Hotels
How to list your hotel
This page is for hoteliers. If you are a guest and want to see some of our favourite hotels with great showers, you can find these here.
Over the last year we have worked with the management of a number of luxury hotels in Sydney and Port Douglas to test the Shower Away concept. If you would like us to list your property, please request this by contacting us. We would love to hear from you.
The Shower Away concept has been developed by hotel professionals and is aimed at creating a smooth process that is both guest and hotel-centric (fitting in with your current operations), whilst creating an additional stream of room revenue, with the option to suggest-sell food and beverage (hotel restaurants and bars) on check-in and check-out. Shower Away works best for 5 star hotels located in popular tourist or city locations.
Because the Shower Away concept is brand new, we have compiled some FAQs to help you easily navigate the hotel operations. We are also more than happy to answer any other queries you may have.
How does Shower Away receive income?
We plan to charge a referral commission, similar to Booking.com or Expedia. Our commission rate will be 15%. In practical terms this rate is lower than many other OTAs. For example an OTA may charge hundreds of dollars for a booking of multiple nights, plus any F&B packages. Where a Shower Away commission may only be several dollars. Our commission covers our expenses, such as advertising, coding and administration. You will typically list Shower Away in the agent field (or similar) of guest reservations in your PDMS and we will issue a monthly invoice for any commissions, after you have received the bookings and payments from guests. Because you collect payment on check-in, you receive the funds immediately, unlike some other OTA reservations. Any upsells you do, such as F&B or late check-out fees (including overnight) are not commissionable, meaning you only pay commission on the initial Shower Away reservation.
How much do guests pay?
Guests typically pay different rates depending on the hotel star rating. For 5 star properties the Shower Away rate is $50. For 4 star properties this is $40 and 3 star properties $30. In the future this may be dynamic and you may set this based on your occupancy and/or room rates.
May I advertise a Shower Away rate on my hotel website, for direct bookings?
Yes. You just need to ensure that the public rate is not cheaper than the Shower Away website so that you achieve parity.
Is it good to offer a range of room types?
Yes, in the future we anticipate offering room types to suit a larger number of people. For example a room type that would suit a family of 4 would be used for a family of 4 looking to Shower Away. The overnight rate for larger rooms is usually higher than standard rooms, meaning you may receive higher room revenue for these bookings.
Why is the rate so much cheaper than the overnight rate?
The guest is only using the room for up to 1 hour, meaning that you could have the Shower Away booking between overnight bookings. The room clean is much faster, meaning housekeeper wage-cost savings, because the room is much cleaner than your typical departure clean. Furthermore, one of the big cleaning costs is the removal of used bedding, taking it to get cleaned, cleaning and pressing of the linen, and then bringing it back up to the room and re-making of the hotel room bed (or beds). We anticipate your total costs per Shower Away booking will be minimal. This means with a Shower Away booking you may be receiving a substantial profit margin, which you are entitled to, as your hotel room bathrooms are your underutilised assets, which we are helping you to realise.
Can I use Shower Away to generate income between back-to-back reservations?
Most certainly. Because Shower Away room cleaning is minimal in time and effort, you could re-sell the room to a same day arrival. Additionally, Shower Away rooms will typically be your ‘last sell’ rooms with no views, as Shower Away guests are not expecting, nor have time to enjoy rooms with a view. If you are not 100% occupancy, you also have the option to drop the room and clean it the next day, if this is more convenient.
Why can Shower Away guests only check-in between 2 pm to 3 pm?
This is the time of highest demand for Shower Away guests, after a day at the beach and before dinner, or the journey home. It is also the time all hotel rooms have typically been cleaned and are ready for your guaranteed check-in time. This timeframe also means there is time to clean the room that afternoon, if it is required for an overnight guest, noting the clean is minimal and may be achieved by a house-person, or similar.
What if we are running close to 100%, can we stop-sell Shower Away?
Yes, contacting us directly anytime (we never close) or in the future, by stop-selling on your channels. You can also give us instructions ahead of time. However, Shower Away is only available for check-in between 2 pm to 3 pm. This is the time when guests most often need Shower Away, after a day at the beach and before an evening dinner. This timing means many hotels have the capability to clean the room before the last arrival checks-in, even when you are at (or close to) 100% occupancy, allowing you to generate additional room revenue, if this is something you choose.
How do I stop guests taking longer than one hour?
We recommend taking a pre-authorisation for the total overnight rate plus any incidentals, per your normal hotel policy, and then charging the guest the Shower Away rate (per the reservation confirmation) on check-out. This means if the guest decides to stay longer than 1 hour, including overnight (subject to availability) you have already taken the required pre-authorisation. This also puts the onus on the guest to check-out within 1 hour, rather than you having to chase the guest. All of our policies are aimed at allowing Shower Away to work seamlessly and practically within your existing hotel operations.
If you have any other specific questions, or suggestions for how we could update this webpage or website, please contact us. We look forward to hearing from you!
