Hotel Del Coronado
Between June 2019 and July 2020, after “The Del” transitioned to Book4Time, online and mobile bookings generated over additional $240,000 in revenue for this hotel spa.
The Challenge
- Software system not up to standard & optimize revenue
- Too few booking options
- Declining revenues
- Call abandonment
THE APPROACH
- Implementation of new system
- Online and mobile booking
- Onsite training
THE RESULTS
- Easy to use system
- Increase in business from online and mobile booking
- $240,000 of revenue generated from online and mobile in first year
One of the Most Iconic Hotels in the World
A living legend for more than 130 years, Hilton’s Del Coronado Hotel (also known as “the Del”) is, according to Forbes’, “arguably one of the most iconic hotels in the world.” When Elisha Babcock, Jr., and Hampton L. Story, built this historic beach resort in 1988, it was the largest resort in the world. The Del boasts a rich history as the proud host to celebrities, royalty, U.S. Presidents, and beach-loving guests over generations. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1977.
Spa & Salon at The Del is a coastal sanctuary that taps into the healing power of the sea. Relax into ocean-inspired treatments that will soothe your mind, body and spirit. The Spa & Salon, kept running by a team of 50 employees, has 18 treatment rooms, a full-service salon, and an ocean-front spa dipping pool.
A Legacy System Not Up to Hilton’s Standards
Guests of the Del Coronado expect a superb standard of service and the highest level of guest experience, but when the property was purchased by Hilton in 2017 and added to the Curio Collection, it was time for an upgrade.
Michelle Frye, the Del’s Director of Spa & Salon explained that the Del’s legacy software system was not compliant with Hilton Standards. “The Spa and Salon were not able to offer online or mobile bookings and we saw our revenues begin to decline.
“We have a call center that handles calls for several different areas of the hotel and we were seeing a higher abandonment rate of calls for spa due to higher wait times.”
A “Seamless” Implementation and Training Experience
Frye explained that The Spa & Salon at the Del needed a system that was easy to use. “We didn’t want any training challenges. We also wanted a good online booking option to create a more seamless guest experience.”
They shopped around before deciding on Book4Time.
“We did demonstrations with a couple of different software systems and we felt Book4Time was the easiest to use and it had a lot of great reporting options, which was something lacking in our previous system.”
After that, implementing the system was “seamless,” Frye said, and the training team very helpful.
“The implementation process was extremely detailed and our trainer was very helpful during our many webinars. A timeline was presented at the beginning of the process and everything happened as scheduled. We had arranged to do an online training and onboarding with our team but, due to the large size of our team, this was a little complicated to facilitate. At that time we decided it was best to have a trainer come on site for three days and this was extremely helpful. They were also here when we went live so we could enlist their help if we had any challenges.
“I would definitely recommend the onsite training piece! The entire process was very seamless and the Book4Time team was great.”
Since the software went live, Frye said the user experience has been great and added that Book4Time’s support team has been very responsive regarding any questions or difficulties they have had.
“We did demonstrations with a couple of different software systems and we felt Book4Time was the easiest to use and it had a lot of great reporting options, which was something lacking in our previous system.”
Michelle Frye
Director of Spa & Salon
Increased Revenue with Book4Time
The best part about Book4Time, said Frye, is the online and mobile booking.
“This has been the best part for us,” she said. “Seven percent of our business comes from online booking and four percent from mobile bookings,” for a total of 11% of total business.
In fact, in the period between June 2019 and July 2020, after the Del transitioned to Book4Time, online and mobile bookings generated over $240,000 in revenue.
“It only made sense that, if our rooms can be booked online, activities booked online, then from the customers perspective, they should be able to book spa online. This lends itself to a better guest experience. Now spa-goers can book online and we don’t risk losing that revenue we were losing through call abandonment, and we alleviate some of the call volume from the call center. This also allows us to yield our treatments and turn on or off online treatment options based on demand.”
Frye is also looking forward to making good use of other functionalities. “I had a two-hour call with them reviewing how to use their inventory module and we are looking forward to utilizing this module for all purchases and inventory processed moving forward,” she said.
Overall, Frye and Hilton are impressed with Book4Time’s product and team. “They are very helpful and are very knowledgeable about their product,” she said.
Not only would she “absolutely” recommend Book4Time to other spas that are looking for a solution, Frye said, “Book4Time is our Hilton Spas preferred software partner!”
“I would definitely recommend the onsite training piece! The entire process was very seamless and the Book4Time team was great.”
Michelle Frye
Director of Spa & Salon
