Hotel Internet Services (HIS), a full-service provider of internet services and solutions for the hospitality industry, announced a successful WiFi network upgrade alongside the implementation of BeyondTV with GuestCast streaming services at Hourglass Hotel. A property that combines modern-day elegance and convenience into a resort style setting, Hourglass Hotel’s recent investment with HIS will ensure that total guest satisfaction and relaxation extends to both in-room entertainment and the quality of online connectivity.

As part of a renovation featuring a modern refreshment of its lobby, open courtyard, swimming pool, cabanas and guestroom/suite areas, Hourglass Hotel leadership also placed a priority on providing its guests with exceptional internet service quality and access to personalized in-room entertainment. By partnering with HIS, the upscale boutique property was notably able to address its WiFi service needs while working around other renovation projects in order to minimize disruptions or delays. With HIS technicians performing any necessary hardware installations as blocks of rooms become available following renovation, Hourglass Hotel was nonetheless able to swiftly deploy a WiFi network upgrade ensuring fast speeds and connection reliability. This was achieved thanks to HIS utilizing the latest in network hardware technology in addition to leveraging its industry-specific expertise. Examples include the strategic placement of advanced Ruckus access points, guaranteeing a strong and uninterrupted WiFi signal while eliminating any WiFi coverage dead zones that can often result in guest frustration.

“Both internet access and streamed entertainment rank high on the list of guest priorities, so we likewise made it a priority to adopt the latest capabilities and ensure that when guests stay with us, they experience something that is both exceptional and memorable,” said Sonny Gulati, CFO, at Hourglass Hotel. “From the start, HIS has been very accommodating in serving our needs while our building underwent renovation and have continued to make themselves readily available should an issue suddenly arise. Our WiFi service now consistently operates at 200Mbps, which is sufficient to cater to bandwidth-intensive activities such as online streaming and ensure that guest experiences are always seamless. With casting services available in each guestroom, guests staying at our property can also look forward to effortlessly accessing the content they enjoy at home while on the road.”

Using BeyondTV enabled with GuestCast, Hourglass Hotel guests can personalize their in-room entertainment experience thanks to the platform’s compatibility with thousands of mobile-based streaming apps. This includes instant access to all of the leading streaming services such as Netflix, Amazon Prime, Disney+, Hulu, ESPN, HBO Max and more. The solution also importantly addresses guest concerns over security and privacy by automatically erasing all usage data when a guest checks out.  

INTELITY®, a guest experience and staff management platform for the hospitality industry, and the Westlake Village Inn have announced the continuation of their strong partnership with the iconic Southern California property’s investment in new smart-room tablets featuring the INTELITY platform. 

Nestled in the Conejo Valley halfway between Santa Barbara and Los Angeles, California, the established Westlake Village Inn is a lush Mediterranean-style resort featuring 156 well-appointed, deluxe accommodations, as well as three award-winning restaurants, a newly remodeled luxury spa, an adjacent 18-hole golf course and driving range, and an on-site winery.

“We are excited to launch the newest smart-room tablets at the Inn as we are looking forward to making our guests feel more at home with the tablet's customized features,” said Maria Solorzano, Director of Sales, Marketing & PR at the Westlake Village Inn. “The INTELITY platform has enhanced our guest experience by streamlining the communication between the guest and our staff. Any request on the smart-room tablet will continue to be seamlessly fulfilled, continuing to improve the guest journey. The most exciting feature is that our international guests no longer have a language barrier challenge as the latest version of the platform on the new tablets support other languages, reducing the burden on the client while enhancing their onsite experience.”

Powered by the INTELITY platform, the new smart-room tablets will continue to allow guests to explore the property’s many offerings. The INTELITY platform also creates a seamless guest experience, letting guests connect with the property and its staff, while the guest is relaxing in their room. Guests can continue to request additional items and services, order in-room dining, book spa appointments, and review the latest hotel compendiums all with a few taps on the screen. The tablets, which feature nearly twice the processing power and vibrant, larger screens, are supported by INTELITY’s GEMS®, Guest Experience Management System, and the platform backend, streamlining staff’s day-to-day operations, allowing them to field maintenance requests, update digital compendiums and menus, automate and track digital dining requests, and much more.

“The Westlake Village Inn has been a key member of the INTELITY family for many years,” said Robert Stevenson, INTELITY CEO. “We are excited to deploy this latest integration of the INTELITY platform on new high-end devices to allow them to take their luxury accommodations one step further.”

