As one of the Hilton properties selected to beta test QR code ordering in late 2019, the Hilton Omaha started rolling out contactless dining and payment right before the global pandemic. When stay-at-home orders and travel restrictions started to lift in April/May 2020, the hotel was well-positioned to leverage GoTab’s unique restaurant features to reinvent food and beverage operations throughout the property. Today, with the travel industry forging ahead on the road to recovery and customers gaining confidence and booking trips, the Hilton Omaha boasts a clear advantage over its competitors. As the only hotel in Omaha featuring safe and easy contact-free ordering technology, it is pioneering the future of F&B operations at hotel properties in the region.
Flexible and Dynamic QR Menu Setups
As F&B operations changed and evolved throughout the past year, the Hilton Omaha’s team utilized GoTab to create and update zones and layouts within the property. Hotel managers can easily and seamlessly adjust menus, allowing them to set up menu modifiers, tax, and default tip rates, enable or disable menu items, as well as change the order of menu items.In-room serviceQR codes were placed in each guest room, allowing for bar side pick-up or door delivery, depending on the level of person-to-person interaction guests are comfortable with. The Hilton Omaha encouraged guests to choose pickup instead of delivery, in order to minimize the number of staff interactions with guests for room service.
Loyalty programs For members of the hotel’s loyalty program and its airline partners, a unique QR code menu offers the Better Breakfast benefit. Hotel agents offer qualifying guests their unique QR code menu at check-in so they can order or schedule their complimentary daily breakfast.
Robust Performance and Sales
When comparing year-over-year performance of their food and beverage operations, Hilton Omaha realized that using GoTab's hotel POS has directly, and greatly, influenced their performance and sales. “We have been able to optimize our culinary operations and handle an exponentially higher volume of orders thanks to GoTab’s technology,” said Food & Beverage Director Zach Dimmitt. “This has led to robust sales and a 240% increase year-over-year in F&B revenue, which is truly a feat given the current global pandemic,” Dimmitt adds. The use of contactless ordering features also allowed them to significantly reduce menu printing costs, which typically represent a large line item on their budget.
Streamlined Contactless Dining Process
Two-way guest communications With GoTab, the team at the Hilton Omaha leverages the two-way text capability to communicate with hotel guests on their food and beverage orders. They’re able to ensure guest satisfaction as well as quickly address any concerns or requests. They are extremely responsive, and easily issue refunds or extend discounts or special offers to travelers, airline partners, and loyalty program members.Scheduling capabilities Guests can book their preferred pickup date and time for room service or to-go orders and can receive pickup instructions or delivery updates via text. Guests can also choose to place orders through one of the servers at the bar. All orders appear on a single interface (through full integration with GoTab’s KDS), so the kitchen expedites orders and alerts their colleagues when orders are nearing completion. The kitchen can also communicate directly with guests about order changes, out-of-stock items, or special instructions.
Tap Room Playbook Episode 2:
When you really think about it, with everything managers need to do in a tap room, the hospitality aspect is often overlooked.
Situated “in the heart of it all, yet tranquil enough to make you feel away from it all too,” The Limelight Hotel Snowmass offers 99 hotel rooms and 11 residences, as well as footsteps-to-gondola access in winter and summer — right in the middle of Snowmass Base Village.
The Situation
Especially over the last few years, the Limelight Hotels IT team had witnessed a significant shift to contactless technology in the hospitality industry. After evaluating friction points in the guest journey, aligning with modern technology platforms in their restaurant was determined to be an effective way to offer elevated contactless dining experiences to their guests while also evolving their technology platforms to continue to support long-term company goals. Limelight Hotel partnered with GoTab to provide an enhanced on-demand dining experience on par with the brand’s reputation for exceptional guest service.
The Solution
Reducing Staff Touch Points Without Sacrificing Guest Experience
Guests are now able to begin a tab from their room or the property’s restaurant by scanning a QR code, texting a link to friends or family members on the ski slope to add in their orders, then meeting up together at the patio or lodge to enjoy their meal and après ski festivities without interruption. By streamlining tasks like inputting orders and processing payments, this eliminates friction for hotel staff and allows them to focus on delivering renowned guest service for a memorable experience. Since partnering with GoTab, Limelight Snowmass has consistently seen higher check averages and sales.
“We found the Point of Sale platforms we were looking at offered the guest and staff limited opportunities to further reduce touch points or improve the traditional restaurant experience. The GoTab platform enabled the guest to take an active role over the flow of their experience while simultaneously reducing touch points and further streamlining restaurant operations.”Nick Giglio, Manager of Hotel IT Operations, The Little Nell Hotel Group
According to the Limelight Hotels team, some of the other platforms that were evaluated were either missing some of the pieces they were looking for, had weak customer support models, or had little willingness to develop integrations to existing hotel platforms already in place. To that end, GoTab integrated with cloud-based platform, Infor. Together, GoTab and Infor are providing dynamic solutions to support central, efficient service across hotel amenities and deliver exceptional guest experiences.
“Previously, guests would call down to the restaurant to begin an order from their room or while they were out enjoying the ski slopes. Using GoTab, guests can now place orders from anywhere on the resort, giving them the on-demand service they want without interrupting their day. GoTab empowers us to give control to the guest, reducing touch points and streamlining overall restaurant operations, making Limelight Hotel the resort of choice for Snowmass.”Nick Giglio, Manager of Hotel IT Operations, The Little Nell Hotel Group
Since introducing GoTab, The Limelight Hotel has seen a consistent level of upsells and items sold per check resulting in additional revenue capture. They have been able to maintain service levels in their restaurants during periods when there was reduced staffing available without significantly diminishing the guest experience.
The Benefits
Eliminate Phone Orders – Take Orders from the Slopes. Guests can start a tab from their room or on the mountain without interrupting the flow of their day.
Future-Proofed Technologies – Delivering elevated contactless ordering via integration with the Infor hotel management platform.
Eliminating Friction in the Guest Journey – Maintaining service levels during periods of reduced staff without diminishing the guest experience.
Eliminating Friction in the Guest Journey – Maintaining service levels during periods of reduced staff without diminishing the guest experience.
Eliminating Friction in the Guest Journey – Maintaining service levels during periods of reduced staff without diminishing the guest experience.
Eliminating Friction in the Guest Journey – Maintaining service levels during periods of reduced staff without diminishing the guest experience.
Eliminating Friction in the Guest Journey – Maintaining service levels during periods of reduced staff without diminishing the guest experience.
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