Smarthotel & Net Affinity Partnership | A New Era for Hotel Tech

Mon, 25 Aug 2025 13:50:17 GMT

Bridging expertise: A new era for hotels with Smarthotel and Net Affinity

In January 2025, Smarthotel and Net Affinity entered an exciting strategic partnership as part of the Hotel Tech Group. Although both companies are operating independently and under their own brand, the partnership has created new opportunities for hoteliers across Europe to solve complex challenges more efficiently.

Sharon Cowley, Sales Director at Net Affinity, and Quinten Gazendam, Director of Sales and Marketing at Smarthotel, shared their insights on how this collaboration is benefiting hoteliers and their shared vision for the future.

A partnership built on strengths

Sharon Cowley of Net Affinity reflects on the benefits of working with Smarthotel: “Our collaboration allows us to compete with other providers that offer a broader range of services. With Smarthotel’s flexible infrastructure, we can now build custom connections — particularly valuable for region-specific strategies or even GDS.”

Meanwhile, Quinten Gazendam of Smarthotel emphasised how the companies’ complementary strengths are central to the partnership: “At Smarthotel, we specialise in distribution, PMS connectivity and payments. Net Affinity brings expertise in booking engines and digital marketing. Combining our skills provides a holistic solution for hoteliers that covers both front-end bookings and back-end operations.”

Working together to maximise hotel revenue and guest satisfaction

The main takeaway from their conversation is that while Net Affinity and Smarthotel are separate entities, their collaboration brings new opportunities to streamline hotel operations and revenue management. This partnership offers a seamless integration between booking engines, digital marketing, PMS and payment solutions.

For instance, hoteliers are now benefiting from faster issue resolution. Previously, hotels had to coordinate across multiple vendors when facing rate and package mismatches between websites and OTAs. Now, with the shared support team, issues are resolved quickly, saving time and reducing complexity.

Quinten added: “Previously, dealing with niche OTA connectivity was a dead-end. Now, we can build custom connections for our clients globally. This flexibility ensures we meet the unique needs of every hotelier we work with.”

What this collaboration means for the hotels

Here are a few ways the collaboration is already delivering tangible value:

Rate and package mismatches: Resolved faster with integrated support across website and OTA channels. Now, with joined-up support, issues are resolved quickly by one support team together.
Marketing that syncs with live data: Campaigns from Net Affinity are now backed by real-time availability updates, closing the loop between demand and inventory.
Automated payments: Smart Payments suite helps hotels collect OTA payments or send paylinks for group bookings, reducing manual admin and elevating the guest journey.
Quicker resolution times: Clients now deal with one team who understands both sides of the system – cutting delays and increasing satisfaction.

How hotels are already seeing the benefits

One standout example of this collaboration is The Hawthorn Hotel , a stunning new property opening in 2026 on Ireland’s West Coast.

From day one, The Hawthorn has partnered with Net Affinity and Smarthotel to create an effortless, guest-centric digital ecosystem — all before their first guest checks in.

The hotel’s tech stack is mobile-first and revenue-driven, combining Net Affinity’s booking engine and marketing tools with Smarthotel’s channel manager and PMS integrations . The hotel is benefiting from a fully connected journey from pre-arrival to post-stay, designed to boost conversion, reduce friction and elevate the guest experience.

Watch the full interview here:

Looking at future prospects

Sharon and Quinten are excited about what lies ahead for the collaboration. Sharon sums it up perfectly: “It’s not just about now, it's about guaranteeing our presence in the next decade. Our clients want stability and with this partnership, we’re future proofing our services.”

Quinten adds: “We’ve found a groove with Net Affinity. The synergy between our teams is strong and that’s where the real value lies – creating a better, more integrated experience for hoteliers.”

This corporation between Net Affinity and Smarthotel will be the ultimate solution for hoteliers to drive direct bookings, depend less on OTAs and increase their revenue strategies across Europe.

For hoteliers looking for tailored digital solutions to grow their business, this partnership offers the perfect combination of expertise, innovation and customer-first values.

Smarthotel and Hoteliers.com combine and welcome an investor

Sun, 03 Mar 2024 13:54:25 GMT

Smarthotel and Hoteliers.com are excited to announce their merger, coming together as a unified entity. This merger represents a significant milestone in the growth of both companies, establishing them as a leading provider of hospitality solutions in the market. By combining their expertise, experience, and product offerings, they aim to better assist hoteliers in optimising their operational processes and increasing efficiency and revenue. As a result, hoteliers can dedicate more time and focus on delivering exceptional experiences to their guests.

Both companies are pleased to announce the addition of Connected Capital as an investor in the partnership. Connected Capital, a prominent European B2B software investor, will provide essential support for the merger by offering growth capital and implementing a 'buy-and-build strategy' alongside their expertise. Their participation in the company will accelerate the development of new products and services, as well as drive expansion into untapped markets.

Susan Lagerweij, Partner at Connected Capital: ‘The rapid transition of the Hospitality Tech market to the cloud has led to the availability of more advanced solutions for independent hotels. The diverse range of software solutions and providers in the industry presents a unique opportunity for this strong, combined player to accelerate their growth within its core customer segment.’

‘We are delighted to announce the merger of Smarthotel and Hoteliers.com, along with the addition of Connected Capital as an investor,’ says Pitrik van der Lubbe, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the newly formed organization. ‘Together, we can provide our customers with an even stronger product portfolio. Our focus will be on our cutting-edge payment platform, which seamlessly integrates the automatic encoding of Virtual Credit Cards (VCC), payment pages, payment links, and processing physical terminal payments.’

‘Through the implementation of ‘embedded payment solutions’, hotels can securely process transactions while also benefiting from integrated Ecommerce and In-Person Payments to streamline payment processes across all operations. Ultimately, our goal is to enhance the guest experience and improve operational efficiencies for hoteliers,’ stated Derreck Weterings, Chief Operating Officer (COO).

‘We are committed to upholding our core values, which align closely between both organisations. Our dedication to delivering exceptional services to our customers remains consistent,’ adds Patrick Brand, Chief Marketing Officer (CMO). ‘We look forward to continuing to work with our clients and partners and achieve our common goals.’

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