The Laundry Rooms: Luxury Guest Experience with 10% of Hotel Staff

How The Laundry Rooms is redefining the high-end guest experience with 10% of the conventional hotel staff.  

The story of The Laundry Rooms

What started as a single unit above The Laundry Designs studio has rapidly transformed into a high-end extended-stay residential hotel brand, reimagining short-term accommodations. Described as “not a hotel and definitely not your cousin’s Airbnb,” this new hybrid model is reshaping the landscape of Ontario’s rental market by combining the convenience and consistency of hotels with the flexibility and personal touch of short-term rentals.

The concept is designed to offer business travelers, remote workers, and long-term vacationers a unique blend of luxury and home-like comfort. Unlike traditional hotels, these extended-stay units feature stylish, fully equipped living spaces, catering to guests who want more than just a room—they seek a place to live and feel at home, whether for a week or a month.

After the brand’s highly successful debut in Waterloo, launched during the pandemic when the demand for safe, flexible accommodations surged, the company has quickly expanded, rolling out its second location in Hamilton. The brand’s rapid expansion reflects the growing popularity of this hybrid model, which caters to the increasing number of travelers and professionals seeking accommodations that combine the best of both worlds.

Looking ahead, the company has an ambitious growth plan, with at least four more locations planned across Ontario. This expansion will solidify its presence in key markets, introducing its high-end extended-stay experience to more cities and reinforcing its position as a leader in the evolving short-term rental industry.

The Laundry Rooms’ vision of high-tech, light touch hotel

The Laundry Rooms’ vision is to marry the two worlds of luxury hotels and short-term rentals. Their accommodations are bright and vibrant and are located in secondary cities, where there aren’t a lot of cool places to stay. 

Brand’s accommodations are in amenity-rich buildings in central, walkable and public transit-accessible locations near employment, entertainment, education and health hubs.

Guests enjoy fully furnished residential suites with full stacked kitchens along hotel-like services and amenities. The design-forward “hometels” feature swimming pools, gyms, yoga studios, co-working spaces, a ground-floor restaurant and a coming-soon rooftop patio.

The Laundry Rooms is a technology-driven business, incorporating tech solutions to digitize and personalize guest interactions and create efficiencies.  The company is using Mews property management software and the Enso Connect integration for guest experience management.    

Discussing The Laundry Rooms’ digital guest experience

We sat down with Matthew Opferkuch, CEO and Founder, and Nicole Rodger, Marketing & Communications Coordinator of The Laundry Rooms, to gain insight into how the evolution of hospitality inspired their innovative hybrid lodging concept and how technology plays a key role in bringing it to life. The Laundry Rooms have carved out a unique space in the accommodation industry by blending the personalized experience of short-term rentals with the high-end consistency and convenience of hotels.

During our conversation, Matthew and Nicole shared how they identified a gap in the market for travelers who wanted more than just a traditional hotel stay, but with greater reliability than a standard Airbnb. “The idea was born out of the changing expectations of guests,” Matthew explained. “People want the flexibility and home-like atmosphere of a short-term rental but with the professionalism, service, and quality assurance of a hotel.”

Technology is central to the seamless guest experience at The Laundry Rooms. From digital check-ins to smart in-room technology, guests can enjoy a high level of convenience without sacrificing the personal touch. “Our tech stack allows us to automate much of the guest interaction process, making it frictionless,” Nicole added. “Guests can access their rooms via their smartphones, request services, and even find local recommendations right at their fingertips—all through a fully integrated platform.”

We also discussed the key components of The Laundry Rooms brand success. The combination of stylish, fully furnished units, strategic locations in urban centers, and a commitment to providing a unique and luxurious stay has set the brand apart in the rapidly evolving hospitality landscape. Additionally, partnerships with local businesses and services have enhanced the guest experience by offering curated, insider experiences.

