Customer Interview: GHM Hoteles

GHM Hoteles reached out to LoungeUp to digitalise its guest relationship

The LoungeUp platform facilitates guest request management and streamlines the guest’s stay. The GHM Hoteles group, based in the Sierra Nevada (Spain), installed LoungeUp in their establishments with a specific objective in mind: to offer a smooth and digital guest experience which can be integrated into all accomodation structures (hotels and apartments) whilst also managing guest relations across all establishments easily and directly from headquarters.

The group is equipped with the Masteryield PMS Cloud to which LoungeUp has connected via an API integration. This allows information to be shared between the two softwares in near real time.

About GHM Hoteles

GHM Hoteles is a hotel resort made up of an 80-room hotel:GHM Monachil Hotel and 80 apartments divided between 4 buildings: GHM Plaza, GHM Gorbea and Gorbea Suites, GHM Bulgaria, and GHM Sabica. Its facilities include a restaurant, a spa, ski equipment hire and an atrium with a games room.

Their accommodation is open during both winter and summer seasons, although their core business is snow sport. “During the winter, 80% of our guests are based nationally and the rest are international (Portuguese, English, French). In contrast, during the summer, 95% of the guests we welcome are natives”, explains Antonio Gallego, Operations Manager.

Manuel Jiménez, Head of Reservations, outlines the attraction of what they offer: "The Sierra Nevada region has to compete with a lot of other excellent ski resorts. Our differentiating feature is “skiing in the sun”, which is relatively unique to the north of Spain in comparison with the rest of Europe. ”

Their main goal: to offer a smooth and digital guest relationship; and above all, to standardise the guest experience in both their 80-room hotel and their 80 apartments...

Why LoungeUp?

Antonio Gallego - Operational Manager:

We have been convinced for several years now that digitalisation is a necessity; above all, we wanted to communicate better with our guests..

We consider the guest experience to be the essential element, as the guest is the one evaluating our services.

We discovered LoungeUp at the FITUR trade fair 2 years ago. The tool was perfectly adapted to our needs, and so we swiftly put the system in place.

During the snow season, our hotel is in extremely high demand and we were in need of aa a tool that would allow us to communicate more efficiently with our guests. Our high occupancy rate during the winter months (95%) exhausts our resources, and LoungeUp helps us to reduce frequently repeated questions and requests from guests by:

• Providing necessary information to the guest in advance of their arrival: transport, ski pass information, guidance on ski equipment hire

 • Informing guests about the different services available in the hotel: restaurants (menu and buffet), Cafeteria Terraza Apreski, Spa…

What the solution has to offer

Antonio Gallego - Operational Manager:

What makes this solution stand out for me is its huge potential to be personalised and the speed with which it can be set up.

Above all, this allows us to adapt and personalise messages that we send out to guests in accordance with the accommodation they will be staying in: hotel, apartment…

Our bookings, which are usually made several months in advance, generate a fairly long pre-arrival or pre-stay period. LoungeUp allows us to take advantage of this time to send relevant information to the guest regarding their booking.

For apartment reservations in particular, it is essential to facilitate the arrival process. We send the arrival instructions to the guest via an automated message with all the necessary steps to access the apartment, including the possibility to pick up their keys at the check-in point.

Throughout their stay, we have a direct communication channel with guests via the chat integrated in the app.

The support provided by LoungeUp

Antonio Gallego - Operational Manager:

The solution has multiple different features, but without a doubt it’s the personalised guidance provided by LoungeUp which makes its implementation successful.

Although we are clear about the message we want to convey to our guests, we are by no means experts in digital communication or design and we do not have sufficient time to focus on this. LoungeUp supports us by helping us to project a good image.

Manuel Jiménez - Head of Reservations:

We regard Loungeup not only as a software tool, but also as a team of experts in guest communication.

The solution’s benefits

Antonio Gallego - Operational Manager:

LoungeUp allows us to place a particular focus on our guests.

Manuel Jiménez - Head of Reservations:

LoungeUp enables us to reduce paperwork, administration and the repetitive exchange of documents. This means we can dedicate this saved time to taking better care of our guests, making them feel at ease, and most of all benefitting from this guest interaction time to provide them with important information. This helps to avoid the tiresome exchange of documents. That’s what LoungeUp is all about: making pre-registration easier so that the guest can arrive at the hotel with everything in order.

LoungeUp also helps to generate upselling/cross-selling: before arrival and during their stay, we present our guests with the services on offer (restaurants, spa, ski passes) in the simplest way possible.

Improving the guest experience

Manuel Jiménez - Head of Reservations:

Improving the guest experience means ascertaining whether or not a guest has previously stayed in the establishment before they arrive.

The CRM module helps us to recognise regular and loyal guests. This means we can identify them from their booking and thus welcome them in the way they deserve: by offering them a welcome gift and by taking into consideration their preferences from previous stays, such as allocating them their favourite room.

The evolving guest experience

Antonio Gallego - Operational Manager:

For us, the guest experience is what motivates us.

Each year we try to optimise and invest in new technologies. We have been clearly committed to technology and guest communication for years, which propelled us to get in contact with LoungeUp.

Guest satisfaction is paramount, as it tells us whether our financial and personal efforts are justified. As a result, over the last few years, we have managed to considerably improve our guest reviews on different guest ratings platforms.

The future of the hotel industry

Antonio Gallego - Operational Manager:

In the hotel industry we believe that the digitalisation of systems still has a way to go, and several establishments have been compelled to quickly go down this route when they had not expected it for several years. COVID has forced us to dematerialise all processes as quickly as possible, such as pre-check-in, in order to minimise points of contact, particularly during the arrival process.

The rapid increase in the digitalisation of systems has been sudden, and we have entered into this momentum without any possibility of turning back. Processes which have been automated and digitalised will not return to being done manually or on paper. And as a matter of fact: it’s a good thing that turning back is not an option.

Visit the website of GHM Hoteles

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