Tripleseat, a web-based sales and event management solution for restaurants, hotels, and unique venues, is proud to announce the launch of TripleseatDirect Reservations. With TripleseatDirect Reservations, consumers can now easily request a table for 10 people or book a party for hundreds directly with any restaurant enabled with TripleseatDirect.

TripleseatDirect provides a frictionless event booking process, allowing consumers to quickly and easily view menus and availability in real time and book directly with the restaurant. With TripleseatDirect Reservations, consumers no longer have to go through third-party event planning websites or rely on phone calls and emails to make a large party reservation.

"We're thrilled to introduce TripleseatDirect Reservations to the market," said Jonathan Morse, CEO and Founder of Tripleseat. "We've seen a growing need for a platform that allows consumers to easily book events and make large party reservations directly with restaurants. With TripleseatDirect Reservations, we're simplifying the event booking process for both consumers and restaurants."

TripleseatDirect also benefits restaurant owners and operators by streamlining the reservation process, allowing them to manage their event and off-premise catering bookings and reservations more efficiently. With TripleseatDirect, restaurants can easily manage availability, pricing, and menus and have more control over their event business.

TripleseatDirect Reservations is now available to all restaurants that use Tripleseat as their event management solution. To learn more about TripleseatDirect Reservations, please visit tripleseat.com/products/tsdirect.

Jersey Mike’s Subs and customers across the country rallied to raise a record-breaking $21 million to help more than 200 local charities during the company’s 13^th Annual Month of Giving in March. 

Jersey Mike’s locations nationwide accepted donations throughout the month, building to the company’s Day of Giving on March 29, when nearly 2,500 restaurants donated 100 percent of sales, not just profits, to local charities including hospitals, youth organizations, food banks and more.

“We were humbled to see how our customers came out in droves to support their local charities on Day of Giving,” said Caroline Jones, Senior Vice President, Jersey Mike’s Franchise Systems, Inc., and daughter of Founder Peter Cancro. “Day of Giving is our busiest day, and we look forward to it all year. Thank you to our customers, franchise owners, team members and charity partners for making a difference!”

This fundraising total exceeds the $20 million raised during last year’s campaign. Since Month of Giving began in 2011, Jersey Mike’s has raised more than $88 million for local charities. (View/download b-roll)

“Giving…making a difference in someone’s life” has been the mission of Jersey Mike’s from the beginning. 

For totals raised on behalf of more than 200 charities nationwide, please visit our listing of charities by state.

The luxury travel market size is expected to grow considerably between 2022 and 2029. A recent article in Forbes indicates luxury travelers are trending toward longer lengths of stay, higher average orders and increases in the booking window.

To fulfill guest expectations and provide an exceptional experience across the entire guest journey, the Goldwynn Resort & Residences, an 81-room oceanfront lifestyle resort on Cable Beach in Nassau, Bahamas, has invested in hospitality technology needed to deliver the kind of upscale, seaside experience guests and residents are looking for in a destination resort. The company sought a vendor partner who could provide the right property management system (PMS) and point-of-sale (POS) technology, along with solutions for its condominium concept.

This boutique property which opened February 2023, chose award-winning PMS and POS solutions which are part of the Agilysys Hospitality Cloud^™. Agilysys, Inc. (Nasdaq: AGYS) is a leading global provider of next-generation SaaS hospitality software solutions and services that empower hospitality operators like Goldwynn Resort & Residences to optimize Return on Experience (ROE) for guests and staff to achieve High Return Hospitality. ROE measures how technology creates more engaged and empowered staff members as well as guests who return more often, spend more and leave stronger reviews.

After seeing how intuitive and easy-to-use Agilysys PMS was for their staff, the company also selected the recent POS InfoGenesis system version from Agilysys, which combines highly interactive terminal and tablet touchscreen applications supporting Windows, Android and iOS devices. Its robust reporting and analysis features, extensive enterprise-grade menu and item configuration capabilities and multi-language support help drive service flexibility and increase operational efficiency. The result is improved food & beverage (F&B) operations and increased revenue across venues.

Goldwynn Resort & Residences also chose Agilysys’ commission-free, direct-channel, easy-to-use reservation system that helps move guests effortlessly through the booking process.

Goldwynn Resort & Residences provides guests and residents a sleek, private sanctuary, fine dining and lounges, an infinity pool, a full-service spa, a state-of-the-art fitness center and personalized, attentive butler service. The property offers studios, one-, two- and three-bedroom suites with golf course or ocean views – a haven that allows guests and owners to unwind, rejuvenate, relax and rediscover their passions.

