Lenk Lodge, a boutique hotel nestled in Switzerland’s picturesque Simmental Valley, has embraced cutting-edge hospitality technology by partnering with Mews, a leading cloud-based platform. In just a few weeks, the lodge has revolutionised its operations and guest experience, streamlining processes and enhancing efficiency.
Reopened in December under new ownership, Lenk Lodge offers a blend of hotel rooms and apartments while hosting events such as yoga retreats, seminars, and workshops. With a vision for modern, guest-centric hospitality, the property migrated to Mews to simplify its operations and improve the guest journey.
Raphael Simcic, Co-Director of Lenk Lodge and Managing Director of SUM Hospitality, led the deployment. A certified Mews deployment partner, he recognised the system’s ability to adapt to the needs of a small, independent hotel. “What’s great about Mews is its flexibility. Because Lenk Lodge is a small hotel, I was able to set up a lean tech stack in just a few hours, maximising efficiency and simplicity. We wanted to streamline every process, so we integrated a payment terminal with Mews Payments. That means we are completely cashless, and it works well, even in a market like Switzerland, which is still cash-focused,” Simcic explained.
The transition to cashless payments has already made a significant impact, saving the hotel between 30 and 45 minutes each day by automating billing and reconciliation. It has also removed the need for staff to handle and deposit cash, improving security and reducing administrative burdens.
Beyond payments, the hotel’s reservation team has seen remarkable time savings through Mews Operations. By allowing staff to generate quotes and confirm bookings while on the phone, workload has been cut by 30-40%, giving the team more time to focus on guest interactions.
A Digital-First Approach
Lenk Lodge has fully embraced Mews Guest Experience, implementing an integrated booking engine, online check-in, and online check-out. The results have been striking: 31% of bookings now come directly through the hotel’s website via the Mews Booking Engine-well above Switzerland’s national average of 14% in 2021.
Guests are also responding positively to digital convenience, with 51% opting for online check-in and 25% using online check-out. This shift has reduced manual administrative tasks such as registration forms, passport scanning, and payment processing by more than 50%, freeing up staff to focus on delivering exceptional hospitality and creating memorable guest experiences.
Matt Welle, CEO of Mews, praised Lenk Lodge’s adoption of cloud-based technology: “I always love seeing smaller hotels like Lenk Lodge lead the way with innovation, because it proves that size is no impediment to tech-led, guest-centric hospitality. It’s impressive to see a property achieve such immediate results, and that only happens when hoteliers fully embrace cloud-native technology. Lenk Lodge is setting the example.”
With its commitment to innovation and seamless guest experiences, Lenk Lodge is demonstrating how even boutique hotels can harness technology to enhance efficiency, improve service, and set new industry standards.
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