Oakwood Revolutionizes Accommodations Management with its Next-Generation epic™ Solution; New Proprietary Match Score™ Offers Unbiased, Side-by-Side Property Selection

LOS ANGELES, March 12, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Oakwood, wholly owned by Mapletree Investments ("Mapletree"), announced today it is launching the next generation of its industry-leading epic™ accommodations management solution, with several significant updates and enhancements. Epic sources housing options from a database of more than 3,100 providers offering 21,000 housing options. The epic platform serves up furnished and serviced apartments in an unbiased way, based solely on guests' needs and how those align with properties' characteristics, including location and price, regardless of who owns or operates them.

Notably, the enterprise-level competitive bid platform now offers users a proprietary Match Score™ to help find accommodations among epic's vast global inventory of furnished and serviced apartments, and to match traveling guests with the best available apartment to meet their individual needs and preferences. Epic users now have a side-by-side view of properties, individually given a score based on criteria they choose and prioritize. Customers can easily compare options based on amenities, property features and location. A dashboard displays market-specific pricing data, adjusted for global currency exchange rates.

The enhanced epic platform features:

• A new, intuitive user interface and personalized dashboard for relocation and travel managers
• On-demand reporting
• Multi-currency, consolidated invoicing
• 24/7 client and guest service with closed-loop issue resolution and tracking

First launched in 2009, epic processes nearly 400,000 transactions every year, offering clients cost savings of approximately $22 million annually over the last three years.

"The epic platform uses a proprietary algorithm to match traveler requests with housing that best meets their criteria, while simultaneously streamlining booking, more efficiently managing budgets and reducing the pressure on staffing," explained Shree Khare, vice president, information technology, Oakwood. "These new, client-driven improvements deliver even more value with a comprehensive set of tools that can be tailored to the needs of the organization and its employees."

"Both leisure and business travelers have more choices today than ever before, and they want to design their own experiences," said Rebecca Tann, senior vice president, sales and marketing, Oakwood. "Epic delivers the best choices for the traveler, sourcing an average of six different options per request and ensuring that customers get the best possible accommodations, while the competitive bid environment also ensures that they get the best value in the industry."

In keeping with the focus of leveraging technology to make the entire travel experience easier, once a guest books on the epic platform – regardless of whether they book into a property that is owned or managed by Oakwood or one that is part of the global accommodations network – they will be provided access to a fully automated experience in managing every aspect of their stay, via the Oakwood mobile app.

About Oakwood^®
Oakwood^®, a wholly owned subsidiary of Mapletree Investments, is the leading global accommodation solutions provider helping businesses and individual travelers be anywhere they need to be. With an extensive and flexible selection of move-in ready furnished and serviced apartments, Oakwood has enabled thousands of companies to expand their reach to more customers and markets. The award-winning company continues investing in its exclusive and growing portfolio of Oakwood-branded properties throughout the Americas, EMEA (Europe, the Middle East and Africa) and APAC (Asia Pacific) offering travelers a broad range of accommodation options from apartments with luxurious style and full amenities to sensible accommodations with modern essentials. For more information, please visit www.Oakwood.com.

About Mapletree
Mapletree is a leading real estate development, investment, capital and property management company headquartered in Singapore. Its strategic focus is to invest in markets and real estate sectors with good growth potential. By combining its key strengths, the Group has established a track record of award-winning projects, and delivers consistent and high returns across real estate asset classes.

Mapletree currently manages four Singapore-listed real estate investment trusts (REITs) and six private equity real estate funds, which hold a diverse portfolio of assets in Asia Pacific, the United Kingdom (UK) and the United States (US).

As at 31 March 2018, Mapletree owns and manages S$46.3 billion of office, retail, logistics, industrial, residential, corporate housing / serviced apartment, and student accommodation properties.

The Group's assets are located across 12 economies globally, namely Singapore, Australia, China, Germany, Hong Kong SAR, India, Japan, Malaysia, South Korea, the UK, the US and Vietnam. To support its global operations, Mapletree has established an extensive network of offices in these countries.

For more information, please visit www.mapletree.com.sg.

SOURCE Oakwood

Related Links

http://www.oakwood.com