HotelFriend Transformed The Place with Remote Check-Ins and Tailored Features for Extended Stays

Client

the-place-to.be

Property Type

Aparthotel

Location

Herzogenaurach, Bavaria, Germany

The project launch

January 2023

About The Place

The Place is a modern and vibrant aparthotel located in the heart of the Herzo Base district in Herzogenaurach. This impressive building complex offers a selection of 104 serviced apartments, several co-working spaces, multi-function rooms, and an exclusive deli-store concept.

With a focus on providing residents and guests with opportunities for both work and leisure, The Place has become a sought-after destination for travelers and professionals alike. From cozy studios to penthouse suites, it offers a wide range of accommodation options to cater to various guests.

In addition to its comfortable apartments, The Place boasts many amenities, including an underground car park with e-car charging stations and a cutting-edge playroom.

Challenges Faced by The Place

The Place Aparthotel faced the following challenges before partnering with HotelFriend:

Managing long-term stays in 100+ apartments

With a substantial number of serviced apartments, The Place required a system that could efficiently handle extended stays while helping the owners maintain a high level of guest satisfaction.

Creating self-service check-in points to reduce reliance on staff

The traditional check-in process was time-consuming and posed limitations to The Place, especially in situations where guests arrived outside regular reception hours. To address this, they sought to establish a seamless and secure self-check-in system as a part of their new platform.

Setting custom cancellation policies and booking restrictions

The property sought to implement cancellation policies and booking restrictions with extended minimum and maximum stays (up to one year) that suit the specifics of aparthotel management.

Digitalization of housekeeping schedules and cleaning tasks

The Place aimed to transition from traditional housekeeping scheduling to a digital system for improved efficiency. They needed robust software that would allow them to set cleaning priorities for rooms, change statuses, and distribute daily tasks.

Connecting to Salto ProAccess Space

They also recognized the need to automate guest access and enhance security through the integration of Salto electronic door locks, ensuring seamless and secure room access for guests.

Streamlining and consolidating guest payments

Efficiently managing guest and company payments was a crucial concern for The Place. They desired a solution that could automate and consolidate all payments, simplifying financial transactions for both their guests and the property's administrative staff.

Solutions Provided by HotelFriend

Owners of The Place reached out to HotelFriend aiming to address these specific challenges. As a solution, HotelFriend offered a customized Grow package with features and integrations that match their needs:

A cloud-based Property Management Software (PMS): HotelFriend's comprehensive PMS allowed The Place to seamlessly manage its large inventory in a single system, from anywhere.
Flexible cancellation policies allowed The Place to set charges based on the number of nights booked, providing greater revenue security and guest flexibility. As HotelFriend expanded the "Min stay" and "Max stay" settings to up to 360 days, The Place could efficiently manage long-term bookings while maintaining platform-specific limitations.
An integrated Channel Manager: Seamlessly connected to popular channels like Booking.com, HRS, Expedia, and Airbnb, HotelFriend's Channel Manager was a game-changer for The Place. It not only eliminated the risk of overbookings but also optimized pricing and inventory distribution across multiple channels. This product enhanced The Place's online visibility, attracting a wider audience and boosting revenue through efficient channel management.
Mobile Concierge App: Beyond easy access to information and services, the app offered a Mobile Key feature, allowing guests to unlock their rooms digitally. This helps to provide a touchless and convenient check-in/check-out experience within the hotel.
Two Remote Reception self-check-in kiosks: The newly implemented self-check-in kiosks with a user-friendly interface, transparent check-in steps, and the convenience of room key encoding ensure a seamless arrival for guests. Additionally, guests have the option to handle reservation payments effortlessly during both check-in and check-out through the Adyen-enabled terminal mounted on the kiosk.

Advanced support and onboarding: In response to the client's request for extended training and assistance, HotelFriend delivered comprehensive support to hotel staff. This included in-depth training on all system modules through interactive video calls, complemented by ongoing support through email communication.

Integrations Featured

In response to The Place's requests, HotelFriend provided an uninterrupted workflow by connecting a world-class payment provider and integrating their available door lock system to the PMS.

Adyen

Adyen's centralized payment hub supports 150+ currencies and 200+ payment methods, enabling hotels to process transactions of any kind. This allows hotels to create tailored checkout experiences for websites, in-app payments, and mobile devices, ensuring a seamless and user-friendly payment process.

Salto ProAccess Space

The property relies on the Salto ProAccess system with the highest level of security and extended functionality, which allows them to cut back on queues by encoding key cards directly via a reader at the main point of access. Combined with HotelFriend kiosks, this feature enables independent and quick check-ins that do not require any staff involvement.

Results Achieved

The Place Aparthotel has witnessed drastic improvements since implementing HotelFriend's solutions, tailored to their goals and needs:

Smooth and convenient management of long stays

Now The Place successfully manages more than 100 serviced apartments for extended periods. Residents and guests can enjoy hassle-free and comfortable stays, with the property's management able to handle long-term bookings of up to a year with ease.

90% faster and easier check-ins with Remote Reception

The implementation of a self-service kiosk, featuring room key encryption and a terminal for quick payments, has revolutionized the check-in process at The Place. Guests can now proceed to their rooms 5 minutes after arrival, excluding the need for traditional check-in procedures. This helped them to offer a contactless and convenient check-in/check-out experience, making the guest journey more streamlined and efficient.

Staffless check-ins in under 5 minutes

The self-check-in kiosks provide guests with the autonomy to complete the check-in process independently, at their own pace. This way, guests can easily access apartments at the time that is most convenient to them, and the property doesn’t need to keep a front desk agent on site. The entire procedure takes less than 5 minutes, allowing guests to swiftly navigate the check-in process and conveniently settle all service payments on one device.

100% automated card payments gathered in one place

HotelFriend's payment integration with Adyen allows The Place to unify payments across properties and channels, regardless of the guest's location in the world. This streamlined approach ensures that guests benefit from one-click payments, a secure method that aligns with industry standards such as PCI DSS and P2D2.

Optimized and transparent housekeeping schedules

HotelFriend's software has provided The Place with optimized and transparent housekeeping schedules. It ensures seamless communication between housekeeping teams and the PMS, facilitating efficient coordination between front- and back-office departments, and providing better visibility of rooms that are cleaned and ready for guests.