How Modern PMS Unlocks Hidden Hotel Revenue With Jacob Messina

Jacob Messina is the CEO of Stayntouch, a leading hospitality technology firm that provides cloud-based property management systems (PMS) for hotels. Under his leadership since 2022, Stayntouch has expanded its focus on helping independent and boutique hotels use technology to streamline operations, improve guest experiences, and boost revenue performance. Jacob brings a background in both hotel operations and hospitality tech, giving him a unique perspective on how PMS systems should actually work in practice.

Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll learn:

[2:00] How Jacob went from manually merging 40 hours a week of Opera V5 guest profiles at Loews Hotels to building a PMS designed to eliminate that work entirely
[7:30] Why a soft-brand inspection failure eight days before opening forced Jacob’s team to stand up an independent tech stack at MCR Hotels — and why Stayntouch made it work
[13:00] The three principles Jacob runs Stayntouch on: real-person support in seconds, 1,200+ integrations at no cost, and front-desk training in under an hour
[19:00] Why distribution is the most overlooked revenue lever for independent hotels — and how PMS connectivity changes what’s possible
[25:00] How Stayntouch’s open API creates a tech stack that’s actually modular — and what that means for hotels that want to swap components without rebuilding everything
[31:00] The real cost of legacy PMS: not just licensing fees, but slow rate updates, manual workarounds, and staff time you’re not tracking
[38:00] What Jacob looks for when evaluating whether a hotel’s current tech stack is holding back revenue
[44:00] How to get a new hotel live on a modern PMS in 48 to 72 hours — and why implementation speed matters more than most operators realize

In this episode...

Jacob Messina, CEO of Stayntouch, breaks down how a cloud PMS built by former hoteliers cuts implementation from months to days and staff training from weeks to about an hour. Kin Sio sits down with Jacob on The Lights On Podcast to dig into why distribution is the most overlooked revenue function for independent hotels — and what to do about it.

Before leading Stayntouch, Jacob spent six months at Loews Hotels manually merging guest profiles in Opera V5. Forty hours a week of clicking through multiple screens for a task that should have been automated. That experience shaped his view of what hotel technology should do: give time back to the people using it, not create more work.

At MCR Hotels, he oversaw technology across 150-plus properties. When a soft brand inspection failed a week before opening, his team had to stand up an entire independent tech stack in eight days. Stayntouch made it work. That scramble became the catalyst for productizing fast implementations. Today, Stayntouch can get a hotel live in 48 to 72 hours.

Three principles drive the company under Jacob’s leadership. First, customer support where you talk to a real person within seconds. No phone tree, no callback queue. Second, 1,200-plus integrations offered at no cost, with a fully open API for anything not yet connected. Third, intuitive design that gets a new front desk agent checking guests in within an hour, even if they’ve never worked in a hotel.

Resources mentioned in this episode:

Quotable Moments:

The Problem With Legacy PMS

“I was merging guest profiles for 40 hours a week. That’s not a people problem — that’s a technology problem.” — Jacob Messina

Why Distribution Gets Overlooked

“Distribution is the most underleveraged function in a hotel. Most operators are so focused on occupancy they forget to ask where the booking actually came from — and what it cost.” — Jacob Messina

On Implementation Speed

“We stood up an entire independent tech stack in eight days. If you’re telling me it takes months to go live on a PMS, something is wrong with the system — not the hotel.” — Jacob Messina

What Hotel Tech Should Actually Do

“Technology should give time back to the people using it. If your staff is working around the system, the system is the problem.” — Jacob Messina

On the Cost of Open APIs

“We don’t charge for integrations. If you need to connect something, connect it. The idea that hotels should pay per integration is a holdover from a different era.” — Jacob Messina

Action Steps:

Audit your PMS implementation and training time. If onboarding a new front desk agent takes more than a few hours, or if your last property go-live took months, your PMS is creating friction you’re paying for in staff time and delayed revenue. Benchmark against what’s possible with a modern cloud system.
Map your distribution costs by channel. Jacob’s point is that most hotels track occupancy and ADR but don’t calculate true cost of acquisition by channel. Pull your booking source data and attach a cost to each. OTA commissions, GDS fees, and direct booking costs (marketing spend + booking engine) should all be visible on the same spreadsheet.
Inventory your integrations — and what they cost. If you’re paying per integration or running workarounds because your PMS doesn’t connect to your channel manager, revenue management system, or CRM natively, that’s a hidden operating cost. Quantify it before your next contract renewal.
Test your support SLA. Call your PMS vendor’s support line right now. How long does it take to reach a human? If the answer involves a ticket queue or a callback window measured in hours, that’s a front-desk operational risk every night your hotel runs a late audit.
Evaluate your tech stack as a system, not a list of products. The question isn’t whether each tool is good — it’s whether they work together. Rate updates should flow in minutes, not hours. Booking data should reach your revenue manager in real time. If manual exports are involved anywhere, that’s a gap worth fixing.

Sponsor for this episode…

This episode is sponsored by Lights On.

Lights On helps hotels grow revenue more consistently by managing pricing, distribution, and digital marketing together.

We help hotels identify new revenue opportunities, so they don’t leave money on the table. We also manage the full revenue and marketing operation, enabling the on-the-ground team to focus on the guest experience.

If your hotel needs stronger revenue growth, visit lightson.co to learn more.

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