for the first time none of our market leaders had to work on Thanksgiving day, and some even took the whole week off.” Breezeway has played a huge part in giving Locale employees the freedom to step away and peace of mind that things will continue to operate seamlessly in the background.

Detailed reporting reduces costs

Managing external housekeeping vendors across multiple markets was a complex task before Breezeway. Breezeway’s reporting tools now enable Locale to track cleaning times and hold vendors accountable. “We’ve been able to identify discrepancies in invoices and provide valuable feedback to vendors,” Michael said. This transparency has strengthened partnerships and helped optimize costs. For instance, analyzing turn times revealed areas for improvement, allowing Locale to negotiate better rates and improve overall efficiency.

By embracing Breezeway’s innovative solutions, Locale has transformed its operations, ensuring consistent guest experiences and empowering its team to excel. As Locale scales its portfolio, Breezeway remains a vital partner in their journey toward operational excellence and guest satisfaction.

Breezeway has been a game-changer for us. It’s eliminated operational headaches, improved team satisfaction, and allowed us to focus on growing our business. We’re excited to continue scaling with Breezeway as a core part of our tech stack.

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