UK Hotel Installs Check-in Kiosk

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A hotel in York, UK, has introduced a kiosk for check-in and checkout to provide 24 hour unattended services to boost customer service and control staffing costs. Guests can now check-in outside reception opening hours and avoid potential queues if the member of staff is occupied.
 
Blossoms, a Georgian Townhouse Hotel in York, UK, is using hardware and software from AS Kiosks & Solutions, a provider of kiosk solutions for the hospitality industry.
 
After entering their reservation number the guest is requested to provide their credit card to pay for the accommodation. Once this transaction has been completed, an electronic room key is issued from the kiosk. When leaving, the guest returns their room key to the kiosk and pays any outstanding balance at the kiosk.
 
Richard Nunns, owner of Blossoms York, explains, “We had wanted to install an automated check-in kiosk, in order to improve our service to guests.  From small properties wishing to extend their check-in times or have more secure, easy to use methods of arranging late night check-ins to larger properties wishing to reduce queues at reception at peak times, I would strongly recommend that they take a look at what AS Kiosks has to offer - we are certainly impressed.”
 
“AS Kiosks listened carefully to our needs and liaised with our lock company and payment solution provider to ensure that the systems worked well together.  Following the install, they have continued to support us in ensuring the system is running well.  Staff and guests have found the kiosk easy to use.  We particularly like the ability to send a message to the on-call member of staff when somebody checks-in whilst reception is closed, allowing the member of staff to telephone the guest in the room to welcome them and ensure everything is ok for them.”
 
Ian Wiseman, Sales & Marketing Manager of AS Kiosks & Solutions, said, “We have changed the business model for self-service kiosks, which most small to medium hotels have regarded as too expensive when weighed against the benefits. By designing and manufacturing key aspects of the solution ourselves we not only control the quality but also the costs, therefore we can give hoteliers a business case and a solution that will pay for itself quickly."
 
Ian Wiseman added “This project was an opportunity to provide a simple, easy to use, integrated system that responds exactly to the clients’ needs.  This means we can focus on the important things to the customer without loading cost into the project.  Therefore the customer benefits and is able to utilise a kiosk where previously it would have been too expensive to consider.  With the added benefit of payment at check-in, the hotel owner knows that switching to an unattended solution does not introduce new risks or concerns.  Overall the installation has been a great success.”