News Briefs

Overlooking Lake Rosseau since 1870, the iconic Victorian landmark Windermere House needed to modernize its accounting and back-office functions in keeping with its status as Muskoka’s premiere hotel and resort. Management company B•Hospitality tapped Aptech’s PVNG enterprise accounting solution to keep the property’s accounting and financial systems on the same page internally and companywide as B•Hospitality prepares for further growth.

“Shortly after acquiring ownership of this iconic resort earlier this year, we discovered that several of our systems, including our back-office accounting system, would not suffice for our business growth plans,” said Roger Oei, B•Hospitality Vice President, Finance. “The flexibility, future development, and scalability of the existing solution did not align with our anticipated expansion.”

Previously, the property used a locally developed, PMS-integrated back-office system that is no longer being consistently updated. Oei said software that doesn’t get developed on a continuous basis becomes a dinosaur very quickly.  He needed software he can rely on, that continues to be developed and supported.

“Developers come and go,” said Oei, “but software support is key, and Aptech has been impeccable in that regard.”

Windermere House chose PVNG as its preferred accounting solution due to the great success the product delivered at its sister property, the Cambridge Hotel & Conference Centre, in Cambridge, Ontario, said Oei. This 138-room property has been using the system – which handles accounts payable, accounts receivable, general ledger, statistics, financials, and bank reconciliation, all with user-friendly browser navigation – since 2015.

“Adding PVNG as our dedicated back-office solution will enhance our ability to financially manage and strategically plan our financial growth and success at Windermere House,” said Oei.  “We expect that our favorable experiences at the Cambridge Hotel & Conference Centre will be repeated at the resort.  Further, by expanding our hotel footprint in partnership with PVNG, it will allow our financial team to share resources and knowledge across our hotel properties.”

Oei and his staff members find PVNG very intuitive, easy to use, and scalable. “As we standardize accounting and finance across our hotel properties, it allows me from a financial perspective to use my people resources at different properties without their having to learn new software,” he said.

Windermere House will use the system’s general ledger, financial reporting, cash book, and payables functions. The property’s previous back-office system had reporting limitations and relied heavily on paper documents.

“PVNG has the ability to attach images and backup documents, so information retrieval is easier,” Oei said.

One of Oei’s favorite PVNG capabilities is its ability to drill down from their monthly reports to identify business reasons behind a particular result. When budgeting, the software enables users to access any journal entry, including backup documentation and invoices, as needed. “From a payroll perspective as well, it allows us to drill down to entries to the payroll register,” he said.

These self-service capabilities will allow hotel staff members and B•Hospitality’s corporate financial team to perform financial analysis largely without back-and-forth communication regarding specific reports.

Windermere House (www.windermerehouse.com) offers not only spectacular vistas, but also lasting memories. Accommodations include 58 rooms and suites, along with the private, four-bedroom Windermere Cottage, which was undergoing renovation at press time.

The PVNG implementation will occur during a planned six-week shutdown in mid-October, after the Canadian Thanksgiving celebration, with reopening scheduled for the third week of November. Traditionally a May-through-September seasonal operation, Windermere House also will use Aptech’s accounting solution to serve guests year-round. “We already have a number of group conferences, corporate events, and holiday parties booked as we head to the holiday season,” Oei said.

Going forward, B•Hospitality plans to migrate a Florida property to PVNG as well. With all 3 of its hotels initially on different back-office systems, side-by-side comparative analysis proved very cumbersome. PVNG will allow such comparisons easily, quickly, and efficiently.

“As we continue the traditions at Windermere House in delivering exceptional service and unforgettable generational shared experiences with all our guests,” Oei said, “we are elated to have Aptech as one of our key partners in building our continued success at B•Hospitality.”

Sam Costa, Aptech Director of Client Success, added, “We take great pride in being able to provide PVNG’s enterprisewide functionality to another B•Hospitality property. We are confident that as the company’s footprint expands, Windermere House and their other properties will benefit from the companywide visibility and strategic decision-making capabilities that our solution provides.”

Domino's Pizza Inc. introduces its new and improved loyalty program. 