"A successful, well-known luxury casino resort in the Bahamas already using Agilysys hospitality solutions was one of the determining factors in our search for the best technology for Goldwynn Resort & Residences,” said the property’s COO, Donald Adam. “We chose Agilysys because of its reputation in the hospitality industry for providing properties with modern, easy-to-use solutions that have already helped staff with advanced sales prior to opening and will enable owner and occupancy rotation and balanced ownership bookings. Agilysys will be key to us delivering end-to-end High Return Hospitality.”

"On an island dotted with iconic resorts, the newest luxury property in the Bahamas knows it must set the bar high for guest and staff experiences since every touchpoint creates a champion or a critic – with guest, owners and staff,” said Jeba Kingsley, Vice President, Professional Services at Agilysys. "Doing so enables Goldwynn Resort & Residences to spend more time with guests and offer more personalized and profitable experiences. We are proud of this project and are looking forward to partner with such an incredible organization." 

Juniper Networks, a provider of secure, AI-driven networks, announced that citizenM, the award-winning ‘affordable luxury’ hotel and lifestyle brand, has selected Juniper’s full range of AI-driven Enterprise and Connected Security solutions, including wireless access, wired access and next-generation firewalls to deliver a modern hotel experience for its guests. By choosing Juniper®, citizenM is leveraging the benefits of Mist AI™ and a secure client-to-cloud experience to transform how guests sleep, work and relax, while reducing the time and effort required to setup and manage secure IT networks in numerous locations.

citizenM currently has 31 hotels globally and is pursuing major growth plans, aiming to operate 40 hotels in premier metropolitan locations and airports in Europe, Asia and the U.S. by 2024. With the increasing number of guests and its ambitious expansion strategies, citizenM needed a network that would scale with its digital transformation plans. The company turned to Juniper wireless access points driven by Mist AI™ to deliver better guest engagement, coupled with industry-leading Wi-Fi that is both predictable and reliable. In addition, Juniper Networks EX Series Switches provide high-performance, secure access to wired devices and Juniper next-generation firewalls effectively protect all hotel properties and the Amsterdam headquarters from cyber-attacks, while connecting them to the company’s cloud resources. Juniper has been citizenM’s networking provider and has also been named as a Leader in the 2022 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Enterprise Wired and Wireless LAN Infrastructure for the 3^rd year in a row, with top scores for ability to execute and vision.

With citizenM’s new network, guests can simply check in at a kiosk or via the brand’s award-winning mobile app, with an ambassador at hand to help if needed. A digital key is created and guests are on their way to their room quickly, typically in one minute. Once in their room, guests can control the room temperature, lighting and shades from an in-room Wi-Fi-enabled tablet or via the app, as well as accessing F&B menus, viewing city guide content and more. Guests can also seamlessly stream their apps, movies or games to a high-definition TV and share them with family and friends without increasing the risk of a threat, compromising them or the hotel network.

In addition to real-time, secure connectivity with personalized experiences for guests, the Juniper solution also simplifies the deployment and management of IT infrastructure and services across multiple, distributed properties. With Mist AI, zero-touch provisioning and automated workflows operated via the cloud, network setup is easy and quick. Mist AI proactively detects and fixes anomalies to expedite troubleshooting without the need for onsite resources. Additionally, ambassadors, duty managers and support staff at the hotel properties have fast, reliable access to their key hospitality and business applications, including property management, content management, physical security, payments, video and voice. Juniper Networks SRX Series Firewalls provide a full suite of traffic inspection and industry-leading threat protection capabilities while maintaining top performance. These capabilities effectively safeguard hotel guests, staff and their access to the internet and other digital assets.

Supporting Quotes:

“citizenM has re-defined hospitality by disrupting the traditional hotel model to give modern travelers an affordable luxury experience. A key pillar of our strategy is to provide guest service beyond expectations. We aim to anticipate our guests’ needs, continuously exceed their expectations and curate memorable experiences for them. We strongly believe that technology is the foundation and enabler of our transformation. We value Juniper’s innovative thinking and how AI can help us manage the network.”

- Bojan Pavicic, Director, Technology and Digital, citizenM

“Technology has become a critical element in the hospitality industry, as guest demands are changing and visitors are looking for more tailored service during their stay. citizenM adopts guest-centric technology that provides personalized experiences for its guests in a very seamless and simple way. Juniper Mist supports citizenM’s business objectives by enhancing connectivity with simplicity, providing analytical data and simple operations with proactive, low-maintenance troubleshooting, resulting in lower operational cost - but high value - in terms of the customer experience.”

- Gos Hein van de Wouw, Vice President, Enterprise, EMEA, Juniper Networks