Independent hotels

From operational overload to full operational control: How SleepinRoomz saves over 50 hours a week with 80% automation

Anna Fechner

Anna Fechner

7/30/2026
SR_Header

Digital transformation is no longer a nice-to-have for small and mid-sized hotels. It has become essential for staying efficient, profitable and competitive. Yet the journey is rarely straightforward. Rising labour costs, ongoing staff shortages and outdated systems often stand in the way of modernising hotel operations. Without the flexibility to adapt and the right partners to guide the process, lasting change can feel out of reach.

Marc Steudle has experienced these challenges from both sides. As a hotelier, consultant and Apaleo implementation partner, he helps hotels develop digital strategies that fit their operational needs. Working closely with his partner hotels, he designs tailored tech stacks, connects the right solutions and lays the foundation for streamlined operations.

His perspective on digital transformation was shaped by his own experience. After adopting Apaleo in one of his hotels at the end of 2021, he quickly began leveraging the capabilities of an open platform. Rather than working within the limitations of an all-in-one PMS, he could integrate best-of-breed applications, adapt workflows to the hotel's individual needs and automate repetitive processes across the entire operation.

"It's always worth thinking in terms of processes. If you can digitise and automate them with a platform like Apaleo, you free up time every day. And in the end, that's what matters most to many hoteliers," Marc said.

Together with profitize, we sat down with Marc Steudle and Jakob Spiewak, Managing Director of the 57-room SleepinRoomz, one of Marc's partner hotels. They shared how SleepinRoomz built a connected tech stack around Apaleo, why they chose an open platform over a traditional PMS, and how automation and data brought more structure, transparency and control to day-to-day hotel operations.

Challenge: Disconnected systems holding back automation

SleepinRoomz had already switched to Apaleo before partnering with Marc. After becoming independent from its franchise, Jakob deliberately chose the open platform to move away from disconnected systems and gain the flexibility to build a technology ecosystem that could grow with the hotel. Its API-first architecture and the ability to create a tailored tech stack were key factors in that decision.

SR_01

Switching to Apaleo, however, was only the first step. The platform laid the foundation for a more connected hotel operation, but day-to-day processes quickly highlighted opportunities to automate more workflows and connect additional applications. Room allocation and invoice adjustments were handled manually, while further opportunities to automate workflows and connect additional applications remained untapped.

Together with Marc, SleepinRoomz refined its workflows, rate plans and tech stack to bring more automation into the daily running of the hotel.

Solution: Unlocking intelligent automation with a connected tech stack

With Apaleo at the core of its tech stack, Jakob and Marc integrated n8n and Make.com to eliminate repetitive tasks across the hotel. They started by automating room allocation, with invoice corrections following shortly afterwards. Instead of manually cancelling, editing and resending invoices, guests now provide the required information through a digital form. Once submitted, it's transferred to Apaleo, where the corrected invoices are created.

Payments were another area Jakob wanted to simplify. By also using Apaleo Pay, he made payments a natural part of the hotel's workflows, eliminating much of the manual reconciliation and administrative work and creating a smoother experience for both staff and guests.

As more processes became automated, the focus naturally shifted towards making better use of the hotel's data. To gain deeper insight into financial performance, reporting and forecasting, SleepinRoomz added profitize to its Apaleo ecosystem, an AI-powered financial planning and analytics platform that helps hoteliers optimise costs, increase revenue and make more informed business decisions.

Thanks to Apaleo's open APIs, profitize can access reservation and payment data in one place, giving hoteliers the insights they need to support better decision-making.

Want to find out more? Take a closer look at the profitize App Insight in our Community to discover how data-driven hotel management turns operational data into actionable insights.

Result: Greater efficiency, data-driven decisions and €140,000 in annual savings

Today, around 80% of SleepinRoomz's operations are fully automated. For Jakob, however, the real impact goes far beyond the time savings that come with automation. Digitalisation has brought a level of transparency and control to the hotel that simply wasn't there before.

"Digitalisation finally gave us the structure we were missing to the way we run our hotel. That's exactly what we needed," Jakob reflected.

That same level of visibility has also transformed the way decisions are made. With profitize, the team now has a centralised view of AI-powered forecasts and the hotel's financial performance. Instead of relying on intuition or simply checking the bank account, they can spot opportunities earlier and plan with greater confidence.

The benefits go well beyond reporting. Despite maintaining an occupancy rate of more than 70%, clearly defined responsibilities and automated workflows have made the hotel easier to manage. Routine administrative tasks now happen largely in the background, giving the team more time to focus on guests while keeping day-to-day operations lean and efficient. Together, they save SleepinRoomz around €140,000 every year.

That efficiency is reflected in multiple everyday processes. Invoice corrections, which previously took five to eight minutes of manual work for every request and occurred multiple times a day, are now handled automatically. Apaleo Pay has further reduced manual work by automating payment reconciliation, processing and related back-office tasks, saving the team up to an hour of work every day.

"Having payments built directly into Apaleo gives us much better visibility, improves accuracy and saves us a huge amount of time," Jakob added.

For Jakob personally, the transformation has been just as meaningful. What once required around 70 working hours each week now takes roughly 20. More importantly, reliable systems, connected data and well-established processes give him a peace of mind that the hotel continues to run smoothly without constant intervention. Rather than being involved in every operational detail, he can focus on new projects, long-term planning and the strategic decisions that will shape the hotel's future.

Looking ahead: Agentic operations

SleepinRoomz's digital transformation is far from over. With much of the day-to-day operations already automated, the focus is now on continuously refining workflows and making even better use of data to support everyday decision-making.

SR_02

For Marc, AI is playing an increasingly important role in that journey. Like Jakob at SleepinRoomz, he already uses AI-powered email, WhatsApp and voice agents built on Apaleo. These agents can respond to guest enquiries autonomously, check live availability and rates, and create personalised offers without requiring manual input.

As AI becomes part of everyday hotel operations, access to the right information matters more than ever. Open platforms like Apaleo connect hotel systems and make live data available across the entire operation, giving AI agents the context they need to handle increasingly complex tasks. Building on that foundation, solutions like profitize turn operational data into meaningful insights that help hoteliers plan ahead with greater clarity.

"Data is becoming more and more important. The better I know my numbers, especially when it comes to forecasting, the better I can plan ahead and make the right decisions for my hotel," Marc concluded.

A dive into the tech stack of SleepinRoomz:

Tech_Stack_SleepinRoomz

Browse apps in the Apaleo Store:

Related posts