V Villas Hua Hin, an MGallery-branded Accor property in Central Thailand has been pioneering Portier Technologies’ guest-facing technology to implement and promote Accor’s COVID-19 guidelines with added effectiveness.
The Portier Platform consists of a browser-based control center and customized Portier Phones placed in the hotel room and available at no extra charge for guests. Leveraging the platform’s content distribution features, staff at V Villas are able to educate guests about new rules such as the mandatory 2-meter distance between people in the hotel’s public areas. What’s more, the in-built Portier Chat enables guests to make housekeeping requests only when needed, so as to avoid unnecessary utilization of housekeeping staff.
“Guests in each of our villas are digitally paired up with a member of staff who carries a staff version of a Portier Phone and is directly connected to the guest, in order to respond to needs ranging from in-room dining to housekeeping requests. With guests encouraged to carry the devices on and off-property, we ensure a constant exchange between staff and guests, eliminating the need for physical proximity,” said Non Sophonvises, general manager at the property.
In addition to this, Portier Technologies has empowered the property to further drive digitalization - Sophonvises added: “With our ability to fully control any type of content on the guests’ Portier Phones, we can remove the need for physical menus and reduce touchpoints when it comes to accessing the offerings of our on-site restaurants, for example. In other words, we now have a single touchpoint for all needs.”
Olivier Dombey, Chief Operating Officer at Portier Technologies remarked: “The last few months have been a monumental shift for the hotel industry, and moving forward, guest expectations will drastically change. With our platform at hand, partners such as V Villas can keep guests comfortable, educated and engaged, and look forward to improving the overall guest experience, despite the physical distance. To us, that is the best way to bring back the romance of travel!”
For months to come, travelers will be nervous about experiences like street food or local markets but given that these are critical to an authentic and romantic experience in countries like Thailand, V Villas are perfectly positioned to “explore with the guests” by having staff stand by to answer guest questions like: “I’m near this market in the photo. Do you think this would be safe to explore?” With the Portier Platform at their disposal, V Villas staff can extend their assistance to the full in-destination experience.