This year, the revbell teams had the pleasure of once again taking part in the Equiphotel exhibition. The show was an opportunity for us to talk about our solution, discuss the new challenges in your sectors, and meet our loyal customers. In this interview, discover the daily life of Jean-Paul Dolisi, independent owner of the Saint Maurice Hotel in Lille.
Can you please introduce yourself and tell us about your hotel?
My name is Jean-Paul Dolisi, I’m 57 years old and I own the Hotel Saint Maurice in the city center of Lille. It’s an independent 2-star hotel with 38 rooms that belongs to the voluntary group Contact Hôtels, which gathers 300 establishments in France, where I’m also a Board member.
I’ve been working in the hotel industry for around 30 years, with 15 years in operational and commercial roles. Over the past 10 years, I’ve been managing hotels on my own behalf and on behalf of investors in the Lille region.
Can you tell us more about Contact Hotels?
The hotel business is a demanding profession, requiring rigor and skill in many areas. When you’re working independently, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed.
Contact Hôtels is a group of voluntary independents whose mission is to support the professionals. The network’s aim is to support hoteliers in areas such as sales, distribution and marketing, to lighten their workload and enable them to concentrate on their business. Our ambition is to perpetuate the independent hotel industry, by offering them some of the advantages of the major hotel chains, while preserving their autonomy.
After 30 years in the industry, I continue to admire those who embark on this adventure, because it requires many skills to be mastered or acquired.
What's your history with Revenue Management?
Having worked in sales for several years, I’ve often worked with Revenue Managers. So Yield Management is not an unknown concept to me. On the contrary, I’ve always had a genuine interest in the practice. However, after a few years running my own business, and despite my attraction to the practice, I didn’t have as much time to devote to Revenue Management – even though it’s a crucial activity for a hotel.
What challenges and objectives led you to invest in RMS revbell?
Investing in an RMS was an obvious choice for me, as I wanted to manage my own Revenue Management. Before taking the step, I took the time to define precisely what I was looking for and what I wanted to avoid: a crucial phase before committing myself.
Connectivity with my ecosystem was essential, as I didn’t want to change my current tools. Secondly, support was also essential: working with a small French structure seemed obvious to me, on the one hand to guarantee fluid exchanges and on the other to share common entrepreneurial values. The financial aspect was also very important: as an independent 2-star hotel, I couldn’t afford an expensive tool.
revbell was the natural choice. It’s an easy-to-use, scalable tool, with rate recommendations based on several criteria, including the hotel’s scalability, unlike some competitors. What’s more, revbell provides everything you need to carry out your revenue management on a silver platter, eliminating the time-consuming and tedious preparatory phase of data analysis and compilation.
What advice would you give to a company looking to adopt an RMS?
revbell has become an integral part of my routine, and I see it as an alarm clock that reminds me to keep my Revenue Management rigorous and regular. In the past, I was lucky if I could devote an hour in my week to it, and in far less depth than revbell allows.
Now, thanks to revbell, I miss far fewer opportunities, I’m able to concentrate on this essential part of my sales and I’ve regained a certain discipline. The tool encourages me to think in depth, thanks to the data it provides. Working on my Yield Management has become a real pleasure.
Keywords: Jean-Paul Dolisi, Hôtel Saint Maurice, Contact Hotels, Revenue Management, Revenue Management System, RMS, hotel, hotels