Markus Feller, CEO of Like Magic: Unlocking Peak Efficiency In The Hospitality Industry

Tell us about Like Magic?

 

Like Magic is an all-in-one guest experience and operations platform designed to unlock peak efficiency in the hospitality industry.

We streamline hotel and serviced apartment operations by automating over 80% of staff’s daily tasks and digitising the guest journey. By reducing employee workload, we enable them to focus on delivering outstanding hospitality rather than administrative tasks. The result is personalised guest experiences and enhanced operational efficiency.

Like Magic connects every aspect of a hospitality business’ operations into a single interface. From self-service check-ins to guest preferences, we make staying in a hotel or apartment feel frictionless while helping operators cut costs by up to 30%.

 

How did you come up with the idea for the company?

 

Like Magic was initially developed to support the SV Group’s Stay KooooK brand, an innovative concept in hospitality. We quickly realised its potential to revolutionise the entire industry, so we spun it off as a standalone solution.

What sets Like Magic apart is its ability to improve both guest and employee experiences simultaneously. Many hospitality tech solutions focus solely on one or the other, but we believe you can’t truly enhance guest satisfaction without addressing staff well-being.

Our AI-driven automation, in both voice and text, eliminates repetitive tasks, which means employees get to be hosts rather than administrators. It brings back the joy of working in hospitality, an industry famous for stress and burnout. Empowering staff with tech that is simple yet effective also improves workflow and productivity, it removes the hassles of switching between systems.

 

 

What is your advice to aspiring entrepreneurs?

 

Build something that solves a real problem, not just something that sounds impressive on a pitch deck. For us, it’s the perennial labour shortage in hospitality. Many businesses continue to be understaffed and finding the right talent is challenging.

The best innovations also address inefficiencies in a way that feels intuitive and natural to the end user. It’s important to listen to your customers, not just during the early days but continuously. We work closely with hospitality operators and their teams to ensure Like Magic not only evolves to meet their needs but helps them stay ahead of rapid technological advancements.

 

What most excites you about Like Magic?

 

The fact that we are genuinely reshaping what modern hospitality looks like. Traditionally, technology in hospitality has been fragmented. Operators use multiple systems that don’t talk to each other. Like Magic integrates all of these, simplifying operations via a user-friendly interface for both guests and staff. For staff, it’s as sleek and intuitive as their favourite mobile app, taking only four hours to learn versus weeks of mastering a new software. Our technology unlocks efficiency in light-staffed environments without cutting corners in service quality.

We are all about creating real and tangible impact. A good example is The Zipper Hotel and Apartments in Düsseldorf, a 168-room property running with just six employees using Like Magic. That’s 80% less staff than what would be required for a property that size while still maintaining high guest satisfaction scores.

 

How has the company evolved over the last couple of years?

 

Since our launch as a standalone company, we’ve rapidly expanded across Europe, working with forward-thinking hospitality groups.

We’ve introduced AI-driven innovations that deliver real results. The AI-powered phone assistant ‘Lisa’ for example handles 10,000 guest queries a month, slashing front desk calls at McDreams Hotel Group by 50% and administrative workload by 30%. Another example is Schani Hotels which has increased their number of guests following a fully digital journey from 8% to 80% while also reducing operational costs. This kind of impact drives us to keep innovating.

 

What can we hope to see from Like Magic in the future?

 

“We will continue to push the boundaries of data-driven automation and AI in hospitality, and deepen our existing integrations. Our vision is for Like Magic to set the standard for lean, digital-first hospitality that delivers outstanding experiences while improving employee satisfaction and profitability.”