One of the most iconic hotels in the world
A living legend for more than 130 years, Hilton’s Del Coronado Hotel (also known as “the Del”) is, according to Forbes’, “arguably one of the most iconic hotels in the world.”

When Elisha Babcock, Jr., and Hampton L. Story, built this historic beach resort in 1988, it was the largest resort in the world. The Del boasts a rich history as the proud host to celebrities, royalty, U.S. Presidents, and beach-loving guests over generations. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1977.

Spa & Salon at The Del is a coastal sanctuary that taps into the healing power of the sea. Relax into ocean-inspired treatments that will soothe your mind, body and spirit. The Spa & Salon, kept running by a team of 50 employees, has 18 treatment rooms, a full-service salon, and an ocean-front spa dipping pool.

A legacy system not up to Hilton’s standards
Guests of the Del Coronado expect a superb standard of service and the highest level of guest experience, but when the property was purchased by Hilton in 2017 and added to the Curio Collection, it was time for an upgrade.

Michelle Frye, the Del’s Director of Spa & Salon explained that the Del’s legacy software system was not compliant with Hilton Standards. “The Spa and Salon were not able to offer online or mobile bookings and we saw our revenues begin to decline.

“We have a call center that handles calls for several different areas of the hotel and we were seeing a higher abandonment rate of calls for spa due to higher wait times.”

A “seamless” implementation and training experience
Frye explained that The Spa & Salon at the Del needed a system that was easy to use. “We didn’t want any training challenges. We also wanted a good online booking option to create a more seamless guest experience.”

They shopped around before deciding on Book4Time.

“We did demonstrations with a couple of different software systems and we felt Book4Time was the easiest to use and it had a lot of great reporting options, which was something lacking in our previous system.”

After that, implementing the system was “seamless,” Frye said, and the training team very helpful.

“The implementation process was extremely detailed and our trainer was very helpful during our many webinars. A timeline was presented at the beginning of the process and everything happened as scheduled. We had arranged to do an online training and onboarding with our team but, due to the large size of our team, this was a little complicated to facilitate. At that time we decided it was best to have a trainer come on site for three days and this was extremely helpful. They were also here when we went live so we could enlist their help if we had any challenges.

“I would definitely recommend the onsite training piece! The entire process was very seamless and the Book4Time team was great.”

Since the software went live, Frye said the user experience has been great and added that Book4Time’s support team has been very responsive regarding any questions or difficulties they have had.

“We did demonstrations with a couple of different software systems and we felt Book4Time was the easiest to use and it had a lot of great reporting options, which was something lacking in our previous system.”

“This has been the best part for us,” she said. “Seven percent of our business comes from online booking and four percent from mobile bookings,” for a total of 11% of total business.

In fact, in the period between June 2019 and July 2020, after the Del transitioned to Book4Time, online and mobile bookings generated over $240,000 in revenue.

“It only made sense that, if our rooms can be booked online, activities booked online, then from the customers perspective, they should be able to book spa online. This lends itself to a better guest experience. Now spa-goers can book online and we don’t risk losing that revenue we were losing through call abandonment, and we alleviate some of the call volume from the call center. This also allows us to yield our treatments and turn on or off online treatment options based on demand.”

Frye is also looking forward to making good use of other functionalities. “I had a two-hour call with them reviewing how to use their inventory module and we are looking forward to utilising this module for all purchases and inventory processed moving forward,” she said.

Overall, Frye and Hilton are impressed with Book4Time’s product and team. “They are very helpful and are very knowledgeable about their product,” she said.

Not only would she “absolutely” recommend Book4Time to other spas that are looking for a solution, Frye said, “Book4Time is our Hilton Spas preferred software partner!”

With an increasing number of luxury hotels and resorts offering day and resort passes to drive staycation business, Book4Time, a leader in innovative spa and wellness solutions, is thrilled to announce the launch of Day & Resort Passes on its award-winning platform.

Hot on the heels of winning HotelTechReport.com’s 2024 award for Best Spa Management Software, this latest update empowers clients to set precise metered-entry periods, guest type capacity limits as well as packages. This enables hotels and resorts to create and sell staycation offerings that include offerings such as pool/beach access, cabana and daybed reservations as well as spa and F&B enhancements.

