S U P P LY L I N E S Samsung drives Delta Toronto’s in-room offerings By Don Douloff
Mark Holmes
Zonetail growing exponentially TORONTO — Zonetail, a free mobile platform for hotels that connects guests with the hotel and surrounding area, is expanding rapidly, founder Mark Holmes told Canadian Lodging News recently. In March, they hired Troy Rainville, formerly a general manager with Choice Hotels Canada, and since then they have grown from six participating hotels to over 100. “The hotels are from across the board including all the major chains and independents,” Holmes said. “We are in 10 Canadian provinces and nine U.S. states and have an offshore installation in the Cayman Islands. We are fielding calls from all over the world, including the U.K., France, Italy and Mandarin Oriental in Hong Kong. “It’s the right product at the right time at the right price, a complete mobile hotel platform free of changes. It’s white labelled and can be customized to each hotel. It can also be built to brand standards.” The Chelsea hotel, which changed its name recently from the Eaton Chelsea, is one of the early adopters of Zonetail. They rebranded their app when they changed their name, Holmes said. He added that the app is now in version 2.0, with “new bells and whistles.” It now offers check-in/check-out capabilities, in-app notifications and push messaging regarding things like happy hour at the lobby bar, to drive incremental revenue. The app also can drive incremental revenue before the guest even checks in, prompting them to book the spa in advance on the app for half price, for example.
Troy Rainville “We are the only ones who offer the whole thing for free,” said Holmes, adding that the millennial travellers are tuning into mobile more, and the cost to independents of offering this type of mobile platform is out of reach. “Independents don’t have the capability of a robust mobile app. We can supply that and get them up to speed. Zonetail also offers a booking channel that allows each hotel to have direct booking by redirecting users back to their booking engine. “Our future is bright, with green pastures and blue skies,” said Holmes. They have just begun operations in a U.S. office just outside L.A. and they also plan to open a European and Asian office to service offshore clients later this year.
provide content customized for each guestroom or group of rooms. The TVs on the property’s network — in Delta Toronto’s case, Samsung 40-, 46and 55-inch sets in standard rooms and 65-inch curved sets in suites — can be controlled from one central location. Delta Toronto can then communicate, across its TV network, specialized information such as area attractions and activities or details of its Greenstay sustainability program, or send customized messages (such as happy birthday wishes) to guests, said Stephen Perkins, vice-president, display business, enterprise business division, at Samsung Canada. In fact, all the information formerly contained in in-room books and binders can now be communicated over the network and easily updated, said Perkins. Delta Toronto is serving as the template for the brand’s smart in-room system, said Ahmed Amer, area systems director, IT, Ontario, for Marriott Hotels of Canada. He added that Marriott plans to roll out the system to other Delta properties, but said no timeline has been finalized.
TORONTO — Samsung Canada provided a look at the technology powering Delta Toronto’s in-room entertainment at an Aug. 6 press briefing at the hotel. “Staying connected is vitally important for today’s travellers,” who, when staying at a hotel, want to listen to music and watch TV shows or movies they’ve downloaded onto their personal devices and watch their favourite streamed TV content, said Mark Childs, Samsung Canada’s chief marketing officer, at the briefing. Delta Toronto guests can do all of that by connecting wirelessly or via wired connections to their in-room, menu-driven Samsung smart TV. Key to the in-room entertainment in Delta Toronto’s 567 guestrooms is Samsung’s LYNK SINC, an IP digital-based interactive TV content management system allowing the hotel to remotely control its network of televisions. Via LYNK SINC, property managers or technicians can provide applications and content individualized to guests’ needs, and hotels can Ahmed Amer, Marriott Hotels of Canada.
This is your wake-up call. The mindset of today’s hotel guest demands choice and control. Now, you can offer both. Kaba Mobile Access Solutions has made mobile access a reality – simply and securely. Hotels can issue and manage keys on a guest's mobile device for access to areas equipped with Kaba mobile enabled RFID locks. An overall mobile strategy integrated with Kaba technology delivers a more personalized and interactive guest experience – from keeping them informed of all hotel amenities to accessing their room.
Kaba Lodging Ilco 877.468.3555
Take the call – go mobile with Kaba.
kabalodging.com
Saflok 800.999.6213
September 2015 | 2 9