From the first automated facility in San Bernardino to a complete platform for Digital Hospitality. Corriere del Ticino tells the story, vision and evolution of CybHotel.
On 15 June 2025 the Corriere del Ticino dedicated an in-depth feature to CybHotel and the vision that for over a decade has driven the development of our solutions for the hospitality sector.
The title chosen by the newspaper sums up this transformation well:
“Reception goes digital, the hotel simplifies hospitality.
A story that began long before self check-in, digital access and automation became central themes in the hotel industry.
It all started in San Bernardino
The origin of CybHotel dates back to 2011.
From a real estate project in San Bernardino came the idea to create a highly automated accommodation facility, capable of operating efficiently even without a traditional reception desk constantly staffed.
The property included rooms, suites and apartments, and became a true laboratory in which to develop and test a new hotel management model.
Bookings, payments, check-in, access, pricing, housekeeping and check-out were progressively linked within the same digital process.
At the time, many of the technologies considered normal today were still not very widespread: kiosks were much more cumbersome, online payments less immediate, and digital locks represented a decidedly innovative solution.
However, the goal was already the same one that still distinguishes CybHotel today:
streamline property management and make the guest more independent.
CybHotel is born from field experience
The San Bernardino project has made it possible to understand the operational needs of an accommodation facility firsthand.
It wasn't simply a matter of developing software.
It was necessary to bridge the digital world with the physical world of the hotel.
From this experience, the Digital Hospitality System by CybHotel, an ecosystem in which software, hardware and automations work together.
Today the philosophy remains the same: accompanying the guest's entire journey, from booking right through to check-out, connecting the property's various activities within a single operational environment.
Automating does not mean eliminating hospitality
One of the central themes of the interview concerns the relationship between technology and hospitality.
Automating doesn't mean replacing people.
It means preventing their time from being absorbed by repetitive and bureaucratic tasks.
If a guest has already completed online check-in, documents and payment, staff do not necessarily have to spend the arrival moment in front of a computer.
Instead, you can focus on the guest.
Welcome him.
Give him some advice.
Help him get to know the area.
To meet a particular need.
Technology therefore takes on the task of managing what can be automated, leaving people with what truly creates value.
Automation does not eliminate the human relationship: it frees up time to make it better.
Each facility can choose its own level of automation
There is no single model of digital hotel.
One of the features of the CybHotel system is precisely its modularity.
A property can choose a heavily automated management style or keep a traditional reception by integrating it with digital tools.
A hotel can, for example, use staff during the day and offer self check-in during the night.
Alternatively, a residence or a block of flats can choose an almost entirely remote management.
The aim is not to impose an operating model, but to provide the necessary tools so that each facility can build the one best suited to its needs.
Automation also means reducing operating costs
The experience reported by the Corriere del Ticino also highlights another fundamental aspect: automation makes it possible to organise resources better.
Already in the first facility in San Bernardino, for example, the cleaning staff could automatically receive information about vacated rooms.
The system thus coordinated the transition between check-out, housekeeping and new room availability.
They are small automated processes which, multiplied by hundreds or thousands of operations throughout the year, can turn into significant savings in time and costs.
It is one of the principles behind Digital Hospitality:
eliminate unnecessary manual tasks, reduce errors and use resources where they are actually needed.
A solution even for facilities in outlying areas
Automation takes on particular value in places where it is most difficult to guarantee a continuous staff presence.
Small hotels, seasonal properties and businesses located in remote areas can have operating costs that are difficult to sustain through a completely traditional model.
Digitisation, on the other hand, makes it possible to organise the structure differently, maintaining services and accessibility even when the physical presence of staff is reduced.
This can help to keep open tourist accommodation that would otherwise face greater operational difficulties.
At the same time, the hotel can become a connecting point with the local area, integrating external services such as transport, experiences, wellness and other local activities.
Digital hospitality it must be reliable
When access to a facility depends on technology, reliability becomes paramount.
The experience gained in locations such as San Bernardino, where winter conditions can be particularly demanding, has helped to develop systems designed also for critical situations.
Accesses, locks and alternative systems must ensure that the guest can enter the property even in the event of technical or connectivity issues.
Digitising therefore means not only automating, but designing reliable processes and anticipating what may happen in the actual management of a facility.
From 2011 to the present day: the same idea continues to evolve
What in 2011 might have seemed like a futuristic model is today part of the natural evolution of the hospitality sector.
Guests book online, use their smartphones while travelling, make digital payments and are increasingly accustomed to choosing independently how to interact with a property.
And it is precisely this possibility of choice that is one of the values of Digital Hospitality.
Whoever desires autonomy must be able to have it.
Those who prefer human contact must be able to find someone ready to help them.
Technology must make both experiences possible.
This is the philosophy that continues to guide CybHotel:
simplify the complexity of hospitality, connecting technology, automation and hospitality in a single ecosystem.
Read the full article
The complete in-depth analysis “Reception goes digital, the hotel simplifies hospitality” it is available on the Corriere del Ticino website.
Discover how CybHotel can bring Digital Hospitality to your property.