Ever wondered what makes the difference between a good hotel stay and a great one? Often, it’s what’s happening behind the scenes. In many hotels, things don’t look great in that department. Staff and managers spend more time putting out fires than improving service.
Technology promises to solve these challenges. But how can it actually help?
For answers, we turned to Denis Severyuk, CEO and co-founder of HotelFriend. His company’s property management software powers hundreds of hotels across Germany and worldwide. Denis brings a unique perspective of a technology expert, obsessed with everything hotels.
In this interview, Denis breaks down exactly how modern property management systems help hotel teams communicate better, work smarter, and create those special moments that keep guests coming back.
Could you briefly introduce yourself and share what inspired you to found HotelFriend?
Denis Severyuk: I’m Denis Severyuk, CEO and co-founder of HotelFriend. I’m a tech professional who couldn’t believe how hotels were still operating in 2015. They were using systems from the Stone Age with clunky interfaces, staff constantly switching between five different programs to check in one guest. It was madness.
I stayed at a nice hotel in Berlin that year. Beautiful property, premium rates – and they were managing everything with Excel and paper. The front desk was drowning in administrative work instead of talking to guests. That was my lightbulb moment.
We launched HotelFriend with a clear mission: build one unified property management system that handles everything. Nine years later, we serve over 900 properties and major cruise lines like TUI. Not because we had the biggest marketing budget, but because we solved real problems that keep hoteliers up at night.
What are the biggest challenges hotel teams face today, and how can technology help?
Denis Severyuk: Hotels today are caught in a perfect storm of staffing shortages, high guest expectations, and economic turmoil with costs squeezing already thin margins. I’ve walked into properties where managers are making beds because they simply can’t find staff.
Proper tech actually makes hospitality more human. When your staff isn’t buried in paperwork, they can actually look guests in the eye. As an example, we implemented check-in kiosks at a property in Wismar and their guest satisfaction scores jumped 32% in three months.
Most hotels are data-rich but insight-poor. They collect everything but use nothing. Good system converts raw data into action – suggest the best room rates, flag VIP guests, or automate upsells based on trends.
Some hoteliers worry that automation will replace human touch. How do you address this concern?
Denis Severyuk: Technology won’t kill hospitality, but burnout will. Our industry ranks in the top-10 for burnout, with 75% of staff affected and younger workers leaving in droves. Meanwhile, travel demand is surging. This equation doesn’t work.
We’ve seen this problem a lot. Front desk staff spend most of their day on tasks that add zero emotional value – typing, clicking, processing. That’s not hospitality.
Smart automation is here to actually bring great service back. It handles the transactional so your people can deliver the exceptional. That’s not just my opinion. It’s what the data shows across properties we’ve worked with. The hotels winning today do not choose between technology and personalized service. They’re using one to upgrade the other.
It is true that hoteliers struggle with high staff turnover, which impacts service. How can the right technology reduce stress and improve job satisfaction?
Denis Severyuk: Staff turnover costs hotels $4,000-$7,000 per employee. But the real damage is to your service quality. You can’t deliver consistency when half of your team changes every year.
Technology tackles this problem in three specific ways. First, it eliminates the soul-crushing repetitive tasks. Second, it removes the common friction points that drive staff crazy. Think about a housekeeper having to call the front desk repeatedly about room status.
Third, good technology makes people better at their jobs. One of our clients saw their new hire training time drop from two weeks to three days after implementing a system, which is more intuitive. When staff feel competent and confident, they stick around. It’s that simple.
One common issue is poor communication between housekeeping, reception, and maintenance teams. How can a centralized PMS or real-time communication platform solve this?
Denis Severyuk: Poor communication creates daily disasters in hotels. Rooms marked clean when they’re not. Maintenance issues are ignored until guests complain. Housekeepers walking in on guests who extended their stay. All these are revenue killers.
A quality PMS solves these problems instantly. Housekeepers update room status with one tap on their tablets. Reception sees it immediately. No more guests waiting while clean rooms sit empty.
Maintenance becomes proactive, not reactive. Staff report issues the moment they spot them. The right person gets alerted with the right priority level. Problems get fixed before guests notice. A broken AC no longer means a negative review.
Even lost-and-found becomes efficient. Items get logged instantly so when a guest calls about their forgotten charger, reception has the answer immediately.
This isn’t complicated technology. It’s all about breaking down information silos. When everyone sees the same data in real-time, service quality jumps immediately. That translates directly to better reviews, higher rates, and stronger profitability.
What should hoteliers look for in a technology provider?
Denis Severyuk: I’ve been in this industry long enough to see hotels waste thousands on systems their staff can’t use. It happens all the time. Let me talk straight about what really matters in a property management system.
Integration is number one. Your booking engine, channel manager, payment processor – they all need to talk to each other. If they don’t, you’ve got a problem.
Security isn’t something to compromise on as well. We handle credit cards and personal data every day. Ask tough questions about encryption and compliance standards. If a provider gets defensive or vague, walk away.
For ease of use, I always say: “If your staff needs a PhD to run it, it’s the wrong system.” We test HotelFriend with actual hotel employees. Your housekeeping staff should be able to pick it up in minutes, not weeks.
Bottom line? Don’t just shop for features and price. You’re choosing a business partner, not a product. The right provider will help you grow. I know both sides of this equation, and I can tell you – the relationship matters as much as the technology.
Key takeaways
A huge thank you to Denis Severyuk for sharing battle-tested insights. Let’s recap how the right technology can help hotel teams worldwide:
- It liberates your people from administrative chains.
- It converts guest data into action and revenue opportunities.
- It fights the burnout epidemic plaguing our industry.
- It fixes communication gaps between front- and back-office teams
- It creates a single source of truth across all operations.
This interview reveals a critical truth: in today’s hospitality landscape, your technology strategy directly determines your capacity to deliver exceptional human service.
The question isn’t whether you can afford these innovations, but whether you can afford to compete without them.
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