How The Lauderdale Boutique Hotel & Suites boosted valuation and automation with Guesty

Founded in 2023, The Lauderdale Boutique Hotel & Suites was born from a specific vision: to acquire an owner-operated property and transform it into a high-value, passive investment. Led by Principal Noel Poler and a group of investors, the team identified a 13-room boutique hotel in Fort Lauderdale with significant potential. After remodeling and expanding the property to 17 units — configured into 28 bookable combinations — they aimed to cater to a diverse mix of tourists, cruise travelers, and medical professionals attending the nearby Broward Health Hospital. Their strategy hinged on replacing traditional, labor-intensive hospitality management with a technology-centric model that maximizes asset value through efficiency.

The team’s initial goal was to stabilize the property by Q1 2024 and run a “self-managed” operation. However, their initial choice of property management system (PMS), Jurny, failed to meet the demands of their ambitious business model. The team struggled with slow support response times that often stretched to a week, limited reporting capabilities, and communication workflows that required significant manual effort.

For a business model predicated on minimal owner involvement, these operational friction points were unsustainable. The investors needed a solution that could handle complex hotel inventory distribution while automating guest interactions to a near-zero touchpoint level. In April 2024, they switched to Guesty to access a more robust ecosystem and faster support.

Switching to Guesty allowed The Lauderdale Boutique Hotel to fully execute its “tech-centric” operational plan. A critical component of their setup is Guesty’s Multi-Unit feature, which enables them to manage their 17 physical units across 28 different listing combinations, such as connecting rooms and suites, ensuring seamless distribution across OTAs.

The hotel leverages the Guesty Marketplace to integrate best-in-class tools, specifically pairing Guesty’s native automation with Conduit for AI-driven guest communication and PricePoint for dynamic revenue management. This ecosystem approach allowed them to reduce the need for a traditional call center or heavy managerial oversight.

The impact of moving to Guesty went beyond day-to-day convenience; it fundamentally altered the financial profile of the asset. By lowering technology and communication expenses from 9% of revenue to less than 5%, the hotel saved approximately $32,000 annually. In the world of commercial real estate valuation, this cost saving translates into roughly $600,000 in additional property value.

Operational metrics improved alongside financial ones. Occupancy rose from 80% to 82%, while the Average Daily Rate (ADR) increased from $143 to $152. Consequently, total revenue grew from $717,000 to a projected $780,000 for the year.

• Valuation surge: The property, acquired and upgraded for $4.4M total, is now valued at $5.7M, a 30% increase in two years.
• Rapid response: Guest response times dropped from over an hour to just 2 minutes.
• Time savings: Automations save the team approximately 10 hours of work per week.

Today, the hotel operates with a part-time property manager and minimal investor involvement, successfully achieving the “passive investment” goal. The integration of AI and automation handles 99% of guest situations without human intervention.

Looking ahead, the team aims to reach $1 million in revenue and an $8 million valuation within five years. They are also exploring opportunities to replicate this tech-heavy, low-labor model by acquiring other owner-operated boutique hotels and onboarding them to Guesty.