flaneur/reports/flaneur_vs_ho36_gm_report_2026-01-03.md

Lyon Hostel Footprint Report (HO36 vs Le Flaneur) - Exec Memo

Date: 2026-01-03

Full report (tables + citations): reports/flaneur_vs_ho36_gm_report_full_2026-01-03.md

What is verified (public, no-login)

Channel traction:

• Booking.com: HO36 8.2 (1,356 reviews) vs Le Flaneur 8.1 (502 reviews).
• Hostelworld: HO36 8.86 (1,587 reviews) vs Le Flaneur 8.1 (2,332 reviews).
• Google Maps: HO36 4.1 (1,447 reviews) vs Le Flaneur 4.3 (855 reviews).

Pricing/availability (proxy window 2026-01-03..2026-01-04, 1 night):

• Le Flaneur is cheaper and more flexible (refundable until 15:00 prior day) yet shows materially higher dorm availability than HO36.

What is not verified here (needs exports/manual capture)

• Booking.com search ranking, impressions, and conversion (Booking extranet).
• Google review text themes (we only have rating + count).
• TripAdvisor rating/review counts (blocked by DataDome CAPTCHA in this environment).

Working hypotheses to validate (ranked)

1. Trust conversion issue (HIGH): bathrooms/odor + sleep product issues appear repeatedly in negative Hostelworld reviews for Le Flaneur; HO36 has far fewer negatives in the same 12-month window.
2. Booking visibility gap (MED-HIGH): similar Booking rating but HO36 has ~2.7x the review volume; likely impacts ranking and click-through.
3. Seasonal closure impact (LOW-MED): Le Flaneur publicly states a Christmas closure (22-25 Dec); may have disrupted momentum and returning-guest patterns.

Immediate asks (next 60 minutes)

If you need a GM-grade answer today, pull these exports:

• Booking.com extranet (Le Flaneur): impressions, page views, conversion, cancellations, Genius/Preferred status, ranking snapshots for Lyon hostels.
• RoomRaccoon (Le Flaneur): occupancy + ADR by day (last 90 days) with channel mix; closure/stop-sell timeline.
• Google Business Profile (Le Flaneur): last-12-month reviews export + GBP Insights.