Entourage sur-le-Lac Resort
improves customer service and marketing through a successful digital transformation
Nestled on the shores of Lac Beauport, Entourage sur-le-Lac Resort, with its 166 rooms and suites, stands out for its philosophy focused on well-being and the art of living. The Resort is strategically located near tourist attractions such as Le Relais ski resort and Quebec City. The property is part of the Ôrigine hotels network, which includes 35 hotels in 14 Quebec regions.
Valuable advice for hoteliers
Julien April, General Manager of Entourage sur-le-Lac Resort, shares a valuable tip for hoteliers:
“Don’t wait for the perfect time to start your digital transformation. The future is now! And with the help of an experienced partner like HOTELUS Digital by your side, there’s a good chance that this transformation will be successful.”
The challenge
For some time, the hotel had been facing a number of technological challenges.
Its property management system (PMS) had major shortcomings: recurring breakdowns, slow processing, difficulties integrating with other applications and a complicated user interface.
These issues made employees’ work difficult and sometimes frustrating. It was also difficult to obtain reliable data for reporting and analysis and for decision-making and strategizing.
The search for solutions
In search of a replacement solution, management began their search for a new PMS on Google, but soon found themselves drowning in a sea of options available online. How could they distinguish the optimum solution for their hotel? And how could they be sure that it would comply with local regulations and practices? That’s when they turned to HOTELUS Digital for help in selecting a new PMS.
The HOTELUS Digital team, with its in-depth expertise in digital transformation, helped the hotel clarify its needs and establish selection criteria for the future PMS and other complementary connected applications (booking engine, electronic distribution, point of sale for catering, event management system, customer relationship management, etc.). Their prior experience with other hotel properties was an undeniable advantage, enabling them to make informed decisions quickly, while avoiding costly mistakes.
In the end, the decision was made to install the OPERA Cloud PMS, a proven system with an open API enabling easy connection of complementary applications in the hotel’s digital ecosystem.
The hotel also took the opportunity to acquire a new, customized booking engine integrated into its website. Supplied by P3 Hotel Software, its use is already driving growth in direct bookings.
A new CRM from LoungeUp has also been adopted, enabling the staff to better understand customer profiles, tastes and preferences. Among other things, this enables marketing to automate customer communications and better target promotional campaigns. LoungeUp also includes a customer application offering various functions such as: restaurant reservations, room services, digital key, chat, etc., which will be deployed gradually to facilitate the work while enhancing the customer experience.
Finally, the project provided an opportunity to analyze credit card processing costs and select a less expensive solution. The new PMS and applications have not only met the need for efficiency, they have also helped to optimize Entourage sur-le-Lac’s operations.
The results
A few months after adopting the new systems, the benefits are tangible:
- Increased direct bookings
- Faster guest check-in
- Improved customer service
- Automatically populated customer database
- More targeted e-mail campaigns
- Easier integration of new employees
- Reliable and high-performance systems.
As a bonus, employees spend less time on non-value-added tasks and more time on customer service. Since implementation, employee satisfaction has soared, testifying to the positive impact of the transition.
Success factors
The success of this digital transformation project is due in part to :
- The hotel dedicating two full-time employees to the project for several months;
- The support of the HOTELUS Digital team: located outside hotel operations, it was able to maintain a tight schedule;
- HOTELUS Digital facilitates interactions with the various suppliers through effective planning and management of integration activities.
The future
Entourage sur-le-Lac’s new digital ecosystem provides a solid, scalable foundation for the addition of new applications and technologies that will further enhance the customer and employee experience, as well as operational efficiency.
Members of the team
