“Our goal was to ensure smooth, and transparent collaboration between the maintenance and housekeeping colleagues. With hotelkit, we found the perfect solution.”
Sandra Hösl
Hotel Manager,
InterContinental Vienna
InterContinental Vienna was on the quest for an efficient and effective optimization software that would support its high standards. The new platform was also meant to enhance productivity to shorten response times of guest requests. In hotelkit, the luxury hotel, which is a part of the world-renowned InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG), found what it was looking for. Hotel Manager Sandra Hösl tells us all about the implementation of hotelkit and the advantages and benefits it offers. InterContinental Vienna is a 5-star city center hotel and a part of the world-renowned hotel chain InterContinental Hotels Group, short IHG. The hotel has 458 comfortable guest rooms and offers a vast range of amenities to leisure and business travelers as well as conference guests. The ideal location, excellent service as well as exquisite cuisine are tailored to meet and exceed guest expectations.
All the more reason for the collaboration between the departments needing to be seamless. The previous system used, could simply not keep up with the hotel’s demands. Hence, this software was replaced with the modern and user-friendly hotel optimization software hotelkit.
Enhanced productivity, with hotelkit
The tool we previously used simply couldn’t meet the requirements that arose in our daily operation. It was possible to send work orders to employees via a pager but as soon as the length of the order exceeded a certain number of characters, the system was overwhelmed and froze. I don’t consider this “efficient” or “practical”. Our goal was to ensure smooth, and transparent collaboration between the maintenance and housekeeping colleagues, and we also wanted a tool with a user-friendly interface which is why we were on the lookout for a new platform. The renowned Sacher Hotels, as well as some industry colleagues at AICR (International Association for Deputy Managers and Front Office Managers of Luxury Hotels), drew our attention to the collaboration platform hotelkit.
Smooth implementation
The roll-out and implementation of hotelkit was easy and pleasantly uneventful. We initially transferred all pending work orders into the new system. However, this turned out to be counterproductive. in hindsight, my recommendation to other hotels that start working with hotelkit: set up, enter all the information and tasks into hotelkit correctly from scratch, and use it consistently right from the beginning. It’s easy to do and will ultimately save you a lot of time and hassle.
Staff convinced by simple application
Understandably, long-service colleagues were not enthusiastic about the change. Especially our housekeeping team members, some of which never had to work with smart handhelds before. The intuitive and user-friendly look and feel of hotelkit managed to turn the initial skeptic into genuine enthusiasm.
Same workload, less stress: hotelkit makes it possible
The great advantage of working with hotelkit is that it reduces the stress that arises during the working day. A telephone that never stops ringing, cluttered paper documentation, and verbal communication are a thing of the past. Now, we have a unique tool that allows us to send information directly to the responsible colleague and enables the team to complete their to-dos in a focused and structured manner at their own pace. On the one hand, this increases efficiency, and, on the other hand, the colleague’s workload is reduced.
Managing guest requests and complaints with hotelkit
We particularly like working with the “Guest Requests” tool as it facilitates communication of guest requests to our housekeeping team. In addition, the “Complaints” tool plays an important role in our daily operations because it helps us to document and respond to service shortfalls quickly. This way, the colleagues on later shifts are looped in about the challenges and can follow up further with the relevant department to ensure a quick resolution and guest satisfaction.
