The Nordic’s largest hotel group has quickly become the most innovative. Since choosing Flexkeeping to automate its operations, Strawberry Hotels has seen a significant impact on some of its largest properties.
At the core of that impact is Strawberry’s human-first approach to tech. Kari Anna Fiskvik, Chief Digital & Tech Officer at Strawberry Hotels, says it best:
»The best tech isn’t the flashiest. It’s the tech your team actually uses. That’s what transforms day-to-day work. The future of hospitality tech is usable, automated, and invisible.«
With that in mind, Strawberry chose Flexkeeping to future-proof their diverse portfolio of properties.
Before Flexkeeping, housekeeping was one of Strawberry’s greatest challenges.
According to Sven Ellingsen Ephithite, Director of Tech Hotel Openings & Systems, the company faced a problem familiar to many hotel groups: a disconnect between the PMS and the operational reality on the ground.
»We had so many discrepancies in the older housekeeping system that we couldn’t trust it. And the hotels didn’t trust it either, so they established a lot of manual routines.«
That mistrust was costing hours in inefficient planning, rework, and miscommunications. With Flexkeeping, that changed.
»We cut 4 hours of planning down to 30 minutes.«
While Strawberry’s original goal was better housekeeping management, the results quickly rippled out.
»At one hotel, we automated 13,700 tasks, which gave back nearly 150 hours to spend on the guest experience.«
This efficiency boost was made possible by Flexkeeping’s Automated Services tool, which turns PMS data into bespoke services without any manual admin.
Solutions like this ladder perfectly into Strawberry’s core KPIs of guest experience, staff satisfaction, and efficiency.
»From the case studies we’ve done, we see signs that sick leave has gone down, guest satisfaction is rising, and internal NPS scores are improving. People used to ask, ‘Should we invest in an operational tool?’ But the impact is much broader.«
The power of Flexkeeping is its ability to be the quiet engine in the background, driving better teamwork in the forefront.
»If someone’s out, everything is already in the system—the next person just picks it up. That’s a real shift in how teams feel at work,« Kari Anna says.
Mobile-first task management, auto-translation for multilingual teams, and real-time sync with Mews mean staff can focus on what they do best. The shift in turnover and team wellbeing has been substantial.
The hotel group has seen a trend in sick leave going down for properties using Flexkeeping. At Strawberry’s Clarion Hotel The Hub property, there has been a noticeable 3% reduction in sick leave. Frontline staff feel more clear and confident in their work. Even supervisors, who once had to show up hours early to manage the day, can now rely on automation and real-time insights to plan scheduling and forecasting.
»Staff get a more predictable day,” Sven says. “Supervisors don’t need to come in as early or stay late anymore. It’s easier to use, adopted in their own language, and recognizable in how they work.«
Before Flexkeeping, data was fragmented or missing altogether. Today, operations are clearer than ever. According to Laila Sæbø, Service Owner PMS & HSK:
»We really didn’t have good data before. Now, we can see exactly where productivity stands. We don’t have to guess anymore.«
Hotel teams can drill down to individual rooms or staff performance and instantly know where to adjust. It allows them to empower teams, without micromanaging.
“We’re giving hotels the tools to reach their KPIs, with control,« Laila adds.
The difference is tangible between properties.
»We see a difference between hotels using Flexkeeping and those that don’t,” Sven explains. “Flexkeeping hotels are more proactive. They have better data to make decisions. Staff embrace it. People who move from a Flexkeeping hotel to one without it—implementing it is the first thing they want to do.«
That internal momentum is accelerating adoption across the group, including new openings.
“We opened our biggest hotel with Flexkeeping within a month and it’s been a success,” Laila says. “They really utilize every part of it.«
Not all staff are tech-savvy. For AI and automation to be adopted at scale, Strawberry knows it needs to be easy to use. Flexkeeping doesn’t require teams to understand AI or learn complex automation workflows. The system fits into daily routines and elevates them.
»Flexkeeping lets us use AI without needing to teach AI,” Kari Anna says. “It helped us see and solve things we weren’t even looking for. That’s the value of automation tied to good data. It shows us what matters and how to move forward.«