A 168-room hotel has revealed how it manages to operate seamlessly with an ultra-lean team of staff thanks to a cutting-edge tech platform it launched with last year.
The platform enables staff to perform 80% of their daily tasks from one single system. It also allows guests to carry out a range of actions without staff assistance. These range from checking in, ordering food, requesting additional linen or pillows, and creating keyless room passes – requiring only a smartphone.
Otto Konstantin Lindner, co-founder and managing director at The Zipper Hotel & Apartments, said: “We simply wouldn’t have been able to achieve what we have at The Zipper without Like Magic.
“My co-founder Tobias and I knew from the day we met Markus at a conference that he was truly onto something special. With Like Magic, we’ve been able to build a small, lean but highly effective team that is genuinely as passionate about what we are doing as my co-founder and I are. It’s also just given us all such a huge amount of headspace, and so it’s enabled us to focus on what really matters to our guests.”
The platform also enabled The Zipper to rapidly onboard staff, with every team member fully trained up in just a day and a half. And despite the ultra-lean team, the hotel has generated extensive positive feedback from guests, with Google ranking it 4.6 out of 5 and Booking.com ranking it 8.8.
Like Magic’s platform brings a booking engine, guest platform, employee interface and monitoring tools all into one place, creating a centre of operations for hotel management. This unlocks a completely digital guest journey for guests if they want one — and plenty do. According to Otto, some 70% of guests use WhatsApp as their preferred means of communication
The platform allows staff to run operations using a traffic light system of notifications and recommended actions, making the whole process of customer service and property management much more automated.The platform is also monitored in real time so, if there’s a problem with the digital guest journey, it instantly provides a solution, enabling staff to be both remote and proactive at the same time.
Tobias Sebastian Oberdieck added: “The fact that some 70% of guests are choosing WhatsApp as their preferred means of communication is a clear indication that they today expect seamless, instant communication at their fingertips. So, we are really happy to be one step ahead of the game when it comes to using tech to make our guests’ lives that bit easier.
“But what I think is really interesting is the useability of the platform, as it is easy to understand and fun to work with. We may be operating with numbers that would have previously constituted a ‘skeleton crew’, but with Like Magic, we are genuinely able to operate just as efficiently and productively as a team of 30.”
Markus Feller, CEO of Like Magic, comments: “The Zipper Hotel & Apartments offers a real glimpse into the future of how hotels operate. Soon, cutting-edge platforms such as Like Magic will have all but solved the staffing crisis in the sector through far-reaching automation of tasks that previously only humans could do.
“What is most impressive about this example is that it has helped Otto and his co-founder build a team around them that truly cares – Like Magic has enabled them to find like-minded hospitality professionals who are as dedicated to doing the best job possible as they are.
“However, it’s important to point out that this is just the beginning. Once Like Magic realises the full potential of AI, we’re going to see the automation of hotel operations reach another level. The hospitality sector shouldn’t be reluctant about embracing such tech, it should lean in. Embracing these tools is key to elevating our game, not just making operations smoother, but also enriching the guest experience and setting new benchmarks in service quality.
“The Zipper’s success story is one in which we can see firsthand how tech is poised to transform every aspect of the hospitality sector, from the staff we onboard to the experiences we ultimately deliver.”
