When Aurora Hotels — a boutique chain with four properties across the Middle East — first reached out to us, their operations team was drowning in spreadsheets. Front desk staff juggled three separate systems for reservations, channel management, and guest communication. Housekeeping updates happened over WhatsApp. Revenue reports took two days to compile.
Six months after switching to HotelOS, we sat down with Nadia El-Amin, Aurora’s Chief Operating Officer, to hear how things have changed.
”We didn’t realize how broken our workflow was”
“Honestly, we thought the chaos was normal,” Nadia told us. “Every hotel we’d worked at operated the same way — one system for bookings, another for the channel manager, a third for invoicing. You just got used to the friction.”
The turning point came when Aurora’s Amman property double-booked a VIP suite during peak season. The OTA had confirmed the reservation, but the PMS hadn’t synced. A guest showed up to a room that wasn’t available.
“That was embarrassing. That was the moment I said, we need one system that actually talks to itself.”
What changed with HotelOS
Aurora deployed HotelOS across all four properties over a phased two-month rollout. The impact was immediate:
- Real-time channel sync — OTA listings, direct bookings, and walk-ins now update availability instantly across all platforms. Double bookings dropped to zero.
- Unified dashboard — Front desk, housekeeping, and management all work from the same interface. No more toggling between tabs or waiting for manual updates.
- Automated night audit — What used to take a night manager 90 minutes now runs automatically at 2 AM. Reports are ready by morning.
- Guest communication — Confirmation emails, pre-arrival messages, and review requests are all automated but customizable per property.
The numbers speak for themselves
After six months on HotelOS, Aurora shared their internal metrics:
| Metric | Before | After |
|---|---|---|
| Average check-in time | 8 minutes | 3 minutes |
| Weekly hours on manual reports | 18 hours | 2 hours |
| OTA overbookings per month | 4–6 | 0 |
| Guest satisfaction (NPS) | 62 | 78 |
| Revenue report turnaround | 2 days | Real-time |
“The time savings alone justified the switch,” Nadia said. “But what surprised us was how much it improved the guest experience. When your staff isn’t stressed about systems, they’re more present with guests.”
A single source of truth
One of the features Nadia highlighted was the cross-property dashboard. As COO, she oversees all four locations and previously relied on end-of-week reports from each general manager.
“Now I open HotelOS in the morning and I can see occupancy, revenue, and housekeeping status across every property in real time. I make better decisions because I have better data — and I have it right now, not three days later.”
The booking engine changed direct revenue
Aurora had been paying steep commission rates to OTAs for the majority of their bookings. HotelOS’s built-in booking engine, which integrates directly into their website, helped shift that balance.
“In six months, our direct bookings went from 15% to 38% of total reservations. That’s a significant amount of commission we’re no longer paying. The booking engine pays for itself many times over.”
Advice for other hotel operators
When asked what she’d tell other hotel operators considering a platform switch, Nadia was direct:
“Stop patching together systems that weren’t designed to work together. The hospitality industry has unique needs — you need software built specifically for hotels, not generic tools you’re forcing to fit. HotelOS was built by people who understand hotel operations, and it shows in every feature.”
HotelOS is Wajito’s property management platform built for modern hotels. It combines PMS, channel management, and a direct booking engine in one unified system. Learn more about HotelOS or get in touch to see how it can work for your property.
