About GAIA Hotel
Run by the same family for four generations, GAIA Hotel in Basel has the charm of a heritage property with the comfort of a four-star wellness stay, complete with a spa and meeting spaces. They also take their commitment to sustainability seriously. By using the search engine Ecosia, they've already helped plant nearly 2,000 trees, and the entire hotel runs on renewable energy - wind, solar and biomass.
GAIA Hotel wanted to cut back on manual work and adopt tools that make day-to-day operations smoother. Moving from Oracle to a cloud-based PMS was a key step in clearing out old systems and habits. They switched to Mews in October 2015, becoming the first hotel in Switzerland to do so, and they've been using it ever since.
"We've been with Mews for 10 years. That kind of loyalty is earned - the system and us have scaled side by side, with shared successes and deepening trust at every stage."
Loyalty and trust: 10 years with Mews
Challenge
Navigating change management was a difficult task, since a lot of the front desk staff back then considered Oracle to be state-of-the-art. On top of that, Mews didn't yet have a track record in Switzerland, as GAIA Hotel was the first property there to implement the system.
Solution
GAIA Hotel took a steady, hands-on approach to the switch. Training sessions were short and focused on real situations the staff faced every day. What helped most was transparency. The leadership shared why change was necessary, showed how the new system would cut repetitive work and made sure every person had space to ask questions and test things out. As confidence grew, the early skeptics became the ones helping others learn and refine their own way of working. Thanks to Mews University and the system's simplicity, the onboarding of new front desk staff now takes just 3-5 days, which simply wasn't possible before.
Result
- The team got a chance to simplify and even omit many tasks that slowed them down
"I remember getting in touch with Matt, CEO of Mews, and was not only amazed by the product, but also by his knowledge, sincerity and dedication. He was ready to reform the industry, and Mews is now doing just that."
Replacing legacy constraints with cloud-native flexibility
Challenge
The team knew that leaving Oracle meant finding a new channel manager and a new GDS provider at the same time. Without a reliable setup, they wouldn't be able to update rates properly across their distribution channels.
Solution
Anyone working in hotels at the time will remember the constant need to restart interfaces because they'd freeze or stop syncing... several times a week. Switching to Mews removed that hassle. Mews also supports GAIA's firm stance against OTA discount programs, helping them keep their best offer direct while still allowing for more nuanced minimum-stay and short lead-time rules. On top of that, GAIA strengthened their security setup with two-factor authentication (2FA) across roles, better control over shared accounts and clear staff education around phishing risks.
Result
- Freedom to manage distribution the way they intended
Smarter day-to-day hotel management
Challenge
Many hotels struggle with routine tasks, limited staffing and a widening gap between what teams can deliver and what guests expect. As an independent property, GAIA Hotel wanted to balance smart tech with genuine personal service in a way that felt natural for both guests and staff.
Solution
Before Mews, the Executive Housekeeper had to print endless task lists for the team - a daily ritual that ate up time and paper. Mews Housekeeping has become a staff favorite because it frees them up for more guest-facing work. GAIA also handles many business group bookings, and after switching to Mews, group handling went from slow to a quick, organized process. On the front-office side, real-time room status and arrivals gave teams a clearer picture of the day ahead, cutting down on back-and-forth communication and reducing the chance of missed details.
Result
- Smoother operations across departments and a more relaxed rhythm on busy days
- Staff spend less time wrestling with tasks and more time engaging with guests
"The front office loves group handling. In an instant, group reports are created with a thorough overview. We receive a lot of business group bookings, so this is a feature my team would never give away."
A faster, safer payment flow
Challenge
Previously, staff had to manually enter card details into a terminal for each booking - a two-minute task repeated all day. It took time away from guests and created unnecessary pressure for staff during check-ins.
Solution
Mews Payments automates GAIA Hotel's non-refundable transactions, which make up about a third of their revenue. With tokenized cards and automated charging, staff no longer have to touch sensitive payment details or read card numbers at the desk, which is a big relief for everyone involved. And because payments are embedded in the PMS, finance teams gain a real-time overview without juggling external providers or mismatched reports.
Result
- Fully embedded payments
- 0.01% chargeback rate (industry average is 0.5%)
"Almost a third of our team's time has been allocated to more meaningful tasks thanks to Mews Payments. Plus, almost a third of our revenue has been prepaid, hence improving our cash flow."
Integration spotlight
Adding tools used to mean having to spend many painful hours with laborious interface mapping. GAIA Hotel enjoys the advantages of being able to plug in new tools quickly and for free, customizing their tech stack. They're currently using 10 hospitality integrations.
"The great thing about the Mews Marketplace is that it's possible to quickly try out an integration, to see whether it truly adds value to the guest experience or operational standards," concludes Selinda.
Oaky by Plusgrade
Oaky is an upselling software that helps GAIA Hotel boost their revenue by offering relevant upgrades and services to their guests. With automation, segmentation and dynamic pricing, it maximizes the average spend per guest and removes manual work.
STR
STR retrieves property performance data regarding reservations, spaces, availability and revenue to provide hoteliers with confidential, reliable, accurate and actionable data to assist in strategic and operational decisions. Learn more