Mercure Hyde Park increased room service revenue by 12% with Hotel Cloud

The Situation

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When Mercure Hyde Park Hotel became the first European hotel to adopt Alexa for Hospitality in September 2021, they were looking for a solution to improve the in-room guest experience. It was important to make room-service easier for guests while easing time pressures on an already stretched team.

In addition, with Amazon for Hospitality connected to Hotel Cloud’s smart revenue and marketing management platform, they wanted to drive more room-service revenue and get a better understanding of guest requests. Due to wide adoption and understanding of Alexa voice technology,  housekeeping and maintenance duties were expected to become easier with the ability to update tasks using voice controls.  

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“Before, we used bits of paper, ticking lots of boxes on a grid and then handing it to a receptionist to update the system manually. It could take an hour to process. Staff love Alexa in the room as it’s so easy to just use your voice to update these simple processes.”

- Edward Wilcock, Director of Revenue at Mercure Hyde Park

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The Solution

Alexa for Hospitality with Hotel Cloud has massively improved the guest in-room experience and opened further revenue opportunities for Mercure Hyde Park Hotel.

Alexa’s voice technology provides guests with instant answers to frequently asked questions about breakfast, dining, and hotel amenities, avoiding the hassle of chasing busy staff at the front desk. Guests also enjoy the benefits of Alexa experienced at home like sourcing news, information, or weather forecasts.

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“Even something as simple as answering a call isn’t easy when there are only two or three staff on reception, and they may be busy checking in guests. Alexa provides answers, or fulfils orders, 24/7.” says Edward Wilcock, Director of Revenue at Mercure Hyde Park.

Hotel Cloud’s machine learning goes hand-in-hand with Alexa for Hospitality. The Mercure Hyde Park Hotel receives detailed breakdowns in visual chart form, providing insight to guests requests made by Alexa including precise times when certain foods are ordered. This has enabled the team to be responsive to emerging demand and ensure services are resourced appropriately, while identifying new revenue opportunities.

“We saw a lot of requests for burgers at 10pm-11pm. So the kitchen kept stocks later. And we extended the night menu based on guest requests. The level of detail from Alexa and Hotel Cloud is helping us evolve our offering.”  Edward continued

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Hotel Cloud’s Alexa for Hospitality has also made life easier for the housekeepers. It’s cut paper-based task reporting - once a room is clean, Alexa updates the PMS instantly making rooms available quicker, reducing the number of guests waiting at reception. In addition, maintenance staff receive messages on mobile devices as soon as Alexa flags a problem with any in-room amenities, logging details with timestamps so assignments are resolved speedily.  

The marketing department has also been able to customise the Alexa in-room experience, ensuring all guest interactions are ‘on message’, while promoting the hotel as a European pioneer. For guest service teams it has provided a novelty ice breaker when guests arrive.

The Results

“We really want to go for the smart room idea and have everything controlled by Alexa, including thermostats, air conditioning, lighting and curtains. We intend to start offering it in our suites then expand. The latest Amazon Echo Show means we can visually present menu items or provide guests with maps to find places in the hotel and local area."

“Companies like Hotel Cloud and Amazon are evolving rapidly. I’m just holding on for the ride with a smile on my face as it’s a thrilling time in hospitality.”

- Edward Wilcock, Director of Revenue at Mercure Hyde Park

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