Notably, these cutting-edge features are built into Book4Time's existing suite, preserving its out-of-the-box functionalities, including spa scheduling, yield management and dynamic pricing, inventory management and a robust point-of-sale system – enabling properties to use a single all-in-one platform to manage all non-room inventory.

In addition to enabling hoteliers to drive staycation business, this new functionality will also enable Book4Time to bring its advanced spa and wellness capabilities to serve the Nordic and thermal/hot springs spa market.

According to the Global Wellness Institute, Nordic and thermal spas are the fastest-growing segment within the wellness industry.

"With hotel revenue managers looking at creative ways to drive total revenue, we’re excited to enable this new functionality for day and resort passes,” said Roger Sholanki, CEO at Book4Time.

“As an example, hoteliers can now use the Book4Time platform to market and sell amazing staycation packages complete with a cabana rental, spa services as well as bottle service. We’re also excited about being able to take our spa management capabilities into the Nordic and thermal spa market. Nordic Spas, where guests cycle between hot and cold pools, saunas and steamrooms, have become hugely popular both here in Toronto and globally, and there’s nothing today that is purpose-built for the market.

“There’s a big gap in the marketplace that we’re aiming to fill.”

Book4Time invites spa and wellness professionals to explore the enhanced capabilities of this latest release, setting a new standard for operational efficiency and customer satisfaction.

Imagine a world where your hotel or resort seamlessly caters to every guest's wellness needs, creating an oasis of relaxation and rejuvenation.

At the heart of Book4Time's innovation lies the power to connect various technology systems within your hotel or resort, crafting an unparalleled guest journey.

Why is Book4Time the smart choice for powering your spa and wellness departments?

Effortless Integration: Book4Time seamlessly integrates with your existing hotel or resort systems, from booking platforms to property management and billing. No more juggling between software; everything is at your fingertips. Book4Time has over 60+ technology integrations to work cohesively with your property. From Opera and MEWS to Peoplevine and Gantner, Book4Time has you covered. A full list of integrations can be found here.

Having multiple integrations that connect with each other can enhance:

Personalised wellness: Customise guest experiences like never before. With Book4Time, you can tailor spa treatments, make recommendations based on individual preferences and create single and group itineraries to ensure a truly unique and memorable stay.

Streamlined operations: Enhance efficiency across the board. Manage appointments, staff schedules and inventory effortlessly, optimising resource allocation and boosting profitability.

Data-driven insights: Gain invaluable insights into guest preferences and trends. Leverage data analytics to refine your offerings, delighting guests and elevating your competitive edge.

Impeccable guest service: Create a seamless journey, from booking to check-out. With Book4Time, guests can effortlessly schedule spa treatments, access wellness amenities and settle bills, all within a few clicks.

Elevate your hotel or resort's reputation as a wellness destination of choice with Book4Time. Seamlessly integrated technology can transform the overall guest experience, fostering relaxation, rejuvenation and unforgettable memories.

Cloud-based spa and amenity management software platform Book4Time has expanded its coverage for its integrated Book4Time Pay solution through a partnership with fintech company Adyen.

Thanks to the partnership, coverage for Book4Time Pay now expands beyond the US and includes Canada, most of Europe as well as Australia and Singapore in the Asia-Pacific region.

The payment solution provides customers with the ability to take deposits and guarantees at the time of booking to prevent no-shows, accept EMV credit/debit at the point of sale and sell gift cards and resort passes online as well as manage recurring membership billings and provide self-service mobile checkouts.

Paired with transparent and competitive pricing and security features such as 3DS, fraud mitigation and chargeback management, Book4Time Pay has seen significant adoption and growth since launching in Q3 of 2021.

“Book4Time Pay has been very well received by our customers in the US,” says Roger Sholanki, Book4Time CEO .

“Now we’re excited to be able to expand Book4Time Pay’s reach and offer our customers in Canada, Europe and Asia an integrated payments offering to help them improve the guest experience, drive efficiencies and make cost savings.”

