Customer spotlight: Campus X
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How Campus X Uses Rate Insight and Market Insight to drive ADR growth and competitive strength
Key Results:
Saved 6–8 hours per week on manual market research
Improved ADR by 8–10% in Turin; stronger OTA positioning
Identified high-demand events early, enabling proactive pricing strategies
About Campus X
Campus X (CX) is a rapidly expanding hybrid hospitality company with 12 properties in cities including Milan, Turin, Venice, and Trieste. Its portfolio blends hotels, hostels, and long-stay student residences, serving both domestic and international guests. The student segment operates on a long-term leasing model. Meanwhile, the short-stay hotels and hostels require agile, data-driven revenue management to compete in dynamic urban markets.
Gianluca Guarino, Revenue Manager at CX, oversees pricing, distribution, and performance monitoring for all short-stay properties from the Rome head office. Since joining in 2021, he has led revenue strategy through a period of rapid growth – from just two properties to eight short-stay operations in four years – and has been instrumental in choosing the right tools to keep pace.
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From slow, manual checks to real-time market visibility
Challenge:
When Gianluca joined Campus X in 2021, the short-stay portfolio included just two properties in Turin. With no market intelligence platform in place, all competitor research was done manually.
This meant checking OTA listings for two or three competitors each day– the most he could manage without sacrificing other work– and copying those rates into an Excel sheet.
In Turin alone, he was spending one to two hours daily just to get a partial view of the market. Without insight into the full compset or upcoming demand shifts, decisions were based on incomplete data and historical trends from unrelated markets.
Solution:
Lighthouse’s Rate Insight and Market Insight replaced manual processes with a centralised platform showing live competitor rates, market demand indicators, and event data. This allowed Gianluca and his team to monitor the full competitive set across multiple cities in real time. The hours saved are now reinvested in deeper analysis, scenario planning, and cross-department strategy.
Results:
Saved 6–8 hours per week on market research
Expanded monitoring from 2–3 competitors to the full relevant compset
Stronger, faster, and more defensible pricing decisions
Redirected time into deeper analysis, scenario planning, and cross-department strategy
"Before using Lighthouse, I used to spend hours searching for market trends or contacting OTA managers. Now, with one click, I can get all the information I need in real time – and spend that time on actions that actually grow revenue."
Spotting opportunities to expand the portfolio into new markets
Challenge:
CX’s rapid expansion meant opening properties in cities Gianluca had never managed before, such as Milan, Venice, Trieste, and Modena.
Entering a new market without historical performance data or local demand patterns left him guessing on how to position rates, especially during the first months when a property has few OTA reviews to support premium pricing.
In these conditions, relying on historical data from other cities, as he had done before Lighthouse, was risky and often inaccurate.
Solution:
With Lighthouse, Gianluca could instantly map out the competitive landscape in each new city. The compset view showed exactly which properties mattered, their rates, and their availability patterns.
Demand heatmaps in Market Insight revealed where booking intent was spiking, even before reservations started to materialise. This meant CX could launch in a new market with a pricing strategy based on live, local conditions rather than assumptions.
Results:
Avoided lengthy trial-and-error in new markets
Achieved competitive positioning without prior historical data
Set confident, data-backed rates for brand-new properties
"When you open in a market you don’t know, it usually takes months to learn where you stand. Lighthouse gives me that understanding on day one, so I can position us correctly from the start."
Faster, more confident event-based pricing
Challenge:
Major events can transform demand overnight, but without forward-looking intelligence, CX risked missing those opportunities, especially in new markets without prior event history.
In October 2024, Gianluca faced exactly this challenge in Milan. One of CX’s two new Milan properties had just opened a few weeks earlier. With no past performance data for that market or event, he initially considered modest rate increases for the dates in question.
Solution:
Using Rate Insight, Gianluca saw that competitors, including higher-tier hotels, were rapidly raising rates for the same dates due to the CPHI medical congress, one of the city’s largest industry gatherings.
Some were charging up to €500 per night. With this visibility, he adjusted pricing aggressively despite the property’s limited OTA reviews, confident that demand would support higher rates.
Results:
Captured significantly higher ADR during the CPHI congress
Prevented underpricing by €200–300 per night on early bookings
Boosted occupancy despite premium pricing for a brand-new property
"I would have sold those rooms for €200–300 without Lighthouse. Seeing competitors go to €500 gave me the confidence to push – and it worked."
