When Erin Gilchrist purchased her McMinnville, Oregon bed and breakfast seven and a half years ago, she brought with her decades of hospitality experience—from managing high-end resorts in Colorado to overseeing food and beverage operations for multiple luxury properties. With a bachelor's degree in restaurant and hotel management and a career spanning every facet of the industry, she was no stranger to the challenges of running a successful accommodation business.
Yet even with her extensive background, Erin found herself facing the same pricing dilemma that confronts independent property owners across the hospitality spectrum: how to optimize room rates without dedicating hours to manual adjustments and market analysis.
A Career Built on Excellence
Erin's journey to innkeeper began with a solid foundation in hospitality. After cutting her teeth in the industry, she spent 18 years working at Colorado ski resorts, taught hospitality management as an associate professor, and later served as a regional food and beverage director overseeing seven different hotels for a San Francisco-based management company.
"I'm very much a project person," Erin explains. "I need something new regularly to keep me active and engaged." This drive for innovation and improvement would eventually lead her to TakeUp's AI-powered pricing solution.
Finding Her Perfect Property
After relocating to the Oregon coast to work as the food and beverage director for Bandon Dunes Golf Resort, Erin fell in love with the Willamette Valley wine country. "I really fell in love with McMinnville and Willamette Valley," she recalls. "I'm from the Midwest and I grew up in a farming community. The work ethic is very similar here."
When the opportunity arose to purchase a bed and breakfast that had been operating for nearly 30 years, Erin made the leap from corporate hospitality to independent innkeeper. Her property features six rooms across two houses—four units in the main house, including three queens and a king suite, plus two king suites in the adjacent building.
The Static Pricing Challenge
Upon taking ownership, Erin discovered that the previous owners had employed no dynamic pricing whatsoever. "The price was the price year-round," she explains. "Weekend, weekday, didn't matter."
As an experienced hospitality professional, she immediately implemented basic seasonal and weekend differentiation, and later utilized her property management system's rudimentary yield management features. "If you're 50% booked, then increase my rates by 2% or 5% or $10 or $20," she explains of the system's capabilities.
But with approximately 30% of bookings still coming via phone from price-sensitive guests and the demands of running every aspect of her property, Erin lacked the time for sophisticated rate management. "I didn't look at it daily, not by any means, or even monthly," she admits. "I would look at it usually in November or December" to set rates for the upcoming year's high season.
The Decision to Embrace AI
When Erin's property management system announced its integration with TakeUp, she attended the first webinar and was immediately intrigued. However, the timing presented a challenge. It was winter—her slowest season—and the investment gave her pause.
"January and February are my two slowest months," she recalls thinking. "Am I going to start taking a $500 hit in my four slowest months, and the money is not going to come in until summer?"
Despite the initial hesitation, Erin recognized that implementing TakeUp during her slower months would position her perfectly to capitalize on summer bookings, which typically begin flowing in during January through March.
What ultimately convinced her was the sophisticated technology behind TakeUp's approach. "AI is cutting edge," she notes. "The component that it learns from itself as well as pulling information from the market—it's going to adapt differently to every property because it's learning about my property and making adjustments based on historically what's been going on."
Discovering Hidden Value
The results weren't immediate, but they were significant. "I didn't see it for—I mean, the money didn't start coming back to me until probably month four or five," Erin shares. "But I'm seeing rates I never would have pushed to."
Prior to TakeUp, Erin had never charged more than $350 for her king suites. The summer after implementing the AI-powered system, she saw online bookings come through at $499. "It was done online," she emphasizes. "They didn't call—it was just booked."
These revelations about her property's true market value didn't just increase her revenue—they provided insights about room-specific pricing as well. One of her queen rooms, which is notably smaller than the others, began receiving more comments about its size after rates increased. Working with her TakeUp revenue specialist, Erin adjusted the upper rate bounds for that specific room while allowing her other rooms to continue reaching their optimal price points.
The Partnership Approach
Erin appreciates the quarterly strategy sessions with her TakeUp revenue specialist, Ryan. "I'm mostly aggressive," she explains of her pricing approach. "But this winter when bookings were slow, we dropped it down some to see if that would help."
Beyond the scheduled meetings, Erin values the responsiveness of the TakeUp team. "On the occasion where I have wanted to make a change beyond our quarterly meeting, Ryan and Lindsay were both very responsive, and things got done quickly."
This combination of automation with expert oversight gives Erin the best of both worlds—sophisticated AI-driven pricing with the human touch when needed. She particularly appreciates TakeUp's receptiveness to feedback and willingness to evolve its product. "Both Ryan and Lindsey, as well as the company, are definitely much more open-minded to what people are bringing to the table and really looking into what's being said and how it can be incorporated or changed or massaged."
Measurable Results
The financial impact of TakeUp on Erin's property has been substantial. "The first year, I spent $6,000 and was up $30,000," she reveals—a 5x return on investment.
Beyond the revenue increase, Erin values the time savings and peace of mind that come with knowing her rates are being continuously optimized. "I really like that it's dynamic and that it learns from itself and that I don't have to really think about it," she says. "I can certainly go in and adjust any rate I want if somebody calls, but I don't have to."
Championing Innovation in a Traditional Industry
Now, Erin has become an advocate for TakeUp within her professional circles. "I'm a huge proponent," she says. "Lindsay knows that wherever I have the opportunity, I talk about it and the positive impact it's had on my business."
Erin continues to share her success story, particularly the impressive return on investment she's experienced. Her journey from manual, seasonal rate adjustments to sophisticated, AI-driven dynamic pricing exemplifies how even experienced hoteliers can discover new revenue potential through technology.
