Customer spotlight: Sotetsu Grand Fresa Taipei Ximen
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How Sotetsu Grand Fresa Taipei Ximen uses Lighthouse to save 160 hours a month and sharpen pricing strategy
Key Results:
Saved 162 hours per month on manual pricing work
Achieved +10% monthly RevPAR growth, 20–30% YoY uplift
Improved data accuracy and confidence across all channels
About Sotetsu Grand Fresa Taipei Ximen
In Taipei’s lively Ximen district, Sotetsu Grand Fresa Taipei Ximen blends Japanese efficiency with local hospitality. The 200-room hotel offers a simple, comfortable stay designed for international leisure travelers from Hong Kong, South Korea, Japan, Singapore, and the United States – guests who value convenience, clarity, and consistency.
Jimmy Tang, Revenue Manager, oversees pricing across OTAs and the hotel’s direct channels, along with corporate accounts and media campaigns. With experience in both Japanese and Taiwanese hotel operations, he focuses on keeping the property competitively priced and strategically positioned in one of Taipei’s most dynamic markets.
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From manual frustration to real-time visibility
Challenge:
Before Lighthouse, rate parity and competitor tracking were entirely manual. The team would spend up to two full workdays checking each competitor’s rate across channels. By the time the data was compiled, it was already outdated, forcing decisions based on stale or incomplete information. This made pricing reactive and often meant missing opportunities to optimize high-demand periods.
Solution:
Implementing Lighthouse replaced manual research with automated, real-time intelligence. Jimmy could finally see the “full picture” of rate movements and parity across all channels within minutes, giving him the confidence to act on live data instead of assumptions.
Results:
Reduced rate-checking time from two days to ten minutes per day
Saved 162 hours per month on analysis
Ensured pricing and parity decisions were always based on live, accurate data
“Before, I checked once a month for six months ahead – it took eight to twelve hours each time. Now, I check every day in ten minutes and can review special days anytime.”
Building a structured daily workflow around data
Challenge:
Without a regular way to review and adjust rates, Jimmy found it hard to align rates with actual demand or to anticipate market shifts early enough. Rate changes were often triggered by occupancy dips rather than real demand signals.
Solution:
He formalized a daily Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) using Lighthouse data as its foundation. Each morning, he reviews Lighthouse's heat map to identify upcoming demand peaks, cross-checks pickup and rate trends and then adjusts prices across the next 365 days. This structure transformed revenue management from an ad-hoc process into a disciplined, data-led routine.
Results:
Established a consistent, repeatable daily pricing process
Improved agility in reacting to market changes
Identified sell-out competitors early and optimized rates proactively.
“If my competitor sells out at 6,000 TWD, I know I can sell higher – maybe 10,000. I can act fast because I see everything in real time.”
Channel control and parity discipline
Challenge:
Maintaining consistent pricing across multiple OTAs was a constant struggle. Manual parity checks made it difficult to enforce rules, and occasional undercutting by partners weakened confidence in the direct channel.
Solution:
With Lighthouse, Jimmy monitors all channels daily to uphold a clear parity strategy:
The official website must always show the lowest rate.
When running campaigns with OTA partners, participating platforms (e.g., Agoda) are priced below other OTAs but still above the official website, in line with hotel policy.
This approach balances promotion visibility with brand integrity, ensuring that discounting never erodes direct booking competitiveness.
Results:
Full visibility of rate integrity across channels
Stronger compliance among OTA partners
Reinforced direct channel value proposition
“If I see a channel showing a lower price than my direct site, I close that channel immediately. Our rule is clear: the homepage must always be the lowest.”
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Turning demand heat maps into forward strategy
Challenge:
Taipei’s demand patterns fluctuate sharply around holidays and events, leaving limited time to react if booking surges aren’t spotted early.
Solution:
Using Lighthouse's heat map and event data, Jimmy can now visualize where and when demand will rise – well before it shows in pickup reports. This lets him raise rates strategically ahead of peak dates and secure more revenue while maintaining occupancy balance.
Results:
Forecasted high-demand periods early, including Easter and Christmas
Set prices proactively and captured higher ADRs
Strengthened forecasting confidence with real-time validation
“At Easter this year, demand was very strong – second only to Christmas. I set high prices early and had full confidence the bookings would come.”
Real-time insights that drive measurable performance
Challenge:
Without automated intelligence, revenue decisions were often guided by partial data or past experience. It was hard to measure if price changes truly aligned with demand or competitor trends.
Solution:
Now, with Lighthouse, Jimmy evaluates live demand indicators, competitor behavior, and his own pickup in one place. He bases every pricing decision on measurable data, not intuition.
Results:
+10% RevPAR growth every month since adopting Lighthouse, verified through their STR reports
20–30% year-over-year RevPAR increase in Q1–Q2
Improved pricing precision and data credibility within the team
“Since using Lighthouse, our RevPAR has increased 10% every month, and our year-over-year growth reached 20–30%. I now base all pricing on real demand.”
Ease of use and responsive support
Challenge:
Earlier tools felt built for other markets or too complex for practical daily use. Training staff or interpreting data took time away from decision-making.
Solution:
Jimmy found Lighthouse’s interface intuitive and its local support team highly responsive, making onboarding seamless.
Results:
Fast adoption with minimal training
Reliable, fast-response support from Lighthouse
Day-to-day revenue management made simpler and more efficient
“Lighthouse is much easier to use, and the staff are very friendly. I can ask questions and get answers quickly – it helps me a lot.”
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Final reflections: Data, discipline, and confidence
Lighthouse sits at the center of Jimmy’s revenue workflow. It is the system he uses to bring consistency to decisions and a clear structure to daily work across different hotels. Instead of following a fixed model, he applies it as a flexible set of tools, adjusting how he uses the platform based on each property’s strategy and goals.
“Revenue work depends on data. The value of Lighthouse is clear – it gives us the information we need to decide with confidence.”
That data-driven foundation shapes how he uses the Lighthouse platform. He relies on it to anticipate shifts in demand, adapt pricing actions to each hotel, and track the impact of those changes over time.
“If Lighthouse were gone, I think I would go crazy. It’s become part of how we work every day.”
