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Tasteful Regency-style décor. Attentive yet discreet 24/7 service. World-class food and beverage venues. All this comes together at The Lanesborough in London, one of the city’s prime luxury hotels.
SuitePad in-room tablets went live in June 2022 to complement the modern, personalized guest experience the property offers. We recently had a chat with Christian Krajewski, Head of Digital Marketing, to find out more about how The Lanesborough London has benefitted from working with SuitePad’s guest engagement and communication platform.
About The Lanesborough
Set in a fully renovated 18th-century mansion just outside of London’s Hyde Park, The Lanesborough offers 93 Regency-style suites and rooms. Its dedicated round-the-clock butler service, five F&B venues, as well as a lavish spa and health club make it one of the city’s most note-worthy luxury hotels. As such, it’s part of the prestigious Oetker Collection, a group of twelve stunning properties spread around the globe.
On the lookout for an in-room tablet with a well-designed, straightforward user interface
When Christian joined The Lanesborough, the hotel was already using in-room tablets to offer information about its services. Unfortunately, the back-end user interface was very complex and poorly designed. That made it a tedious task for Christian and his team to manage the tablet’s content.
“When I joined The Lanesborough in 2020, our IT department had already started researching brands to replace our in-room tablets, a project I was happy to support. It was extremely difficult and time-consuming to edit or add information in the system previously in use, even for somebody well versed in different software and technology solutions. That meant editing became a time-consuming task, as we got to a stage where even small changes had to be briefed to the customer support team for action. On top of that, the hardware had become outdated, so it was a good time to find a new partner,” says Christian.
Discovering SuitePad as a user-friendly alternative
In recent years, The Lanesborough has been working on streamlining and modernizing its systems and processes. Among other things, that included adding digital in-room touchpoints that 21st-century travelers have come to expect.
These needed to be elegant, discreet solutions that would blend in well with the property’s classical style. The SuitePad tablet fits this bill perfectly.
On top of that, its straightforward user interface quickly convinced Christian: “I saw SuitePad’s backend and knew immediately that it would be quick and easy to use for our team. The same goes for the guest-facing content. Its layout follows the style of modern design-led websites which people are familiar and comfortable with.”
The results of digitalizing guest communication with SuitePad
Increased awareness of in-house services
Implementing SuitePad allowed The Lanesborough to shift from paper materials to a fully digital guest directory, a conscious decision forming part of the hotel's environmental goals.
The tablet offers travelers easy access to information about the hotel’s F&B venues, the spa and activities in the city. Today, placing in-room dining orders via the tablet is by far the most popular function among guests.
“Since we digitalized the hotel directory, we’ve seen more inquiries about in-house restaurant and spa bookings.”
“Our guests are inspired by the content and ask their butler to make reservations for them. This works well for us since we want to maintain this personal interaction between our guests and team members, even though we’re offering more digital touchpoints. That level of service and personal connection is one of the key aspects that set us apart from our competitors,” Christian says.
Straightforward content management
Adding and updating information became much easier for Christian and his team after implementing SuitePad. Instead of having to reach out to their account manager like in the past, they can now insert new visual or written content in just a few clicks.
“It took quite a while to create and add all the information when we first got started with SuitePad. However, that was a good chance to review what we wanted to feature on our new tablets. Now that we’re all set up, the occasional changes are quick and simple to make,” he explains.
Smooth onboarding and great customer service
From the moment Christian got in touch with SuitePad, he appreciated the team’s support and adaptability: “Working with customer service and our account manager, Marion, in particular, has been an excellent experience. She did everything to help us implement the tablets and customize the setup according to our unique requirements. When necessary, she even connects directly with operational teams to find ways to better integrate the SuitePad into their workflow.”
Having a dedicated and highly responsive account manager to rely on has proven to be a massive benefit for Christian and his department:
“SuitePad’s customer success team stands out positively against that of many agencies and software partners we’ve worked with.”
“For luxury hotels, this high level of support is crucial as the operational teams cannot be expected to master every single one of our multiple systems. Exceptional customer support and an understanding of five-star hospitality help us provide the quality or service we and our guests expect.”
A word to your peers
When asked about what he would say to fellow hoteliers considering an option like SuitePad, Christian had this to say: “Implementing SuitePad is definitely worth it. It’s an elegant solution that collects all important hotel information in one place and is easy for our guests and staff to use.”
“Especially in the five-star sector, everyone should be taking advantage of this. If I were to shift to a hotel that didn’t have tablets yet, I’d certainly put the idea forward.”
📸 Copyright: The Lanesborough London & SuitePad
Published on February 20, 2023
