August 27th, 2010

umi builds online booking engine for small accommodation providers

Umi hotels and web agency 2am have released a new accommodation booking engine which enables users to book a room from their smart phone and helps independent hotels compete against larger industry players with greater online visibility.

BookItWith is a secure online booking system that has been seven months in the making and is now available for “white-label” license inclusive of office-hours technical support.  The PHP-built software is a dynamic system, with plans to add a new feature every six weeks so that it remains the most capable booking software on the market.  The online engine can be found independently of the accommodation provider’s website through a sub-domain of BookItWith.com, on any device with web browsing capability.

Hotel owners will be able to access a conversion report showing exactly which keywords people have used to find and book their hotel.  This knowledge will allow them to adopt a better seo strategy, targeting keywords that provide a better conversion ratio.  The cost of the software is calculated on an individual basis, with commissions and support levels taken into account.

An online survey conducted by umi found that the top two “most off-putting aspects of making a purchase online” were security levels and complexity.  When testing the new BookItWith software, 97% of respondents rated the booking engine as “easy or “very easy” and 90% said the amount of room features available to choose from were “good” or “great”.

Founder of umi hotels and originator of the concept, Steve Lowy, said “It’s been a long and difficult project but working with 2am and thoroughly researching the market from all points of view will make it a success.  We have designed the software to be individually branded and assist independent hotels with their online sales strategies. This platform will also allow us to advance our franchise expansion plans by giving our member hotels a comprehensive sales tool that can drive their direct business.

He went on to say, “this product is not just aimed at hotels but all accommodation providers and very much aligned with the ethos of umi, we aim to offer a five star service to companies without breaking the bank”.

Designed with both customers and owners in mind, usability testing has led to increased page load speeds, optimum layout designs and the integration of Yahoo Money to give users an accurate estimation of their local currency rates.  The software also has intelligent features such as offering all available room types relevant to the number of guests and taking a payment pre-authorisation if guests would rather pay in person at the time of their stay.  BookItWith can be integrated into existing websites, be adapted for alternative languages and currencies and be used with a wide selection of payment gateways.

Whether your existing booking engine is slow and lacks performance or you are only just considering the right model for you make sure you contact Steve Lowy at steve@umihotels.co.uk for more information and make sure your guests Book It With your hotel.

August 2nd, 2010

Accommodating Business Success

London businessman, Steve Lowy, is in the running to be crowned Entrepreneur of the Year in the nationwide Nectar Business Small Business Awards, which will be judged by one of the stars of hit BBC TV show Dragon’s Den, James Caan.

Steve, who set up umi hotels, has been short-listed to the last five entrepreneurs and is now in with a chance of winning the award and scooping the final prize of £2,000 cash, £2,000 to spend at Viking Direct and 50,000 Nectar points.

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June 30th, 2010

Founder of umi hotels receives prestigious Acorn Award

Steve Lowy, owner and managing director of umi hotels, has been named one of the 2010 recipients of Caterer & Hotelkeeper Magazine’s Acorn Award that acknowledges flair within hospitality.

Each year “thirty under thirty” emerging hospitality industry figures are chosen to receive the reputable Acorn Award.  In the award’s 24th year, Steve Lowy, 29, became an honoured recipient of the award which lists household names Gary Rhodes and Marco Pierre White amongst its previous winners.

The Acorns celebrate the industry’s top rising stars, from chefs, to operations managers to entrepreneurs.  Winners of this award are nominated by their fellow employees for making a positive and outstanding impact through their work. Acorn recipients are then selected by a judging panel who recognises them as the future of the industry.  The judges obviously saw the qualities that they were looking for in Lowy.  His enthusiasm and determination for the success of the umi hotel brand have proven to be exceptional.

After studying hospitality and tourism at Salford University, Lowy became the general manager of a backpackers hostel in London.  In 2007, he opened the umi London, in the former Westminster Hotel.  The umi group now boasts three locations including Brighton and Moscow and there are plans for further international expansion.

Lowy is not unfamiliar with recognition for his work within the industry.  Umi London has been named one of the ‘Top 50 Budget Hotels in the World’ by the Telegraph.  In 2008 Lowy was recognised as the North and West London Business Person of the Year and was then named the “one to watch in tourism” in The Courvoisier The Future 500 list.

