Hilton’s cloud-based Property Engagement Platform reaches milestone with 1,000th hotel upgrade, improving guest experience and personalization
New platform, powered by HotelKey, reaches key milestone with upgrade of 1,000th hotel
McLEAN, Va., 2023-Apr-28 — /Travel PR News/ — It’s 3 p.m. on a Monday at Homewood Suites by Hilton Largo Washington DC, arguably one of the busiest times for this hotel’s lobby. A guest, having checked in on Sunday, would like to inquire about dinner reservations. They approach the front desk. Although the hotel is at capacity, there is no line. The guest is welcomed personally by a smiling Hilton team member, who has time to ask their preferences, their dining style and more before making a recommendation.
While a seemingly simple interaction, this valuable in-person connection is enabled by a new cloud-based hotel Property Engagement Platform (“PEP”), co-developed by Hilton and HotelKey, now powering more than 1,000 properties within the Hilton portfolio. The platform’s ability to speed computer-based transactions at the front desk and throughout the hotel is helping reduce guest waits and increase the amount of time hotel team members can dedicate to providing personalized service.
Homewood Suites by Hilton Largo Washington DC is one of the first hotels in Hilton’s portfolio to implement PEP and is a testbed for the project rollout, which is expected to reach more than 7,000 hotels worldwide over the next three years.
“Since implementing the PEP solution in early 2022, we rarely have a line at our front desk, allowing us to spend more time connecting with our guests,” said Andron Gordon, general manager, Homewood Suites by Hilton Largo Washington DC. “Our regular, extended stay guests are even noticing the dramatic changes in efficiency. We are huge fans of PEP.”
Gordon credits the platform for significantly reducing the amount of time for team member training, reducing day-to-day technology and billing errors and enabling more time to build relationships and genuine connections with their guests.
According to a recent Hilton report, “The 2023 Traveler: Emerging Trends that are Innovating the Travel Experience,” more than half (56%) of consumers planning travel in 2023 said they want an easier, or “frictionless” travel experience this year. PEP, which was co-created with Hilton for exclusive use at Hilton properties, enables the global hospitality company to incorporate a suite of integrated software solutions to streamline operations, address guest and team member needs, and identify cost efficiencies within one standard platform that can be scaled worldwide. The collaboration is expected to improve the guest experience across Hilton’s 19 world-class brands and reduce team member upfront property management system training efforts from 40 hours to 4 hours, by providing access to HotelKey’s industry leading TrainKey solution.
Hilton’s implementation of PEP is one of many innovations the company is delivering to marry the power of technology with the light and warmth of hospitality, helping team members deliver the most reliable and friendly stays.
“As a business of people serving people, we’re always looking for ways to deploy solutions that meet the evolving needs of our team members and our guests,” said Michael Leidinger, senior vice president and chief information officer, Hilton. “In addition to benefiting from our new property engagement platform, to achieve a more frictionless travel experience, guests can also engage in our other industry-leading digital innovations, such as enhanced booking options, Digital Key and Digital Key Share through the Hilton Honors app and personalized in-room technology.”
Fareed Ahmad, co-founder & chief executive officer, HotelKey said, “Our partnership with Hilton is a testament to our hospitality platform technology and capabilities that allow a single property platform to serve many distinct brands across the globe. This engagement also highlights our partnership approach to integrate our technology as a part of the broader workflows of a large hotel enterprise.” Aditya Thyagarajan, co-founder & president, HotelKey, said, “We are enthusiastic about the new ground being blazed by our collaboration and look forward to a long partnership with Hilton to complete the deployment of our Hospitality Management Platform across their global portfolio.”
To book your next stay with Hilton, visit Hilton.com. For more information on HotelKey, visit hotelkeyapp.com.
About Hilton
Hilton (NYSE: HLT) is a leading global hospitality company with a portfolio of 19 world-class brands comprising more than 7,200 properties and more than 1.1 million rooms, in 122 countries and territories. Dedicated to fulfilling its founding vision to fill the earth with the light and warmth of hospitality, Hilton has welcomed more than 3 billion guests in its more than 100-year history, earned a top spot on Fortune’s 100 Best Companies to Work For list and been recognized as a global leader on the Dow Jones Sustainability Indices for six consecutive years. Hilton has introduced several industry-leading technology enhancements to improve the guest experience, including Digital Key Share, automated complimentary room upgrades and the ability to book confirmed connecting rooms. Through the award-winning guest loyalty program Hilton Honors, the more than 158 million members who book directly with Hilton can earn Points for hotel stays and experiences money can’t buy. With the free Hilton Honors app, guests can book their stay, select their room, check in, unlock their door with a Digital Key and check out, all from their smartphone. Visit stories.hilton.com for more information, and connect with Hilton on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram and YouTube.
About HotelKey
HotelKey was founded in 2015 and today counts four large enterprise chains among its clients, including G6 Hospitality, Extended Stay America & Red Roof Inn. HotelKey’s client portfolio includes roughly 400,000 rooms live and over 12,000 hotels under contract, including 500 independent hotels, mainly in the U.S. In addition to its industry-leading PMS solution, HotelKey also offers an enterprise-grade central reservations system and point-of-sale system, along with a host of other products and services specifically designed for the hospitality industry. For more information visit hotelkeyapp.com, and connect with HotelKey on LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.
Source: Hilton Hotels
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