Munich-based Ruby Hotels plans to adding eight new properties to its portfolio by 2020, including its first in the UK.
The company premiered in Vienna, Austria, with the Ruby Sofie in 2014, before opening two more hotels in Vienna—the Ruby Marie and Ruby Lissi—as well as Ruby Lilly in Munich, Ruby Coco in Düsseldorf and Ruby Lotti in Hamburg, Germany, which soft-opened in October and will officially open this week. The brand is preparing to launch in London’s Southbank next autumn and will add hotels in Zurich, Switzerland; Cologne and Frankfurt, Germany; and Shanghai, China, before the end of 2020.
Ruby Hotels makes use of centralization, automation and modular construction for a reported break-even point at less than 45 percent occupancy. The brand skips hotel features typically associated with high-end properties, such as in-house restaurants, mini-bars and room service. These are replaced with communal areas serving breakfast without the need of a chef or full kitchen, as well as ‘maxi-bar’ vending machines and galley kitchens. Each property has a 24-hour bar, co-working spaces, a boutique movie theater and a yoga studio.
The brand’s modular architectural design makes the best use of space, while technology simplifies operations, according to the company. For example, each guestroom has a personal tablet PC and smartphone pre-loaded with Ruby Hotels’ local city guides, social media apps and unlimited data and calls, while a self-check-in system uses tablet-computers to reduce check-in time to less than one minute.
Automation and centralization also extend to back-of-house functions: All administrative, marketing, reservation and purchasing tasks are handled by the corporate office, while a large portion of distribution, reservation and front-office processes are automated.