Quest Cannon Hill implemented Flexkeeping, a Mews company, to remove operational friction. Here’s what happened in the first 30 days.
Quest Cannon Hill knows a thing or two about speed. With 98 apartments and 90%+ occupancy rate year-round, the Brisbane-based hotel is always on fast mode. Rooms turn over quickly, which means maintenance and housekeeping need to keep up.
With high-speed service came a good amount of chaos. The team worked hard and fast, but not necessarily efficiently. General Manager and Franchisee Campbell Lee wanted to implement a system that could remove friction points. Not just to help his team work faster, but to make their workdays significantly easier.
Expectations were high when he introduced Flexkeeping. What he didn’t expect was how quickly the results would show up.
»We went live a little bit earlier than planned. We were that excited. And the staff were excited too.«
After one month, the impact was hard to ignore.
66 total hours saved in one month.
Before Flexkeeping, mornings started the same way: clipboards, printed lists, colored highlighters, and multiple tracking documents.
Housekeeping managers spent 35–40 minutes every day preparing boards and cross-referencing systems to make sure guests would get the service promised. It was thorough, but time-consuming and error prone.
With Flexkeeping, room assignments are done automatically. Custom, complex cleaning schedules are created instantly based on exact PMS data, including guest requests. Everything is accurate and live, so staff can see what needs to be done, wherever they are on the property. All the team leaders have to do is walk in, run Flexkeeping, and hit the floor.
»It’s been great to have our cleaning parameters set up properly from the get-go, and to be confident that housekeeping's got our back in keeping track of what guests need.«
This single change was transformative for the housekeeping team. In one month, they saved 22.5 hours in room assigning alone.
The time-savings didn't stop there. Maintenance and front office teams also felt the impact of automation and digital task management on their admin work. In the first month, Quest Cannon Hill saved a total of 66 hours—time that now goes straight back into service, quality, and team support.
Staff are 87% more productive.
Quest Cannon Hill typically runs with 6–8 housekeepers per day, handling a mix of long-stay and highly transient rooms. With so much movement, clarity matters.
Flexkeeping gives the team real-time visibility into what’s happening and what needs to happen next. Campbell explains:
»It’s empowering our housekeeping teams. They can actually see what’s going on in real time and just go do it.«
Cleaners no longer need to walk to reception to ask if a guest has checked out. They see departures live on their phones and move immediately.
The result is an 87% productivity boost. It’s not that staff are working harder. It’s that roadblocks have been removed from their work, so they can zoom right through to the task at hand.
Task automation saves 18 hours monthly.
One of the biggest surprises for Campbell was how quickly Flexkeeping became more than a housekeeping tool. Front office teams now run everything inside the platform, with tasks automatically created based on PMS data.
»We’ve migrated our daily checklists into Flexkeeping. They’re running their entire day out of it now.«
In just 15 days, more than 100 tasks were created automatically, without anyone needing to remember or follow up. Automation alone saved the team 18 hours in the first month. It also creates a detailed record of what happened, when, and by whom.
But for Campbell, one of the greatest benefits has been the impact on staff wellbeing.
»It’s allowing them more downtime to take a proper rest during the middle of the day, without having to worry about what’s coming tomorrow. Because effectively, they’ve already organized things for tomorrow. It means our executive housekeeper can now work from home and be a bit more flexible with how she manages start times.«
Better communication, better guest stays.
Before Flexkeeping, guest-facing communication was noisy. Front desk teams had to call housekeeping. Housekeeping called maintenance. Guests overheard conversations they didn’t need to hear, especially during early check-in requests.
Not anymore.
»Now they just check a screen. They mark it as urgent if they need to, and the guest is kept up to date. It’s elegant.«
Maintenance workflows improved just as dramatically. Issues that don’t need immediate attention are logged, filtered, parked, and recalled exactly when needed.
Even outsourcing became clearer. Staff can instantly tell guests how an issue will be resolved and by who. Clarity builds trust with guests, even when issues can’t be fixed immediately.
450% ROI, plus smarter purchasing moves.
After one month, the numbers told a clear story: $1,950 AUD saved in labour costs and a 450% ROI. The economic impact—coupled with happier staff and guests—gives Campbell confidence in their investment.
»We’re already seeing dividends on the investment. It’s well and truly paying itself back.«
Unexpected financial perks showed up too. Take inventory management, for example. Stock levels for amenities are now tracked digitally. The team has all the consumption data they need to reduce waste and make smarter purchasing decisions, so they’re never under or overstocked.
Linen management is especially streamlined. Campbell says:
»Previously, reject linen would go into bags and would be laboriously counted. Now, it's already counted as soon as it comes out of the room. It’s an absolute game-changer. We just pull a report and send it off to the laundry.«
Unexpectedly fast adoption.
Campbell says the staff who were the most apprehensive soon became experts in the tool.
»We had a few potential resistors. They ended up being our biggest assets.«
They were so focused on understanding the filters and workflows, that they mastered them. They became champions of the tool for other team members. Adoption snowballed quickly from there.
The front desk team was especially keen to dive in. They now create tasks as soon as guests request them, because they have the confidence they’ll be delivered correctly and on time.
A "no-brainer" for busy hotels.
From the smooth onboarding to the tangible impact on his team, Campbell says Quest franchisees shouldn’t think twice about implementing Flexkeeping.
»If you enjoy a good bit of tech, it’s a no-brainer. But even if you don’t, your staff will love you for it.«
In one month, Quest Cannon Hill has made huge operational strides. There’s no telling what they’ll accomplish from here. But we’re excited to find out.
In need of an operational makeover? You’re in the right place. Book a demo to see how Flexkeeping can upgrade your housekeeping, maintenance, and service delivery—fast.