Book4Time manages the end-to-end guest experience for hotels, resorts and clubs in over 100 countries worldwide and is the preferred solution for some of the world's largest hospitality brands including Marriott, Accor, Hilton, Hyatt and Four Seasons.

Book4Time is the world's leading spa and ancillary revenue management software for the world’s top hotels and resorts, used by more Forbes Five-Star resorts than any other vendor.

Book4Time manages the end-to-end guest experience for international hotels, resorts, casinos, golf and private member clubs operating in over 100 countries worldwide and is the preferred solution for some of the world’s largest and most prestigious brands.

Its latest launch is its advanced yield management capabilities.

Simply put, yield management is the practice of adjusting prices based on demand.

This is a practice that the hospitality industry has been using since the 70s. From airlines to hotel rooms, prices can always fluctuate based on demand. The best example is that maybe there’s a huge sporting event taking place near your hotel of choice, you’ll likely be paying more during the weekend of this sporting event because demand is up and that hotel is trying to capture the maximum amount of revenue.

The spa industry and yield management
During the past couple of years, the spa industry has begun to catch on and utilise this practice to make up for slower days without having to discount their services or offerings, which can actually harm a business.

Yield management gives spa directors and general managers the opportunity to use new sales and marketing techniques to fill their treatment rooms during these slower times to entice guests to make a visit to the spa and to make up for potential lost revenue.

On a slower day, your system could automatically lower prices for you. Pair these prices with a smooth marketing campaign for hotel guests, you could turn your entire schedule around.

Book4Time’s out-of-the-box solution has always given users the option to use yield management features, allowing management teams to set the system up to automatically fluctuate prices based on the day of the week or practitioner.

However, we recently took it a step further to give our clients a fully automated 360-degree yielding experience.
With our new advanced yielding features, our clients can set their systems to yield by room occupancy, spa utilisation percentage and hour of the day.

These new offerings will allow spa directors to run their spa and treatment rooms at their maximum efficiency when choosing to use this feature.

Suzanne Holbrook, senior corporate director of spa operations for Marriott International and Ritz Carlton, is an expert in yield- and revenue management.

She oversees 160 spas at hotels and resorts and is recognised for an almost magical ability to produce outstanding financial results.

Holbrook told Spa Executive Magazine in an interview: “There’s always the fear of change! We’re used to yield management with airlines and hotels, but not in spas. Why? Let’s be the disruptors. We shouldn’t wait for every other industry to move forward.”

Leading cloud-based spa, wellness and leisure activity management software Book4Time manages the end-to-end guest experience for international hotels, resorts, casinos, golf, and private member clubs operating in over 85 countries worldwide and is the preferred solution for some of the world’s largest and most prestigious brands.

Book4Time has recently announced a new partnership with hardware-based, access control company Gantner.

How does Gantner work?
The business makes devices which are connected to door locks, as well as supply the RFID cards/bracelets that its hardware reads. Guests will approach a Gantner device and present their RFID card/bracelet. Each card/bracelet has its own unique ID associated with the guest and is provided to the property by Gantner. The device will then open the lock or do nothing, based on the response from the Book4time system.

The new collaboration
Book4Time’s partnership with Gantner will allow you to offer access control solutions via key cards that allow members to access certain points throughout your property based on their membership level.

Our enhanced membership capabilities allow you to offer tiered membership levels at different price points. A great example of how our membership model would work with the Gantner access control system would be if you offer silver, gold and platinum membership levels.

For example, if platinum cardholders are the only group allowed access to your rooftop pool, then the doors to the rooftop pool cannot be unlocked by one of the other membership cards that fall under the gold or silver membership levels.

Real-time pop-up notifications will appear in Book4time letting you know when a point of entry has been accessed or even when someone has been denied right down to the membership number.

How does the integration work?
Each Gantner reader is configured with a “Name” or some other identifier which tells us which door the device is attached to. When a guest approaches a reader, and taps their RFID device, Ganter will reach out to Book4Time via WebSocket and send us the door identifier, and the unique RFID number.

Book4Time will then decide whether the guest is valid and open the door.

“We never stop innovating,” said Sal Capizzi, Book4Time director of marketing, “as our offerings have advanced so have our clients.

