How TravelPerk helps Bob W lead the shift to sustainable hospitality while building an efficient travel program of their own

Bob W is a tech-powered hospitality operator, offering a stylish alternative to traditional hotels and short-term rentals. Their sustainably operated, design-led full-service aparthotels combine the consistent quality and aesthetics of a lifestyle hotel with the personal touch and amenities of a short-term rental.

Backed by Europe’s leading venture capitalists, family offices, and entrepreneurs, and with over €70 million in funding secured to date, Bob W has rapidly expanded across 17 European cities while maintaining its commitment to sustainability. But as a growing company, managing their own employee travel program efficiently was a challenge. Employees needed a better booking experience, while the company lacked detailed visibility into expenses and strict controls over budgets as they grew. Bob W turned to TravelPerk for a solution that could deliver all of these needs in one platform.

"With our previous solution, we didn’t have the level of control we needed as we were scaling. We had no approval processes, and employees were using virtual cards to book travel arrangements — which left us with little overview over what was being spent and where."

Triin Eljas, Office Manager at Bob W

TravelPerk helps Bob W keep employee travel efficient yet sustainable

Travel is essential to Bob W’s operations and growth, with almost 50 employees traveling regularly for work. The real estate team scouts new markets, general managers oversee multiple locations, operations specialists optimise workflows, and the new openings team ensures properties meet brand standards.

Before TravelPerk, employees booked their travel independently using a mix of platforms and booking sites, leading to inconsistent processes and a lack of oversight.

But with so many employees on the move, a more efficient and transparent travel process was needed, and the company began its search for a travel solution that could support their expansion while helping them maintain control over costs and processes. 

Bob W chose TravelPerk as its travel management platform for its ability to solve these key challenges, including: 

• Empowering employees to book their own trips efficiently from one platform
• Supporting their sustainability initiatives with advanced reporting and granular data
• Offering structure with flexibility to support expanding operations

"As we scale up, we do have to be very mindful of how we spend our money. With TravelPerk, we can set approval processes, manage budgets, and ensure compliance in a way that simply wasn’t possible when we were booking travel manually."

Triin Eljas, Office Manager at Bob W

With traveler self-booking and proactive account managers, Bob W can scale while controlling costs

From co-founders to operations specialists, everyone books their own travel arrangements directly through TravelPerk’s self-booking platform. This level of autonomy saves Bob W’s lean HR team valuable time while giving travellers the means to choose the best options for their trips.

Employees no longer have to use multiple platforms to book travel or upload receipts and invoices for reimbursement claims. Instead, TravelPerk provides a seamless booking experience. Plus, a combination of dynamic budgeting and approval workflows helps the company maintain oversight while building flexibility into employees’ travel plans. 

“The ability to add extra levels of control has been a game-changer. It’s not just about the approval process but about the entire travel policy — how we notify people, add comment fields for bookings, and ensure everything stays within budget. Now, approvers have a clear understanding of the business case behind each trip, making it much easier to justify travel decisions."

Triin Eljas , Office Manager at Bob W

TravelPerk’s account management team has also played a crucial role in optimising Bob W’s travel policies. When structuring their approval processes, Bob W used TravelPerk’s recommendations to create an efficient, scalable workflow that aligns with their business needs.

Triin Eljas, Office Manager at Bob W, also explained how their account manager has been incredibly responsive, saying, “We have always received clear and helpful responses — and that level of service makes a huge difference.” 

Eljas also shared how TravelPerk has shaped Bob W’s processes, saying, "We’ve tailored our processes around TravelPerk’s extensive internal resources, allowing people to access the information they need before reaching out to us."

TravelPerk’s advanced reporting tools help Bob W move forward in their sustainability mission

Bob W tracks travel-related emissions closely, and TravelPerk’s reporting allows them to pull accurate travel data in seconds. This has been instrumental in preparing their annual sustainability reports and ensuring that employee travel aligns with their wider environmental goals.

Eljas explained how fundamental TravelPerk’s reporting features are to Bob W’s ability to meet these goals while helping them massively reduce the administrative aspect of collating data: “Having 95% of our travel data in one place has been a game-changer. We can pull reports instantly instead of spending hours compiling data manually. This saves us time and allows our partners to work more efficiently on our sustainability reports." 

"Jeremy, our COO, says how impressive the granularity of the reporting is. That level of detail was a key reason we chose TravelPerk — it’s extensive in the best way possible. It’s truly amazing."

Triin Eljas, Office Manager at Bob W

Effortless implementation and guidance from TravelPerk’s customer care and account management team

Since FREENOW has been using TravelPerk, they’ve enjoyed seamless collaboration with TravelPerk’s customer care team and their account manager. The implementation went without a hitch, and introducing TravelPerk to employees was extremely simple. 

TravelPerk made it easy by providing all the essential information through a central Confluence page. But since the platform is so intuitive, employees quickly got the hang of it without needing a lengthy handbook to rely on. Plus, the support team is always responsive and quick to assist whenever needed.

"I’m very happy with our account manager. Our conversations and emails have been smooth. She always responds quickly, which I really appreciate!"

Tanja Peronne, - Executive Administrative Assistant, FREENOW

What TravelPerk provided

• A self-booking platform for traveller autonomy
• Advanced reporting
• Automated, built-in travel policies
• 24/7 support and assistance