Case Study HRH Group
Hotel overview
HRH Group is a group of 8 classic hotels, charming Inns, quality restaurants and quintessential pubs across Yorkshire. HRH Groups includes: The White Hart Hotel, Montpellier House Apartments, The Fat Badger Pub, The Yorkshire Hotel, Guy Fawkes Inn, Lamb & Lion Inn, Marmadukes Hotel and The Black Horse Inn in Kirkby Fleetham, York and Harrogate.
Challenges
- A multi-property group with 8 unique sites, all independent and individual in their own style, each requiring a system that catered for the demands of the individual property’s business, operations and customer profile
- Their reservations and EPOS systems were outdated across the group, they needed a more efficient structure, something that could combine the front of house, the back of house, and the third parties all together on one platform
- An accessible and centralised system was a priority, they required a PMS that allowed streamlined management of all 6 properties and integration of future acquired properties
- Cross department time saving efficiencies were needed to free up staff to improve the guest journey through check-in, upselling and quicker payments
- OTA bookings were high so they required a more efficient booking platform and website to drive traffic and direct bookings online
- They required a simple, user-friendly system, one that was easy for new employees to adopt with reliable support
Solutions:
Guestline PMS, EPOS, Channel Manager, Websuite
The HRH Hotel Group - Working with Guestline from Guestline on Vimeo.
The benefits
Intuitive Cloud Centralisation
- Guestline’s cloud system can be accessed anywhere on-site or off-site, allowing management and staff to view the full system with no restrictions, whether they’re on-site, at home or on the go.
- All HRH property’s systems can be accessed centrally to view guest profiles, check availability and book rooms, regardless of the property. The systems are easily scalable to account for new property acquisitions and staff training can be carried out remotely.
20% Traffic and 25% Direct Booking growth
- New websites for each of the properties were designed and developed to drive direct bookings and reduce reliance on OTA’s
- With the right content, attractive imagery and a user-friendly booking system, on average website traffic has grown 20% with a direct booking increase of 25% (at the Guy Fawkes Inn)
- Live availability from all sites is displayed in real-time, offering opportunities to cross sell, maximise revenue and yield opportunities and management of rate and demand etc.
Streamlined bar and restaurant operations
- With Guestline EPoS, creating new entry lines with price changes is a lot simpler and easy to do. The system is fully integrated with the PMS to allow cross charging back to the rooms where guests are staying (hotel and apartments) from the bar and the restaurant
Third Party Integration
- Guestline’s seamless integration with OTAs [and the Best Western two-way interface for certain properties] allows for automation of bookings, live availability and selling of last-minute rooms.
- Integration with review systems drives immediate and direct feedback whilst the guest is on-site to maximise and improve the customer experience
Evolving platform and continuous support
- Guestline PMS is constantly evolving, with regular enhancements and notifications, plus intuitive additions such as EPoS fingerprint ID which reduces transaction times during busy periods
- Guestline Support can also be contacted by email (in addition to over the phone) and the team are given a personalised tracking number which allows for quick response time
Intuitive system
Very easy system to use, simple system to follow, set out in clear terms, training was excellent from the beginning. High turnover of hospitality staff industry wide, allows easy training of new staff and from other staff internally – can be as quick as two weeks rather than over a month with previous system
Simon Cotton
Managing Director, HRH Group
“I’d absolutely recommend Guestline because it doesn’t give me too many headaches at all. I measure success by the number of headaches something gives me, and I’ve had very few with Guestline. I’ve just returned from a conference and the number of people speaking up about Guestline was very positive, with a lot of people saying good things, a true testament to their standing within the industry.”