Three chains in three months: The hetras revolution gathers steam

UK-based BLOC Hotels selected the hetras Hotel Management Software as a result of an intensive search for a cloud-based product to manage the fast-growing group. After Aducco and OKKO Hotels, BLOC becomes the third chain within three months to choose hetras for the heart of their hotel management.

Highly automated design hotel concept with rapid growth

BLOC Hotels, launched in 2011, developed a product focused on “offering smart accommodation at honest prices for the savvy traveller.” Rob Morgan, founder of BLOC explained: “At BLOC we have won accolades for design, location and price but we also know that the underlying technology plays a decisive role in accomplishing our goals. We are therefore excited to find in hetras a partner that can join us on this journey to create a leading new-generation hotel brand.”

The eye-catching interior design and “pared-down chic” has propelled BLOC to the forefront of hotel design. “The founding team at BLOC comes from outside the hotel industry” added Morgan. “This allows us to bring a fresh perspective to the hospitality business, just as hetras has redefined the concept of hotel software.”

BLOC’s first hotel is a 73-room property in the Jewellery Quarter of Birmingham. A 245-room hotel at Gatwick Airport in London will open in Fall 2013. Further properties will be opened in 2014 and beyond.

The choice of all new hotel brands

“BLOC Hotels fits perfectly with our own strategy: to be the choice of all new hotel brands, especially those offering a high degree of automation” said Ulrich Pillau, hetras’ managing director and head of global sales. The hetras hotel management product covers not only the standard property management, channel management and distribution requirements but fulfills today’s demand for new forms of guest interaction such as mobile applications, kiosks, phone-operated doorlocks and other self-service functions. Thanks to its 100% cloud architecture, hetras is already interfaced to over 250 3rd party products, thus earning its moniker as the heart of hotel management.

hetras has already begun the retrofit of BLOC’s hotel in Birmingham in which a hosted (non-cloud) product will be replaced.