Domino's Rewards offers loyalty members even more opportunities to earn and redeem points across its corporate and franchise store locations. Domino's enhanced rewards program allows customers to:

• Earn points for less
  • Loyalty members will now earn 10 points on every order of $5 or more
• Redeem points for even more menu items – and earn free Domino's after just two orders
  • Members can redeem a variety of points for more menu items:
    • 20 points: A free dipping cup, a 16-piece order of Parmesan Bread Bites or a 20 oz. drink
    • 40 points: An order of Bread Twists or Stuffed Cheesy Bread
    • 60 points: A medium, two-topping pizza; pasta; Oven-Baked Sandwich; or a 3-piece order of Chocolate Lava Crunch Cakes
• Earn more rewards
  • Loyalty perks are now even better, as members will have exclusive access to member-only deals, special discounts and opportunities to earn bonus points!

"We are thrilled to give the brand's loyal customers additional ways to earn free Domino's items more often," said Mark Messing, Domino's vice president of digital experience and loyalty. "At a time when most brands are scaling back their loyalty programs and making it more difficult to earn and redeem points, Domino's is doing the opposite. We want to make it easier to reward our customers and give them more options so they can get rewarded faster."

Marketing a LTO 

From now until Oct. 22, 2023, rewards members can take advantage of a limited time offer to redeem 20 points for a free order of Domino's new Pepperoni Stuffed Cheesy Bread, which is normally a 40-point redemption, in celebration of the product's recent launch. 

Shiji, a global hospitality technology innovator, has partnered with IPORT, an award-winning manufacturer known for enhancing the usability of iPads and iPhones, to introduce an all-in-one software solution for hotel restaurants. This collaboration will provide hoteliers with a seamless combination of a tablet and payment device to maximize their F&B operations.

The integrated iOS and payment device solution simplifies guest service for hotel restaurant servers, providing them with an effortless tool to cater to their guests' needs. As a certified Apple partner, Shiji and IPORT guarantee exceptional performance and reliability. Hoteliers can choose from multiple device options, including iPad Pro, iPad Mini, and iPhone, ensuring flexibility and compatibility with their operations.

“IPORT products are built around modularity and flexibility that empower our hospitality customers to do more with the iOS platform. We are thrilled to partner with a leading iPad and iPhone cloud PMS and POS platform provider like Shiji,” said Chris Lawson, Head of Partnerships, IPORT. “We look forward to innovating with Shiji in disrupting legacy, monolithic providers who have limited the industry from harnessing the power of iOS and mobility. The future is bright, and the possibilities are endless with IPORT, iOS, and Shiji.”

"The partnership with IPORT is a significant milestone for Shiji in our commitment to provide innovative technology solutions for the hospitality industry," said Ryan King, Senior Vice President of Shiji in the Americas. "By combining our expertise with IPORT’s hardware solutions, we empower hoteliers to streamline restaurant operations and deliver exceptional guest experiences. This collaboration represents another step forward in our dedication to driving success in the Americas, and globally."

The tablet and payment device solution seamlessly integrates with multiple payment gateways, allowing hoteliers to choose the system that best suits their needs. By simplifying the payment process, it reduces operational complexities, minimizes errors, and saves valuable time and resources for hoteliers.

SevenRooms, a guest experience and retention platform for the hospitality industry, announced the launch of a new solution for restaurants: Revenue Management. The product serves as an engine for operators to generate more sales and profitability from the same seats, using data science to recommend how to optimize availability and increase table utilization.

To survive current economic conditions, restaurants need solutions that can save them time, reduce their labor costs and increase their sales and profits. Inspired by effective revenue management strategies long-used by the travel industry, Revenue Management extends this practice to the restaurant industry. The product automates these processes without the need for analysts, additional staff or high-priced consultants to manage changes, helping to:

• Fill more seats, more often to increase sales by reducing the time seats sit empty
• Save time and reduce burdensome labor costs by automating in-depth analysis, quickly making changes with a 'do-it-for-me' option
• Provide operators with easy-to-digest insights along with ready-to-use actions that demystify proven steps taken by revenue leaders

Other systems on the market today may offer reporting on a handful of insights, but none help operators immediately action revenue-focused suggestions with a 'do-it-for-me' option that has an instant impact on their operations. Sample actions include recommendations on party size or dining duration configurations, when to institute cancellation policies to decrease last-minute cancellations, floor plan configuration recommendations and more. Diners also benefit, with more available reservations, a better dining experience (e.g. being sat on time and not being rushed out the door) and more unique experiences and offerings to choose from when dining out as operators have more time to focus on the guest experience.

