Introducing Malhotra Group
- Family-run business founded in 1991
- Impressive portfolio spanning leisure, care services and property
- 7 leisure sites including a 4* boutique hotel, a backpackers’ hostel, restaurants and pubs
- Each site has its own unique brand
The Zonal solution
- Property Management System (High Level)
- EPoS
- Loyalty
- Airship CRM
The business challenge
Malhotra Group has been working with Zonal’s High Level PMS for over seven years, so when it came to opening their latest hotel, Great North Hotel in May 2021, they didn’t consider any other tech solutions other than Zonal and High Level Software.
The Malhotra Group wanted to ensure that they had a fully integrated suite of technology, not only in the new hotel, but across the whole hotel portfolio. This technology needed to both streamline operations across all hotels, but also provide them with a better understanding of how the business was performing – both individually and collectively, and where efficiencies could be made. The solutions needed to provide consistent and high-quality experiences across each of their sites, fitting perfectly into the unique branding and sense of character of each hotel, despite their operational differences.
With a particular desire to drive bookings and increase revenue, the team wanted to be able to track customer spend across all departments of the hotel, whilst also having greater control over room pricing. Having previously taken bookings via email or phone and logging these manually, the group also needed better control of their guest reservations, in order to minimise errors and improve the overall guest experience.
“The support we get from the EPoS and PMS teams makes the partnership worthwhile.”
Marcella Swindell, Group Hotels Operation Manager
The solution
As an existing customer, the implementation of Zonal’s PMS, EPoS and Loyalty systems into their newest venue, was an easy transition for the hotel. With a desire to easily oversee and update booking rates and room availability from any device, Zonal’s High Level PMS was adopted on site and integrated with Zonal’s EPoS, to help save staff time and deliver a more seamless guest experience.
Through the EPoS integration, transactions in the hotel’s bars and restaurants could be charged to guest’s rooms, allowing for one final bill to be generated at the end of their stay, rather than guests having to undertake multiple transactions. In a bid to improve their loyalty offering and encourage more repeat guests, the Group also decided to implement Zonal’s Loyalty system across its newest site.
Fully-integrated with their EPoS, the system has enabled Malhotra to make it easier for guests to accrue and use points from their loyalty card, as they are collected and stored in one centralised system. Guests are also able to accrue points from bookings and F&B facilities on site, which are added to their account automatically as they spend, rewarding guests for their loyalty and encouraging additional spend and repeat visits:
- A fully integrated property management solution with reporting used across their three hotels, including channel manager tools, fully integrated with third-party sites
- A powerful and integrated EPoS system with robust reporting functionality used in all three hotel restaurants
- A digital loyalty platform to reward loyal guests and encourage repeat visits
- A scalable solution which is simple to implement and integrate into a growing business.
“The data we acquire from our technology is essential. We use this data to help set our rates for the week, the month and the following year!Through Zonal’s reporting tools, we can easily see how the business is performing and look to change our rates based on whether we need to drive occupancy, room rates or both.”
Marcella Swindell – Group Hotels Operation Manager
Key achievements
By adopting an integrated approach to their technology, Malhotra Group has streamlined operations, reduced the risk of human error across key business area, and established a more centralised view of their portfolio.
The implementation of Zonal’s High Level PMS and EPoS systems, has allowed for more consistent processes across all sites, when it comes to managing bookings and rooms rates. And with a loyalty scheme running through the EPoS, customer activity in their on-site restaurants can easily be connected with a guests’ reservation, allowing the hotel to track loyalty points and tailor any offers accordingly. Furthermore, the cloud-based PMS system, which can be accessed from any device, has provided the team with the flexibility and accessibility needed to keep on top of their rate management, particularly during busy trading periods.
Zonal’s High Level channel manager connects Malhotra’s hotels to over 250 OTAs, including sites such as booking.com, enabling them to easily reach new guests and boost occupancy. All bookings taken from this site are processed automatically into the PMS, meaning all bookings regardless of the channel can be managed from one central location.
- Better control over all aspects of the business, sites and reservations
- A fully integrated suite of tech to provide a seamless customer journey from booking to checking out and everything in between
- An easy-to-use, detailed reporting suite providing key data and insights to help continually enhance and improve the overall customer experience as well as better manage rates and occupancy
- Integrated suite of technology allows better analysis of the previous week’s performance across one site or all, as well as to plan ahead or close out specific availability for a better customer booking experience.
Results
- Seamless experience for guests
- Streamlined operations, with less mistakes or overbooking 100% of guest spend from all areas of the hotel assigned to a room with a few simple clicks of a button
- In-depth reporting across the entire business
- Better control over bookings and room rates
“People don’t want to input their details every single time they make a booking. They want to be remembered and you get this when booking through an app or online.”
Marcella Swindell – Group Hotels Operation Manager