Strengthening OTA ranking and competitive positioning
Challenge:
For CX’s newer properties, OTA visibility can make or break performance in the early months. Even when rates were competitive, Gianluca found that lower search rankings on platforms like Booking.com meant the hotels were buried in results.
This reduced visibility to potential guests, making it harder to build occupancy before reviews and repeat business could take hold. Without a way to quickly diagnose ranking issues, he couldn’t take corrective action in time and parity problems or restrictive policies in the compset often went unnoticed until they affected bookings.
Solution:
Lighthouse’s Ranking tab allows Gianluca to see exactly where each CX property appears in OTA search results compared to the competitive set.
The Strategy tab shows competitor policies and restrictions, such as minimum length of stay or cancellation terms, that could influence both ranking and conversion.
When rankings drop, Gianluca immediately contacts OTA account managers to discuss changes – from targeted promotions to adjustments in booking policies – to improve positioning and visibility
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Results:
8–10% ADR growth in Turin year-on-year alongside better OTA visibility
Increased exposure for newer properties in competitive OTA searches
Proactive strategy adjustments to maintain or improve ranking
"The Ranking tab is vital. If we’re not showing well on OTAs, I can see it instantly, speak to our account manager, and fix it before it impacts bookings.”
Low-season strategies to maintain performance
Challenge:
While high season in cities like Milan is relatively straightforward – strong demand allows for aggressive rate pushes – low season is far more challenging. Competitors often introduce discounts, promotions, or relaxed booking restrictions to secure occupancy, and these moves can quickly erode OTA positioning if left unmatched.
Without a way to track competitors’ low-season tactics in real time, Gianluca risked missing the subtle shifts that determine market share in quieter months.
Solution:
Gianluca uses Lighthouse daily during low-demand periods to monitor competitor rate changes, new promotions, and booking policy adjustments across each city.
If competitors introduce aggressive offers or change restrictions, he can respond immediately with targeted adjustments, maintaining CX’s competitiveness while protecting ADR. He cross-checks outcomes against STR reports to confirm that changes are delivering the desired results.
Results:
Maintained OTA positioning even when competitors launched promotions
Improved forecasting accuracy during slow periods
Reduced missed revenue opportunities in low season
"Low season is where the real work happens. Lighthouse lets me see every move the competition makes so I can respond before we lose ground."
Portfolio-wide consistency and team alignment
Challenge:
With eight short-stay properties spread across multiple cities, CX’s revenue management team needed a way to make consistent, timely decisions even when the lead revenue manager wasn’t available.
Previously, property teams often relied on the central office for rate checks or group quotes, creating bottlenecks. This not only slowed responses to market changes but also placed heavy operational load on Gianluca and his immediate team.
Solution:
Lighthouse access is shared across the revenue team and each property’s general manager. Everyone sees the same real-time competitor data, market demand indicators, and OTA positioning.
This means that if Gianluca is occupied, a colleague can still make an informed decision using the same insights he would rely on. Properties can also handle group quotes directly within Lighthouse by referencing the lowest available rate in the system, without having to request central approval for every change.
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Results:
Faster decision-making across the portfolio
Reduced dependency on centralised rate checks for group business
More cohesive strategies between central and property-level teams
"If I’m busy, a colleague can make the same decision I would because they’re looking at exactly the same data. It keeps us consistent and fast across all properties."
Final thoughts
For Gianluca, Lighthouse has become an essential part of CX’s revenue management toolkit – not just for its data, but for the confidence and speed it brings to decision-making. He values the platform’s clarity and ease of use, paired with the responsiveness of the Lighthouse team.
"It adds value from day one. The learning curve is minimal, the insights are immediately actionable, and the people behind the tool are fantastic. Without Lighthouse, we’d be slower, miss opportunities, and operate with one hand tied behind our back."
He emphasises that Lighthouse’s strength comes from both its technology and its people:
"The tool works, it’s fast, and you can trust the data – but if the people behind it aren’t great, you’re left with just a tool. What makes Lighthouse stand out is that you get both: a platform you can rely on and a support team that’s there when you need them. The instant chat means I can get answers right away, without waiting days for an email. That combination of speed, reliability, and human support has made a real difference to how we work.
