Beyond the Room: Why Total Guest Value Is the Future of Hotel Revenue

Personalisation, Packaging and Profit - Adrienne in conversation with Patryk Luszcz, Regional Director, UK, Profitroom

For years, hotel performance has largely been judged by one thing:

Filling rooms.

Then came ADR, occupancy, RevPAR and endless conversations about pricing strategy.

But according to many hospitality leaders, that mindset is no longer enough.

Today, the conversation is shifting from simply selling rooms to maximising total guest value - looking beyond the booking itself and understanding how every touchpoint in the guest journey can drive both better experiences and stronger profitability.

In a recent episode of Revenue Rocks Podcast, Right Revenue Founder & CEO Adrienne Hanna sat down with Patryk Luszcz, Regional Director at Profitroom, to explore how hotels can unlock more revenue through smarter guest experiences, better use of data, and stronger direct booking strategies.

It’s not just about top-line revenue anymore

One of the biggest challenges facing hotels today is what Patryk describes as a “holistic profitability problem.”

With rising labour costs, inflation, energy prices and operational pressures continuing to squeeze margins, simply increasing occupancy isn’t enough. Hotels need to look beyond top-line revenue and ask:

What is this booking actually worth?

That means understanding:

• Cost of acquisition

• Distribution costs

• OTA dependency

• Ancillary revenue opportunities

• Total guest spend

As Patryk explains, many hotels still don’t know their overall cost of acquisition - making it difficult to truly understand profitability.

And that’s where the shift begins.

The power of direct bookings

One of the clearest themes from the conversation was the commercial advantage of direct bookings.

Why? Because direct channels give hotels far greater control over the guest journey.

When bookings come through OTAs, hotels often lose visibility, ownership of guest relationships, and opportunities to personalise the stay.

Direct bookings, however, create space to:

• Personalise offers

• Package experiences

• Increase ancillary spend

• Strengthen guest loyalty

• Improve profitability

Or, put more simply: You can’t maximise total revenue if you don’t control the relationship with the guest.

Why packaging often beats upselling

Interestingly, one of the strongest insights from the discussion centred around how hotels present offers during the booking journey.

Rather than overwhelming guests with endless add-ons, Patryk suggests hotels should think more strategically about packaging experiences.

For example:

Instead of selling a room and later trying to bolt on extras, why not package:

• Dinner, bed & breakfast

• Spa experiences

• Early check-in

• Late check-out

• Experiences tailored to the destination

The results can be significant.

According to Profitroom’s insights, well-designed packages can increase conversion and drive materially higher guest spend.

But timing matters.

A guest booking a romantic weekend break likely wants something very different to a family travelling during school holidays.

Which brings us to the real differentiator:

Personalisation is becoming non-negotiable

Modern guests increasingly expect experiences tailored to their needs - and hotels that fail to personalise risk losing business to competitors who do.

But the good news is personalisation doesn’t have to mean complexity. Sometimes, it’s simply showing the right offer at the right moment.

If a guest has already booked breakfast, don’t try to sell breakfast again.

Instead, recommend:

• Afternoon tea

• A spa treatment

• A premium dining experience

• A room upgrade with a better view

The key is relevance. As Patryk explained, upselling should feel helpful, not transactional.

Guests don’t want to feel pushed into spending money. They want hotels to enhance their stay.

Revenue managers are becoming “profit drivers”

Perhaps one of the most interesting takeaways was Patryk’s view on the evolving role of revenue managers.

Historically, revenue management was often focused on rate parity, competitor pricing and inventory control.

Patryk jokingly described the old model as:

“Parity police.”

But today?

Revenue leaders are becoming something much bigger:

Commercial drivers of profitability.

With technology increasingly automating pricing decisions, revenue teams have an opportunity to become more strategic — working across departments to influence the full guest journey and unlock greater total revenue.

The takeaway for hotels?

The hotels that thrive over the next few years won’t simply be the ones with the highest occupancy.

They’ll be the ones that understand total guest value.

That means:

Better data. Smarter personalisation. Stronger direct channels. And more meaningful guest experiences.

Because ultimately, guests are no longer just booking a room.

They’re buying an experience.

And hotels that learn how to monetise that experience thoughtfully — without losing the human touch — will be the ones that stand out.

Keen to find out more about how Right Revenue can support your commercial strategy? Contact us on ask@rightrevenue.co.uk to arrange a chat! We would love to hear from you.