New app creates 21st century concierge
The hotel concierge, that famed finder of anything from taxis and concert tickets to gossip and the local low-down, is being given a new, digital lease of life for the iPad generation in the form of an iPhone and iPad app provided to customers by quality hotels, restaurants and other leisure venues.
The app (or application for those old enough to remember when words were complete) is created by mobile marketing specialist Insight Mobile (insightmobile.co.uk ) of Brighton and is offered by an increasing number of hotels, especially in London and the South East, and the upmarket restaurant chain D&D London (formerly Conran Restaurants).
In fact, supporters of the Insight Mobile app firmly believe it can be far more useful than the traditional concierge, brought to life in recent years on BBC 1 by Hotel Babylon's cheekie chappie Tony Casemore. It can’t slip a Mickey Finn and won’t take a bribe but, at the touch of a users fingertip, it can book a room or a table, show today's specials, arrange for a taxi to collect you from an airport or station and then bring you to your destination with the pinpoint accuracy of GPS navigation.
The upmarket boutique-style Drakes Hotel, on Brighton's seafront, is offering its clientele the Drakes app (as the hotel calls it) with unquestionable success. The app is free to download from the Apple App Store or via a link on the hotels website at drakesofbrighton.com and can then start providing hotel services before the user even sets off to the hotel in person.
MD of Insight Mobile, Catherine Lane, explains: “If, say, you're visiting Brighton for the weekend, you can not only arrange your room at Drakes Hotel but check out many of the city sights and experiences, from tourist attractions to restaurants and clubs, perhaps even planning your whole itinerary from the comfort of home or during the journey down. And on arrival you can skip the sometimes tiresome cab queues by having a taxi waiting for you, even though without the app you wouldn't have a clue where to book one.”
Richard Hayes, the general manager of Drakes Hotel, adds: “The Drakes App has become a key part of our service to customers and we like to deliver the highest quality of service. Some customers see it as our reception and concierge rolled into one and available wherever and whenever they want it. Business customers coming here for a daytime meeting and late night clubbers out at four in the morning all benefit. Its one of the ways we’re different from so many other hotels in Brighton and is a significant motive for customers to keep on coming back to us.”
The success of the app is one of the reasons why Insight Mobile, which designs and builds personalised apps for each of its clients individually, recently won a major Digital Marketing Award from Tourism South East.
Catherine Lane continues: “The Insight Mobile service is brand new to most of the tourist and leisure industry but it's catching on fast. It won't be long before a high proportion of tables and bedrooms, not to mention concert tickets and even gym sessions, are booked through mobile apps: they will soon be a staple part of the business. Adding concierge services at the level were offering turns a convenience into a major benefit, enabling a venue to provide a markedly better customer experience. It's the digital equivalent of offering the best chef or the fluffiest pillows.”
The benefits to hotels and restaurants don't end with an improved reputation for customer service. The Insight Mobile app is also a sales tool; one which will find favour with customers.
The Insight Mobile app is not a static thing and has lots of real-time features, says Catherine. For example, a restaurant can broadcast its lunchtime specials at lunchtime to customers within a certain radius, or last minute concert seats or West End musical tickets can be offered exclusively to nearby app users. It changes the relationship between venues and their clientele to everyone's benefit.
Insight Mobile apps are built to order and are bespoke to each hotel, restaurant or other venue, with prices starting below 500. The apps are free to download by a venue’s clientele.
For more information see: drakesofbrighton.com & insightmobile.co.uk
