Success story: The Club Company
Access Guestline's cloud solutions helps the biggest independent golf and leisure operator in the UK centralise data, save time and drive revenue.
Product
Access Guestline
Hotel Requirements
The Club Company is the biggest independent golf and leisure operator in the UK with 15 golf and country clubs and 6 hotels. Their clubs offer a variety of facilities, including gyms, group fitness studios, swimming pools, wet spa, crèche, health and beauty, tennis, championship golf courses, bar, restaurant and lounges.
Six of their country clubs have accommodation on-site, offering a total of 250 bedrooms.
They needed:
- Group centralisation - with hotel revenue becoming more of a priority for the group (and with their portfolio expanding), they needed a more functional system that they could manage and control centrally.
- Centralised data – previously a disparate system with 6 individual operating systems at each hotel, the group wanted a platform where they could access and view data on behalf of the whole group.
- Future-proofed system - with expansion on the horizon, the group needed a scalable solution that could be seamlessly integrated into new properties as and when they joined the group.
- Fully integrated – the group needed the new system to be fully integrated with all the existing systems to facilitate a seamless operation.
'Our stress levels have reduced on reception as many of the processes are automated and we’ve got more time for our guests.
We’re delighted with the increased revenue and how future proofed our systems are – they’ll seamlessly accommodate new properties as and when we expand our portfolio and when we add new third party solutions to our eco-system. The centralised data also saves us time and energy and helps us with our planning and decision making.'
Jamie McDonald MIH, Resort Director
Benefits
Solutions implemented
- Guestline Rezlynx PMS (including Insights)
- Direct Booking Manager (DBM)
- GuestPay
- GuestStay
Digitised guest journey
Over 30% of their guests now check-in / out online (with GuestStay) which is saving staff time and taking the pressure off reception at key times in the morning and afternoon. The guests find it simple to use and it gives staff more time to welcome their guests rather than do paperwork.
Secure, streamlined payments
The increase in online payments provides the group with guaranteed payments – the deposit ledger is growing as are the automated pre-authorisations which helps eliminate risk and secures the hotel against no-shows and charge backs.
Increased incremental revenue
With Access Guestline’s Direct Booking Manager, the group have seen an 8% shift from OTA to direct bookings in just 4 months saving them thousands of pounds in commission fees. DBM also provides more additional revenue through upsell opportunities, sales of which have increased by 14%.
Centralisation of data
Group data can now be easily obtained from a central source. The team previously had to go into 6 different systems to obtain data - now they can view data and reports (on behalf of all properties) from one dashboard.
Automated reports
The team previously spent a whole day producing the revenue report every week – this is now an automated report saving the team several hours per week.
More time for strategic planning
The system provides the team with more confidence in their decision making – there’s no need to double check figures, the system provides detailed reports across the entire guest journey (from bookings, occupancy and cancellations to revenue and rates etc) to enable them to make more informed, strategic decisions.
More focus on the guest
Processes are more automated and intuitive, reports are automatically generated, and much of the guest journey is digitised - this allows the team to focus on the guest and spend more time providing a more personal service.
Online support resources
Access Guestline’s Online Support Portal is proving a great resource – staff often watch training videos and tutorials during their downtime to refresh themselves on new functionality or learn new features.
Simplicity – great for new starters
The system is easy to use and simple for new starters to grasp – they can’t make mistakes or break the system! New staff can be up and running on the system within 2 days which is a far cry from the 5-week training program that new starters had to undertake with a previous Opera system that the Director used.
In-depth insights and data
With Guestline’s open API, the group can integrate the PMS with other internal systems (like their restaurant bookings) to provide a more seamless operation and smooth guest experience. Likewise, any new solutions they opt for can also be integrated into the existing platform.
Smooth migration
The implementation included a combination of on-site and virtual training which worked really well - the training was precise and with it being split into modules, it was clear to follow by all staff members.
