Hotel Zazz is Bananas for Jonas Chorum PMS

About Hotel Zazz

Hotel Zazz is a truly one-of-a-kind hotel property in Albuquerque, New Mexico. From its history to its design and features, nothing about Hotel Zazz is ordinary. We spoke with Sharmin Dharas, Owner & General Manager, about the hotel.

It’s a true family business: her parents owned and operated the hotel for nearly 25 years until Sharmin decided to put her medical career on pause to return to her hospitality roots. She then redesigned the entire property using her young daughter to guide colorful design.

She transformed the Route 66 motel into a funky, bold boutique destination, perfect for leisure and business travelers alike. With fun and whimsy in mind, they followed her daughter’s favorite colors (pink, turquoise, yellow, and purple) and favorite food—bananas. Now they have the golden banana in the lobby at the Guest Services Desk, as well as a banana cocktail, signature sweet banana Slurpee scent, and décor in the rooms.

Sharmin’s mentality: “We’re happy.” And that happiness is present in both the building design and how they interact with guests. To keep that happiness flowing, they need reliable technology to keep everything on track. That’s why she trusts Jonas Chorum’s technology suite to run her hotel operations and distribution.  

“We’re a full-service hotel that runs a lean operations team,” explains Sharmin Dharas. “I needed a PMS that would be easy to train people on and would help me and the hotel grow.”

Truly personal customer support

Prior to installing Chorum PMS, Hotel Zazz was relying on the old-school pen and paper method. When she revamped the hotel, they added a lot of features and upgrades – including a brand-new property management system. She relies on Chorum PMS and CRS to manage day-to-day operations and rate distribution for the hotel.

“With Chorum, it’s not people doing business with business, it’s people doing business with other people. You get to know the team, they’re reliable, you have a person to talk to about any problem. I can sleep better at night, knowing my Night Auditor – or any staff can just reach out to Chorum’s team. The support provides that continuity, they know my property. We’re not starting from scratch with each call.”

Unlike many technology companies, when you call Chorum PMS you speak to the same people and truly get to know them. It’s not a revolving door of call center reps, but trusted advisors who help provide ongoing support and technical expertise as her hotel evolves.

Easy to learn, train, and grow

As a busy hotelier, Sharmin needs to be able to do her job on the go. She loves Chorum’s mobile app, which gives her the ability to check in on the hotel from anywhere. They use the housekeeping module to make sure the front desk knows the moment a room is cleaned and has completed their turnover checklist.

What’s more, her team is a mix of part-time staff as well as many people without extensive hospitality experience. All of their technology needs to be easy to learn so they can get new staff up and running quickly. Their current set up with Chorum allows them to run the hotel remotely when needed. Sharmin and her family can check in via the app on the go, with an agile on-site staff at any given time. Chorum’s cloud-based system gives her that flexibility and customizability.

Sharmin installed Chorum PMS as a reimagined boutique hotel, which meant she could set up the system exactly as unique property like hers requires. “Chorum provides a lot of flexibility in how everything is set up,” says Sharmin. “Everything about Chorum PMS is very customizable and unique, just like Hotel Zazz.”