All of the Acorn Award winners attended the weekend-long recognition ceremony at the ABode hotel in Chester.  Team-building activities took place, such as making chariots from cardboard and racing them through a course, providing the winners with an ideal opportunity to network with fellow industry professionals.  The celebration continued with a reception and gourmet dinner in The Michael Caines Restaurant before the formal presentations the following day.  Winners were praised for their achievements and then became members of the respected Acorn alumni.

June 16th, 2010

umi London’s new complimentary walking tour is the best medicine for jet lag

umi Hotel London, a budget hotel in the heart of London, is continuing to expand their numerous guest services. Thanks to the work of an intern, they have recently added a self-guided audio walking tour of the beautiful and historic Notting Hill and Bayswater area.

Keeping up with founder Steve Lowy’s goal of providing students with opportunities within the brand, Caroline, an intern from the Maastricht Hospitality School, is responsible for creating this new service for guests. This project has helped her to learn more about the popular locations in the area around the umi hotel. It also allowed her to conduct research on the services that guests want the hotel to offer. In the first two weeks of the tours launch Caroline has enjoyed seeing her hard work pay off when guests return with positive feedback.

Although this tour may be taken at any point during a guests stay, it can also serve as a valuable solution to hotel check in wait times. Guests, especially ones travelling from outside of the EU, often arrive to their destination before their hotel’s check in time. This situation can leave jet-lagged visitors with no where to go or to store their belongings. Umi’s walking tour is able to fill this period of time and give guests the opportunity to begin their visit to London right away. Travellers can store their suitcases in umi’s convenient luggage storage area, and then they may begin on the journey to learn about the remarkable area surrounding the hotel.

The umi walking tour includes a map marked with fifteen popular locations in the region, such as Westbourne Grove, Jimi Hendrix’ House, Portobello Road, Kensington Palace and Hyde Park. It also consists of an mp3-player which serves as the tour guide, giving information and explaining the significance of each site listed on the map. Guests have the choice of listening to the full tour, or skipping to the places in which they are most interested. They are also able to explore at their own pace and still have time to take a break, shop, or stop for lunch.

Whether travelling for business or for pleasure, the complimentary umi walking tour is an excellent way to learn about the trendy Notting Hill and Bayswater area. And, it is an innovative idea from the mind of yet another driven intern at umi London.

umi hotels are made up of umi Hotel London, umi Hotel Brighton and Petrovka Loft Hotel Moscow

Contact Steve at steve@umihotels.co.uk

June 9th, 2010

Nurturing home-grown talent

A young hospitality student from the University of Salford has become the first umi hotels intern to graduate into management through the umi hotels internship program.

Yogesh Mistry is 22 years old and currently completing his degree in hospitality and tourism.  Having worked his way up through reception, concierge, conference and events roles at umi hotel London, he is now moving into a senior management position.  The new role of Management Trainee involves living on the hotel premises, financial analysis and overseeing the daily running of the 117-room hotel.

Umi hotels Founder, Steve Lowy, has made the effort to work with many academic institutions both in the UK and abroad to help train hospitality students right from the moment he began his business.  Ranging from 1 week GCSE work experience to 6 month language and hospitality placements, over fifty students have worked at umi so far, covering more than 15 different nationalities from as close as France and as far as Argentina.  Steve also speaks at universities several times a year on topics including hospitality marketing and business management.

Yogesh, known as Yogi, said “My roles at umi have helped me understand how the business world really works, particularly aspects of hotel management and hospitality management. Umi has helped me become a confident communicator, a leader and also provided me with the opportunity to achieve my career ambitions.”

He went on to say “one reason why I want to stay at umi is because of the company’s passion to provide the best service it can to its customers. There are a lot of opportunities and I feel that I can learn and develop myself even further”.

Patrick Trodden, Lecturer at the University of Salford said “I am delighted for Yogi.  The focus of programmes at the University of Salford is to combine the academic world with the world of enterprise.  I believe that the internship offered by umi hotels reflects this partnership and will continue to allow Yogi the opportunity to consolidate the knowledge he has gained on his degree programme in a vocational setting.  This will enable him to develop an effective management style which will be responsive to the needs and pressures of the real world.”

Umi hotels receives around thirty applications for its internship program every year and the success of the program proves that young ambitious people are more than willing to gain the experience they need to achieve great things in a competitive industry.

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