Freshly renovated & digitized
With the renovation of the Pullman Paris Montparnasse, digitalization has also found its way into the luxury and premium hotel in the heart of the French capital. The smart in-room tablet with the digital guest directory better.guest by Betterspace serves as a 360° communication platform for the guests. Find out what advantages Hotel Manager Christoph Merz sees in the digital guest directory, what the new guest entertainment looks like and which features of the digital guest directory did convince the team of Pullman Paris Montparnasse the most in this article.
The 4-star hotel in the trendy Montparnasse district
After four years of transformation, the new Accor flagship hotel Pullman Paris Montparnasse opened its doors to guests in December 2021. The four-star hotel is located in the popular Montparnasse district, which is characterized by numerous cafés, jazz clubs and brasseries. As a hotel of superlatives, it has 957 hotel rooms of various categories, two restaurants and a rooftop bar, just to name a few characteristics. On three of the 32 floors, there is a conference and event area equipped with the latest technology, which leaves nothing to be desired. Both business and leisure guests will get their money’s worth here.
Agile processes and digital equipment in the hotel
Already during the planning of the renovation, the digital equipment of the hotel and the creation of modern digital processes played a major role. Of course, this was always done under the aspects of sustainable development and the efforts for more climate and environmental protection. Absolutely nothing was left to chance here. “The digital guest directory better.guest from Betterspace helps us to create new and agile processes in the hotel, which also drive sustainability forward.” Christoph Merz, Hotel Manager of Pullman Paris Montparnasse.
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Digital guest directory instead of expensive room telephones
The digital guest directory on the in-room tablet serves as a communication all-rounder for the hotel. This is because the elegant tablets replace not only the analogue guest information folder but also the telephones in the hotel room and the remote control. This reduces costs in the hotel. During the acquisition, there was one central question: “How can we offer our guests more and how can we achieve more with the budget available to us for the telephone installation?” Christoph Merz explains.
The solution was quickly found. With numerous integrations of external apps, features and services, the digital guest directory better.guest is expected to delight the four-star hotel’s guests as an all-rounder and modern communication platform and at the same time ensure modern processes. “The digital guest directory was not the starting point of our considerations but rather a surprising discovery or a lucky chance,” the Hotel Manager says.
No more paper in the hotel room!
Paper no longer plays a role in the comfortable and first-class hotel rooms thanks to the use of the digital guest directory. No more paper in the hotel room was a clearly set goal at the Hotel Pullman Paris Montparnasse. With the decision for the digital guest directory better.guest by Betterspace, the goal was achieved. With the digital guest directory on in-room tablets, guests have all important information about the hotel, the restaurant and the surroundings digitally available. In addition, the information is always up-to-date and can be updated in seconds.
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Imagine if we had to replace the guest directory on 32 floors in almost 1,000 hotel rooms. The moment the guest directory goes to print, the information would already be out of date again. The distribution would cost our staff a lot of time. It would take up to three weeks for the information to reach our guests. With the Betterspace guest directory, this is a thing of the past, it relieves our staff and we also save a lot of paper,” the Hotel Manager explains.
Modern communication with hotel guests
Communication with hotel guests has turned 180 degrees in recent years, from analogue to digital. The information that needs to reach guests is much more fast-moving than it was a few years ago. “Digitalization has enabled us to act and react faster in many different areas in the hotel,” Christoph Merz adds. And internal communication at the Pullman Paris Montparnasse is also completely digital. Because the employees also communicate digitally via digital communication tools and use a smartphone and no longer walkie-talkies or pagers. And what works internally has now also proven itself externally with digital guest communication.
The guest directory as a 360° communication & information platform
The digital guest directory on elegant in-room tablets bundles numerous services of the hotel for their guests. Through the integration of Pullman Connect, the hotel’s own digital concierge service, ResDiary, a booking tool, PressReader, an all-you-can-read service offering digital magazines and newspapers, and other external providers such as Silverware POS, the digital guest directory is an absolute multi-entertainment tool for guests in the hotel room. The best thing about it is that it has made it possible to streamline many internal processes.
“We have generated added value for us and our guests with better.guest. That’s just great,” says Merz happily. All reservations for tourist attractions, ordering room service or booking a table in the rooftop bar are now done digitally.
Orders at the push of a button without effort and staff commitment
“In the past, guests had to put notes on the door if they wanted to order breakfast in their room the next morning. Then a member of staff had to collect the slips at night and then transfer everything into our system. It was an incredible amount of work for a simple breakfast order and it cost a lot of time. Today, guests order breakfast easily and conveniently via tablet. The order is immediately in the PMS system, no one has to manually fill out data anymore. This saves a lot of time and at the same time the error rate drops to zero,” explains the hotel manager.
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The interface to Opera Cloud
Another thing that supports the communication with guests and at the same time ensures a personal communication with them results from the interface of the digital guest directory to the hotel PMS Opera Cloud. The connection to the PMS system enables the Pullman Paris Montparnasse team to greet guests with a personal message on the in-room tablet. “When the guest checks in, it’s now not just Welcome, but Welcome Mr. Merz,” explains Merz. The personal addressing is one of many small details that make our guest feel really welcome, give them attention and thus make their stay a little bit better.
New ideas for more turnover with the in-room tablet
The next ideas for using the digital guest directory are already waiting in the wings. Accor’s own loyalty programme “All-Loyality” will be integrated into the digital guest directory. By using QR codes, guests will be able to register quickly and easily. The integration of advertising partners will also be pushed even more. “The integration of advertising partners is a great opportunity for us to generate even more income with the tablet. Either by renting out the advertising space or by receiving commissions,” Céline Suchet, Marketing & Communication Director of the hotel.
The Pullman Paris Montparnasse is completely satisfied with the decision for Betterspace as a partner in the area of digitalisation of the hotel and the digital guest directory. “The guest directory makes our work easier and is an important companion for our guests in the hotel room,” Christoph Merz says. We are excited to see what new approach the resourceful hotel manager and his team discover for the guest directory in the future. We at Betterspace say thank you for exciting insights into a hotel of superlatives, with a great sense for trends and a future-oriented as well as sustainable orientation.