Doubletree Adds Revenue with Pay-per-use Safemark Room Safes

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. October 14, 2008

MAY 4, 2007. Best known for serving warm, delicious chocolate chip cookies, it's no secret that Doubletree Hotels make guest service and well-being their number one priority. So when it came time for management at the Doubletree Hotel Universal to upgrade its 10-year-old guest room safes, they wanted to be sure the end result would receive high marks from guests in ease and convenience, yet not put a strain on the hotels capital expenditures or operating budgets.

A Better Alternative

Having purchased the existing safes from another supplier, Doubletree might have continued to work with the company to dig up costly, hard-to-find and replacement parts or simply bought newer models and paid the hefty installation fees. But research by the hotel's General Manager Bill Worcester, showed that Orlando-based Safemark Systems offered an enticing new alternative called SafeComTM - fully automated, wireless, online, pay-per-use guest room safes that can be leased with no capital outlay and free installation and 24/7 technical support.

Real-Time Reporting

The automated online system is operated by a turnkey computer system called Safemark Communications Manager (SCM) enabling a variety of features that go above and beyond traditional guest room safes. Through the SCM, the hotel can maintain an online status of every safe in the building. Batteries never run out because the battery status is also displayed at the fingertips of hotel staff. Should a guest report a missing item, the online system can display the date and time of each access to the safe. And, a report is immediately generated if a guest forgets to remove belongings from the safe before check-out. Best of all, the SCM program is designed to interface with a variety of IT infrastructures currently found in hospitality properties.

Modern Considerations

Safemark guest room safes are designed with today's high-tech traveler in mind. They're large enough to accommodate laptops as well with purses, iPods, video equipment, cameras and cell phones. The LED illuminated keypad is easily visible and user friendly for guests.

Guest-Service Solutions

Perhaps most exciting to Worcester was that the hotel was able to acquire the new state-of-the-art safes without raising its daily room rate and without dipping into its capital budget - a savings of $150,000. Safemark's industry leading pay-per-use program means that guests pay for the SafeComTM service only if they decide to use their in-room safe and only on the particular days the safe is used. Guests are informed about the $10,000.00 Safemark exclusive warranty against forced entry and the daily charge by a label prominently displayed on the safe. Once the safe is used, the charge is generated and posted to the guest's folio, another advantage of the Safemark Communications Manager which Worcester says has been "flawless and efficient."

Guest comments about the easy-to-use optional safe system have been consistently positive. "Doubletree's savvy and cost-conscience travelers appreciate being given an option and not being charged a higher room rate or flat fee for an amenity they may or may not decide to use," said Worcester. "At a minimal charge per day, guests who need the safes don't hesitate to use them."

Cost-Saving, Revenue Generating Results

The hotel not only saved $150,000 of its capital expenditure budget by choosing SafeComTM, but has also added $3,000 per month in revenue from guest safe usage. The hotel and Safemark split revenue generated from each safe. For Page 3... Doubletree Orlando Adds Revenue with Safemarkthe last three months of 2006, the pay-per-use SafeComTM system exceeded revenue expectations by 12 percent. Furthermore, the hotel reports that labor hours spent by its security team have dropped by 80 percent since the installation of the new guest room safe system.

Professional, On-Time Service

Additionally, said the general manager, the Safemark team provided thorough, professional service from the first three detailed, initial planning meetings through the installation process and even now in the monitoring stages. The installation was completed effortlessly and on schedule.

"A Win-Win Situation"

"It's clear from the revenue generated by our SafeComTM system that guests do indeed place a high value on the well-being, security and convenience they get from placing their valuables in their in-room safes," said Worcester. "The hotel has found the investment in the Safemark product both financially and operationally successful. Using SafeComTM has been a win-win situation for our guests and for the hotel."