The Challenge

  • Want one software for booking spa reservations, processing gift cards, or managing staff schedules, inventory, and guest history.

The Approach

  • Spa Management System
  • Gift Card Processing

The Results

  • Doubled staff productivity
  • Higher level of personalized, memorable guest experience
  • Increase in staff efficiency

 

Four Seasons Hotel Toronto is the official flagship hotel for Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts and is one of the best known luxury hotel properties in the world. The hotel, which opened in 2012, has received numerous accolades and is Canada’s first ever Forbes Five-Star and AAA Five-Diamond hotel. When people think of the Four Seasons they think of excellence, a reputation the company works hard to maintain.

The Challenge

Four Seasons Hotel Toronto wanted to reduce the multiple number of spa software platforms being used and introduce one standardized technology for booking spa reservations, processing gift cards, or managing staff schedules, inventory, and guest history.

After the hotel’s opening, online reservations were being booked via email. Victoria Nickle, Senior Director of Spas for the Americas explains, “We like to make everything as easy as possible for our guests. Email can be a nice way to do things, but with the backwards and forwards with the nuances of a reservation, it’s not the most efficient way to process them.”

Gift cards were also being created manually – which Nickle says could take a staff member, “on average – ten minutes.”

The goal was to introduce a reliable web-based solution for online spa booking, central reporting, and managing gift cards that could be standardized across multiple hotel locations and be flexible enough to allow for integrating local initiatives.

“It’s more than just a software. We really want to be thinking and anticipating our guest and client needs before they happen. We want the ability to create a memorable experience,” says Victoria Nickle, Senior Director of Spas

The Solutions

“When you look at the size of our company – and we were going through a huge period of growth – we needed a solution that would not only work immediately but would also assist us in our future growth as well,” says Nickle.

This is one of the many reasons why Four Seasons Hotel Toronto chose Book4Time as their technology partner. “We knew that Book4Time was an innovative up-and-coming company. We were excited to be working with them as we could grow together.”

Book4Time’s software was seamlessly integrated with the Four Seasons Spa’s internal and external-facing computer systems to process reservations and manage customer experience from booking to check-out and beyond, as well as for selling and processing gift cards, online and on-site.

The Results

Using the Book4Time software solution, the average staff time required for booking guest reservations dropped from about seven minutes to three-and-a-half minutes. This doubled the productivity of the reservations team.

Staffing and scheduling also became much more efficient. Says Nickle, “Previously, with a server-based application, we had to be physically at work in order to see the schedule. The online component, not only with booking but with the ability to access and modify the schedule at home is great. The spa industry does not operate from 9-5.”

Four Seasons differentiates themselves from their competitors by creating truly exceptional and customized experiences for each and every guest. Book4Time’s innovative software platform helped make this easier.

“What I love about Book4Time is that we can customize not only free form notes for our guests’ profiles and appointments,” says Nickle. “But we can also customize the categories of things we think are important to know about each guest.”

“One example for that is that we can add if a guest is pregnant, or if a particular guest needs a registered massage therapist.”

Customization, personalizing the guest experience for each individual customer is part of what sets the Four Season’s spa brand apart.

“The ability to make notes on each guest who comes in and to share those notes with the team allows us to make the experience special. If it is a customer’s birthday, from the moment they arrive at the desk, to the spa attendant, to the therapist, every one of them should be wishing them a happy birthday.”

“At Four Seasons, we want to make sure there is a surprise waiting for visitors in their guest room. If it is their dog’s birthday, there may be a picture of their dog waiting for them.”

Book4Time helps facilitate the customer experience with tools and customizable reports for tracking guest profiles, history, and preferences. While the software is standard across locations, it is also flexible enough to allow for local innovations.

Great ideas and initiatives often come from the committed staff who interact daily with guests. These enhancements can be easily integrated with the Book4Time platform.

“It’s not a corporate office sending down edicts on ‘you must do this for this type of guest,’” explains Nickle. “We really have the freedom to tailor each experience here at the local level.”

Using Book4Time software, Four Seasons Hotel Toronto has managed to reach a new level of personalized guest experiences while increasing staff productivity at the same time.

As time goes on and our relationship with Book4Time grows, I really feel we will be moving towards this on a global level.”