Weekly briefing: How Sudima Hotels is building a sustainable brand with technology

If I ever doubted the power of technology, checking into Ian Schrager’s PUBLIC hotel in New York at 2 am after a 6-hour flight that was delayed by 5 hours made me grateful for a kiosk check-in that took 30 seconds:

I love the personal touch in hospitality, but sometimes you just want to get to your room as quickly as possible…

I’m in NYC for the NYU Hotel Investment Conference, so you can look forward to an update from me next week on the investment world and how that intersects with hotel operations.

This week, we have two new stories - one focused on the intersection of people and technology, and one on a group of people you shouldn’t overlook at your hotels.

Let’s jump into it…

SPONSORED BY SHIJI GROUP

How Sudima Hotels is building a sustainable brand with technology

With Sam Prakasam and Alena Novikova

Job to be done: Speed up hotel operations to meet the expectations of guests - and staff

How they approached this: Building a cross-functional technology review committee, choosing software that was cloud-based and hardware agnostic (Shiji’s Infrasys and ReviewPro), and hosting in-person training sessions with a group of internal “super users.”

Outcomes:

• Mobility: “The quality of our service has dramatically improved as we now can take an iPad directly to the table, place an order, and get it sent to the kitchen in a matter of minutes.”

• Fewer mistakes: “Our operations are more precise and accurate.”

• Lower stress: “It has helped reduce levels of stress.”

• Better interaction: “The time saved on recording orders has provided an opportunity to spend more time interacting with our guests.”

• More data & more insights: “We can understand trends and identify things we can do to improve guest satisfaction.”

• Less waste: “Our goal is to reduce food waste, and now our orders are more precise.”

SPONSORED BY MDO

The crucial role of the hotel Night Auditor

With Eduardo Burkard and Jason Freed

There’s a behind-the-scenes role in hotels that few outside the industry know about, but it’s served as the starting point for many hotel leaders: the role of the Night Auditor.

Recently, hundreds of hoteliers celebrated Night Auditor Appreciation Day, an initiative started as a recognition of the invaluable contribution night auditors make and an acknowledgment of their potential to shape the future of the hospitality industry.

I recently had the chance to speak with Eduardo Burkard and Jason Freed about:

• What the Night Auditor role entails

• The opportunity that exists in this role

• The evolution of the night audit through technology

• The importance of this role in the talent pipeline

More for you

• Why it's "Beverage and Food" at Remington Hospitality (Richard Garcia on Hospitality Daily) - Last week, the company formerly known as Remington Hotels rebranded to Remington Hospitality to reflect expanded opportunity, and one of the pillars of the company is its beverage and food program. Senior Vice President Richard Garcia explains why - and what he’s focusing on now.

• Empower with perspective (Michael Hraba on Hospitality Daily) - One of the best things a leader can do to support their teams is to provide perspective, Michael shares. “So many times you have a great employee who is a great human, but is just scared.”

• What's going on with hotels now (David Eisen on the Hospitality Daily Podcast) - “Because there are so many participants in the hotel ecosystem, there’s so much room for innovation.”