Looking ahead, Matthew and Nicole are excited about the brand’s expansion plans. With a successful launch in Waterloo and Hamilton, the future looks bright. “We’re just getting started,” Matthew remarked. “Our goal is to expand to at least four more cities in the near future, all while staying true to our vision of offering premium, flexible accommodations that redefine the guest experience.”

As they continue to grow, The Laundry Rooms are poised to become a major player in the hybrid lodging market, combining hospitality, technology, and local flair to meet the needs of modern travelers.

What is the hybrid accommodation concept of The Laundry Rooms?

When we founded the company in 2019, we really wanted to take advantage of everything that is great about residential apartments and hotels, and marry the two. 

We apply all of the brand standards you’d expect in a great hotel, like Four Seasons, Marriott, Ritz Carlton, so that there is a consistency in service and quality across our entire platform.

We hire professional hoteliers who manage and operate our buildings. 

On the other hand, we also provide all of the benefits of short-term rentals.

In our Hamilton location you’ve got 800 square-feet suites that include in-suite full kitchens and laundry facilities. Plenty of space to work and relax and feel at home away from home. 

We apply our brand standards across the entire platform so our guests can rest assured they’ll find the same service and the same level of amenities in any of The Laundry Rooms locations.

And that’s where we’ve really carved out a nice little niche.

What challenges do you face as modern hoteliers in a post-pandemic world?

There are three main challenges all hospitality operators face in a post-pandemic world:

• labor is really tight
• costs have gone up significantly 
• and our guests’ expectations are extremely high. Much higher than they were pre-pandemic.

How do you balance the conflicting areas of labor shortage, high costs and growing guest expectations in hospitality?

Technology and digital guest experience is the answer to all three of these challenges. 

We incorporate “light touch” management, allowing guests to minimize interactions with staff if they choose, including remote check-in, keyless entry, virtual concierge and on-demand housekeeping services.

We don’t have a concierge or front desk agent, standing at a desk eight hours a day, just waiting for the guest. There is only one team member who greets our guests on arrival, and then for the balance of their stay. Guests use Enso Connect’s capabilities to converse with that one employee, who can juggle both concierge, front desk, and housekeeping when necessary.

So we’re becoming much more efficient than a conventional hotel ever would have been.

At the Laundry Rooms our team members are all former Four Seasons, Ritz Carlton luxury hotel employees. We’re accustomed to providing an extremely high level of service. In our case however, we do it with roughly 10% of the staff of a conventional hotel. And Enso Connect plays a really significant part in that.

It’s a single platform, a unified communication tool that effectively allows us to leverage all of that technology and provide those same levels of service with a significant reduction in employee count.

What was the process of choosing the right guest experience tech solution that fits your business? 

Initially when we were looking for a tech solution, to be completely honest we were really just looking for something to help us out with our door hardware. 

That’s when we landed upon Enso Connect, which took it to a completely different level. Enso really is a one-stop-shop for the guest experience. From pre-arrival, check-in, check out and everything in-between.

We can provide our guests via the Boarding Pass, with everything they need to know about, not just our building, but everything around the neighborhood. The best place to get a coffee, the best place to get your haircut, where to walk your dog – all in one simple web-based guest app.

How does your team benefit from using the Enso Connect guest experience platform? 

Not only does Enso Connect elevate the guest experience, but it also streamlines our experience. Our team is able to do everything – all in one platform, from communicating to setting up automations, marketing and so much more.

Enso Connect’s automation and customization capabilities allow us to create automated flows tailored to the needs of our business. For example, we don’t have to manually verify guests or send them to different softwares to complete the process. The flow is included in the Boarding Pass, allowing us to control the steps and avoid tedious situations or human error.  

How was the onboarding and implementation process with Enso Connect?  

Onboarding with Enso Connect was quite simple. It was an easy program to get used to. If I had any questions I could reach out and ask, but I found it pretty simple to navigate around myself. 

I was able to set up a lot of things on my own. It all worked pretty seamlessly.