Bring operational excellence with tighter integration.

black swan's partnership with Akia exemplified the power of strategic integrations.

About

black swan is a hospitality brand offering an alternative to traditional hotel accommodations across multiple properties. The company designs its spaces to immerse guests in local culture, serving business travelers, solo adventurers, families, and groups. Each property blends thoughtful interior design with neighborhood character, providing a full-service travel experience that goes beyond a place to sleep.

Integrations

Key Features

Auto verification, Payments, Scheduled Messages, Mini Apps, Team Chat

Property Type

Apartment Hotels

Property Size

4 Hotels

Challenge

From chaos to cohesion.

In an era of evolving guest expectations and technological advancements, black swan, a company with over 70 properties across multiple markets, sought to enhance their guest experience and operational efficiency. According to Carrie T, the Director of Distribution, black swan recognized the challenges of managing properties, communication, and integrations within their growing portfolio.

Previously, black swan had experimented with various platforms, but none provided the seamless integration they needed. Then came Akia, a guest communication platform, which turned out to be a game-changer. With Akia's intuitive interface and robust capabilities, all communication was centralized in one reliable system. This transition streamlined their guest interactions, increasing overall guest satisfaction.

Solution

Unifying excellence.

One of the most impactful integrations was with MEWS, their property management system (PMS). The integration enabled Akia to seamlessly pull data from MEWS, ensuring timely guest communication, check-in instructions, and more. While navigating integrations with other systems, black swan discovered that Akia's team was proactive and receptive, willing to collaborate to ensure smooth workflows.

Carrie shared that Akia's integrated approach brought significant value. Unlike all-in-one solutions that often falter in execution, Akia's focused integration approach delivered reliable and efficient features. This approach empowered their team to manage communication more effectively and freed them from the constraints of constantly switching between platforms.

Akia's efforts also boosted their guest communication ratings, even on platforms like Airbnb, where guests might assume traditional communication methods. The ability to offer high-quality communication through a unified software contributed to enhanced guest satisfaction and better reviews.

By providing a tailored, efficient, and centralized guest communication platform, Akia reshaped black swan's hospitality landscape, fostering a more efficient operational environment and elevating the guest experience to new heights.

"Black swan's commitment to delivering exceptional hospitality is mirrored in our need for technology that performs at the highest level — a standard we and our guests expect. In this pursuit, our partnership with Akia has been invaluable. Their focused integration approach aligns seamlessly with our sophisticated tech stack, enhancing our ability to offer a high-touch service experience. It supports our goal of streamlined operations and superior guest communication, as evidenced by our strong ratings. This collaboration underlines the importance of having a system that excels in its speciality."

Carrie T — Director of Distribution

More case studies

Faria Resorts

Faria Resorts drove $89K in post-stay revenue in one month.

With automated list syncing from Streamline, a drag-and-drop email builder, and direct booking attribution, Faria Resorts could quickly build, launch, and measure campaigns end-to-end.

$89K

post-stay revenue in one month

March 20, 2026

Weekender Hotels

Weekender Hotels: Simplifying multi-property operations

Operating ten boutique properties, Weekender Hotels streamlined check-ins, messaging, digital guides, and guest workflows into one intuitive system that saves hours daily and keeps all guest data in one place for a complete view across properties.

hours/day saved on automating check-ins

3 → 1

streamlined processes for their guest experience

$5.3K

in upsell revenue for January 2026

February 26, 2026

Contactless property maintains high guest services with AI Agents.

Rambla

Contactless property maintains high guest services with AI Agents.

As Rambla expanded across five contactless properties, AI Agents took on the majority of guest communication, now handling over 80% of outbound messages so the team can deliver fast, consistent service that guests expect.

90%

in Global Review Index

80%

of outbound communication handled by AI Agents

#2–3

ranking in their competitor set

February 26, 2026

Ready to transform your guest experience?

Join thousands of hotels using Akia to automate operations and delight guests.