First and foremost, the core similarity between multifamily and casino hotel Revenue Management solutions is that they are not simply software systems, but rather a way of operating a business that enables organizations to achieve their strategic objectives. For casino hotels, this is attracting the highest-value customers possible. For multifamily, it is filling units at rents that ensure consistent profitability.

Other similarities include:
Both industries report substantial revenue gains from Revenue Management (three to five percent lease/rent lift in multifamily; over five percent in gaming hotels).
Both industries use Revenue Management information about client behavior to create detailed supply and demand forecasts, and optimize rates based on them.
Both factor seasonal demand, competitor positioning, and market factors into rate-setting.
Both are committed to developing system-based rate-setting processes that will survive employee turnover.

Revenue Management delivers three to five percent lift; free from human bias.

Revenue Management works, regardless of the industry. Some multifamily operators have seen revenue-per-unit lifts of five percent, with the industry average around three and one half percent. Casino hotels are getting a slightly higher percentage because their re-pricing opportunities occur every day, whereas in the multifamily industry rate resetting takes place over a much longer period due to the duration of an accepted price. Though prices are reset in both industries daily or even intraday, as hotel stays are much shorter than a typical apartment lease, hotels can “churn” their entire inventory more quickly. The revenue benefits in each industry result from the ability of automated Revenue Management to quickly and accurately analyze large amounts of data to assess demand, supply, and price sensitivity in order to create the most profitable pricing offers. In the multifamily industry this data may include:
Recent demand level (de-seasonalized)
Leasing seasonality and operational history

The results of this process for multifamily operators are optimized lease/rent recommendations for a variety of unit types and lease terms from their Revenue Management system based on statistically accurate demand forecasting. The added benefit for multifamily communities in the current legal environment is that these optimized lease/rent rates are not based on personal judgment and are free of human bias.

Stakes are higher in multifamily. When multifamily operators compare their business to a casino hotel, they can confidently say the stakes are higher for apartment communities when it comes to rate-setting. Casino hotel guests book their rooms for a few nights, but multifamily residents more often occupy apartments for a year or more with only one chance to set the rates correctly, so the rental pricing decision has greater financial impact. This puts more pricing pressure on multifamily lease rent decisions because if a multifamily operator under-charges for a new lease, the company may waste the best-value potential of that unit for an entire year.

Casino hotels value guests; multifamily operators value units. Casino hotels and multifamily communities each serve many types of customers and set rates based on information gathered from a number of sources. Most multifamily administrators establish lease/rents based the health of their local market, demand, and the rental unit’s value; whereas casino hotels look at a customer’s value to the hotel and gaming floor and set pricing recommendations based on their historical revenue contribution. In other words, a frequent gamer who is likely to drop a bundle on the blackjack table will get a better room rate than a conventioneer who might only drop a few dollars in a slot machine.

Depending upon his or her gaming history, the high-roller might get his or her room “comped” (short for complimentary); but for casino hotel operators like Boyd Gaming, comping is not the reflexive decision it used to be. After implementing an automated Revenue Management system, Boyd actually reduced its comps by 35 percent while increasing cash revenue four percent. Their top gaming customers still get the best rates, but non-gaming customers are charged rates to make their value equivalent to the gamers.

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