Notably, Revenue Management also gives operators insights into how much demand was missed across booking channels by summarizing data on recent reservation attempts. This helps operators better manage these channels and optimize their books to offer more reservations across their most profitable channels.

"With Revenue Management, we are delivering on our promise to help operators make more money, providing a product that automatically executes on strategies used by the most successful hospitality brands throughout the world – without having to add team members or search out implementation experts," said Angela DeFranco, VP of Product at SevenRooms. "This tool is both proactive and reactive, helping operators uncover untapped opportunities while simultaneously working to identify potentially harmful configuration issues that may restrict venues from maximizing sales and profitability. Today's operators are busier than ever, and we are excited to bring Revenue Management to hospitality operators, helping them automatically fill more seats, more often while continuing to elevate their guest experiences."

Fastpayhotels, a B2B accommodation distribution platforms, announces the launch of Zinantis, a new Distribution Private Club, through DerbySoft, the leading technology provider of high-performance Connectivity services.

Zinantis is a unique brand where members can access direct inventory from global hotel chains, guaranteeing the lowest distribution costs. Stemming from the Greek word for encounter, Zinantis offers frictionless onboarding processes for suppliers and distributors and will enhance the distribution content for all members. Members will benefit from a wide range of data reporting, making Zinantis a win-win for suppliers and distributors.

Elodie Leunen, CEO of Fastpayhotels explains, “Our unique tech will offer a set of exclusive solutions to chains and distributors at a cost of distribution adapted to every business model. We aim to be the distribution club for a group of members who understand the actual environment and want better visibility, not only for bookings but for inventory gaps, and opportunities for sales. It makes sense to us to partner with DerbySoft and combine efforts in creating the best frictionless onboarding process to access chains’ direct inventory.”

The three rules for Zinantis, Trust, Care, and Exchange, promote transparency and unique technology created by Fastpayhotels and DerbySoft to resolve key issues in the distribution process.

“DerbySoft is always on the search for unique opportunities to flex our Connectivity services and technology, and Zinantis is it for this unrivaled members-only club,” states Duane Overgaard, President of Connectivity Services and SVP for DerbySoft. “Zinantis offers technology that coincides with DerbySoft, and we appreciate being involved in this launch.”

Officially launched in September, Zinantis is already live with major global chains, followed by a growing waitlist of suppliers.

Data Travel, LLC announced it has launched Hapi Guest Focus on Salesforce AppExchange, empowering hotel companies to craft personalized guest check-in experiences and drive upsell opportunities right at the front desk.

Hapi Guest Focus is currently available on AppExchange at https://appexchange.salesforce.com/appxListingDetail?listingId=81d4effe-5575-4b05-a4bd-65282de68eed

Hapi Guest Focus

Hapi Guest Focus empowers front desk team members to leverage the wealth of guest data residing in Salesforce. By transforming this data into actionable insights, hotels can now curate exceptional guest interactions starting at time of arrival. Through the app, front desk agents can curate the check-in process, view guest preferences, and even facilitate restaurant reservations and spa appointments, creating a seamless and personalized arrival experience.

Hotel operators have long struggled to provide a truly personalized guest check-in experience due to the lack of readily available guest preferences and profile information. Now, through Hapi Guest Focus, front-desk employees have that critical information in their immediate purview without having to switch back and forth from one system to the next.

Comments on the News

• "Hapi Guest Focus surfaces the 360 degree view of guests for the agent, creating actionable insights when it matters,” said Luis Segredo, CEO of Data Travel. We are excited as this is only the next step, and more will follow to assist agents."

• "Hapi Guest Focus is a welcome addition to AppExchange, as it accelerates business transformation for customers by enhancing customer experiences,” said Alice Steinglass, Executive Vice President of and General Manager, Platform at Salesforce. “AppExchange is constantly evolving to connect customers with the right apps and experts for their business needs.”