“The need for membership options in spas and wellness centres has skyrocketed and so has the demand for access control. This strategic partnership will allow both Book4Time and Gantner to offer a solution that provides exclusivity to our clients.”

Las Vegas’ vast new integrated mega-resort called Resorts World Las Vegas recently launched its 26,000sq ft wellness facility called Awana Spa & Wellness.

Complete with personalised treatments, immersive facilities and approachable wellness offerings, the modern, yet warm, space draws on the principles of the golden ratio with rounded rooms, curved walls and well-thought-out designs to promote a transformative and holistic experience.

Jennifer Lynn was appointed to helm operations as spa director at Resorts World Las Vegas. An inspiring spa and wellness leader with 25 years of experience in luxury brand development and a passion for hospitality, luxury service, and sustainability, Lynn oversees operations at Awana.

As the pre-opening director of spa and fitness, she worked diligently on the critical path to opening the spa in the fall of 2021.

Her responsibilities included brand development for the spa, design and construction project management for the space, system implementation – including software – building a zero-based budget and recruiting, hiring, and onboarding a champion team of 70 passionate spa professionals.

Naturally, Book4Time was the software of choice.

Why choose Book4Time?

As industry leaders know, there’s a lot to consider when it comes to choosing a spa software, including functionality, ease of use, interface and more.

When asked what she was looking for in a software solution at the time, Lynn listed integrations as one of her top priorities.

She said: “Spa software decisions should be explored fully to ensure that they meet all the right criteria for operations and property integration, perhaps even taking into consideration a need for enterprise solutions for multiple properties. At Resorts World Las Vegas, we needed to find software that had great integration for our PMS system, Opera.”

Specifically, Awana Spa’s operational needs for software include:

• Easy to use for guest-facing online booking.
• User friendly for spa operators/end users.
• Retail management integration (sales, inventory, and purchasing management).
• Payroll configuration flexibility and having a software system that is flexible.
• Operational configuration – spa services, retail store transactions, wellness activities.

“We chose Book4Time because it met all of our criteria and testing in a pre-opening setting for Resorts World Las Vegas IT standards,” said Lynn,

“We also verified references from other spa operators with similar business models that were experiencing success with Book4Time.

“Treatment providers are able to use their mobile devices to check their schedules throughout the day at their fingertips, eliminating the need to have multiple computers throughout the Heart of House areas.”

The fact that the software is cloud-based is one of the things that stood out for Lynn.

“Being a web-based program made it affordable to implement and we love to have access to our spa reservations from our mobile devices.

“Treatment providers are able to use their mobile devices to check their schedules throughout the day at their fingertips, eliminating the need to have multiple computers throughout the Heart of House areas. This allows treatment providers to review their schedules, eliminates the need for paper itineraries or agendas, and creates easy access for upgrades and enhancements.”

Lynn was also pleased to report that the launch and implementation of Book4Time went smoothly.

“With over 25 years in hospitality and spa operations management, this was one of the smoothest launches I’ve had. At the baseline, the software functionality and integration are key.

“The Book4Time team was well prepared to support a launch of a new spa within the launch of a new property. The team was well versed in managing the critical path for configuration, implementation, training, and go-live.

“Customer support has been the most impressive. As we have worked to create a system that represents the unique complexity of our operation, the support team has been very responsive to inquiries regarding configuration.”

In addition, Lynn confirmed that the payroll functionality has been a time-saver: “The complexity of spa payroll could leave a scholarly mathematician confused. Book4Time has a software program that can adapt to the diversity and complexity of compensation when configured properly and makes it simpler to understand.”

She adds: “Customer support has been the most impressive. As we have worked to create a system that represents the unique complexity of our operation, the support team has been very responsive to inquiries regarding configuration.”

So, how does Book4Time compare with other software systems Lynn has used in the past?

Simply put, she says, it’s better!

Lynn concludes: “The online booking platform alone is easy to use for guests and integrates well into our spa operation. I find the product to be far superior to the other systems I have used over the years.”

To learn more about how Book4Time can help your spa and hospitality business thrive visit www.book4time.com and book a demo today!