The Hotel Schwanen has been using the Digital Guest Directory by straiv by CODE2ORDER for several years and recently also the Check-in and Check-out solutions, including Web Door Opening deployed with partners Assa Abloy and protel on premise. In our article, Tim Wetzel, managing director at Hotel-Restaurant Schwanen, explains how the conversion to a digital solution succeeded and how the traditional business actively uses digital solutions to create attractive jobs.
How do the solutions from straiv by CODE2ORDER support you?
straiv by CODE2ORDER has evolved from the Digital Guest Directory to a comprehensive interface of various services for guests. This allows us to easily digitize many standard processes without having to buy a lot of new products.
Why have you decided on a digital key solution?
Because in my opinion, it’s time to take advantage of the digital possibilities in the hospitality industry. Coding a room card at check-in or having a registration form filled out is not one of the most demanding tasks of our reception team. When guests do this work themselves via their smartphones, our team has more time for more important things like personal guest care. For our guests, these possibilities are a positive sign that symbolize a modern hotel. Moreover, it has already been proven by the aviation industry and many other sectors that hotel guests are very good at using digital solutions.
How did the implementation of the solutions unfold?
We have been working with Protel and Assa Abloy for several years. Through the interfaces that straiv by CODE2ORDER provides, we are able to unite these partners. It was important for me to have a good, partnership-based support. Every new system has teething problems. Often you only notice after something has been implemented what you still need to optimize. It is always a process until everything works smoothly. With straiv by CODE2ORDER we have a reliable partner for this project. In the end, everything always starts with baby steps – we have already taken those first steps and I am looking forward to the rest of the journey.
What were your top 3 challenges that you were able to solve with straiv by CODE2ORDER?
1. Contemporary use of digital possibilities to offer added value to the guests (e.g. 24h check in/out possible).
2. The possibility for employees to focus on more demanding guest services, as guests carry out the booking and check-in/out process themselves to a large extent.
3. The adjustment of our opening hours with simultaneous savings in personnel costs and in addition, the possibility of organizing attractive work shifts for the team.
What are your plans for the future?
Our mission continues to be to optimize processes and provide value to our diverse guests as a contemporary hotel. We succeed with reliable partners like straiv by CODE2ORDER, but most of all with a great & happy team. Accordingly, we continue to work not only to act as a host, but also to strengthen our employer brand and to offer our employees a good, contemporary, familiar and secure workplace. Only happy employees result in happy guests. Digitization supports us here, for example, with duty schedules via app, requesting time-off via app, time clock with integrated time sheets, intranet for transfers, news, tasks via tablet or app, digital health management with monetary benefits, and much more. I’m excited to see how our industry will continue to change.
Tech stack at Hotel Schwanen in Metzingen:
- Check-in & Check-out via the hotel guests' smartphone (web app): straiv by CODE2ORDER
- Check-in Kiosk Software: straiv by CODE2ORDER
- Guest Journey Messaging: straiv by CODE2ORDER
- Digital Guest Directory: straiv by CODE2ORDER
- Property Management System (PMS): protel onPremise
- Locking system / Key Cards / Coding station: ASSA ABLOY
