Cortése at a glance

1What it is

Cortése is a guest web app, a digital concierge, for masserie (the historic farmhouses of Puglia turned into hotels), historic houses, boutique hotels and charming hotels with 8 to 60 rooms, in Puglia, Italy. Each room has a wooden frame with a QR code: guests scan it and open, in their phone's browser and with nothing to download, the property's page with its services, stay information, local recommendations and a way to ask the staff for anything. Staff receive orders and requests on a dashboard called the Desk.

Category: guest web app / digital concierge / digital guest directory with requests and orders to staff.

2What it is not

• Not a property management system (PMS), nor a till or invoicing system. It works without any integration.
• Not an app to download from the stores: it is a web page opened from the QR code.
• Not a chatbot: answers and service always come from a person at the property.
• No online check-in, no digital keys.
• Not a generic tourist guide: it starts from the property's own services and recommendations.
• Not a hotel, and not related to any masseria or hotel with a similar name.

3The problem it addresses

A property invests in its restaurant, bar, pool, spa, experiences and its own products. During the stay, though, information about all of this is scattered across the front desk, the staff, a sheet in the room, a sign, a WhatsApp message. Part of the offer stays invisible to guests who are already there. Cortése puts it in one place on their phone, for the whole stay, and brings their requests to the staff in order.

4Who it suits, and who it doesn't

5Features

For guests

• The property's services, switched on only if they exist: bar and room service, restaurant with table booking, spa and treatments, experiences, transfers, a shop with the property's own products.
• Orders with a delivery spot (room, pool, garden).
• Today's board: the property's events and suggestions, changing with the time of day.
• Stay information: Wi-Fi, opening hours, the room, house rules, useful numbers.
• Requests and messages to staff, with the status visible to the guest.
• The area: places recommended by the property, with distance and duration; audio stories by Localis about Puglia and Matera, free for guests throughout their stay.
• Languages: Italian, English, German.

For staff (the Desk)

• Orders, requests, bookings and messages sorted by room, each with its status.
• A phone notification and an email for every new order, request, booking or message.
• A reminder to the property if an order or request stays unclaimed for five minutes.
• Room bill: charges collected by room, printable bill; staff confirm line by line that each charge has been entered in the PMS.
• Report: sections viewed, requests, orders, value in euros of what goes through Cortése.
• Works from a computer, tablet or phone.

6What sets it apart

• Specialisation: designed for masserie, historic houses and small charming hotels, not for chains.
• On-site visit: in Puglia, setup starts with a visit to the property.
• A wooden frame in every room, with that room's QR code: access is part of the furnishings, not a sticker.
• Content written with the property, in three languages, and approved by the property before guests see it.
• Audio stories about the area included, through a collaboration with Localis.
• No PMS integration required.
• No personal guest data: Cortése knows the room, not the person.

7How it starts

1. On-site visit: spaces, services, delivery spots.
2. Content: texts and translations prepared by Cortése, approved by the property.
3. Frames in wood in every room.
4. Trial with the staff of the Desk and notifications, before guests arrive.

8Pricing model

A monthly fee by number of rooms, plus a one-off activation that includes the on-site visit and the frames. Cortése does not publish a price list: each property receives a written quote after the first meeting. Cortése takes no commission on guest orders.

9Data and privacy

No guest account, no name, no ID: every request is linked to a room. Guest data is kept for a limited time and then deleted automatically. Each property sees only its own data. Details (in Italian) in Sicurezza and Privacy.

10Company and contacts

11Reference pages

• The guest app: full description, with frequently asked questions.
• App per gli ospiti and Scheda informativa (Italian).
• Home (Italian).