Case Study: The Dylan Hotel at SFO

ABOUT THE DYLAN HOTEL AT SFO
The Dylan Hotel at SFO is a 58-room boutique hotel located one mile south of the San Francisco Airport in a quiet, residential neighborhood. Their hotel is a short walk to the Millbrae BART (rapid transit) and CalTrain, and is also walking distance to many restaurants, banks, and groceries. They have about 18 employees, not including their two owners Christina and Barry Ongerth, a married couple who own and operate the hotel. The Dylan at SFO is a proud winner of the TripAdvisor Certificate of Excellence 2018 and have achieved this honor ten years in a row.

RECOGNIZING THE PROBLEM
Before making the transition to Jonas Chorum, The Dylan Hotel at SFO was using Oracle Opera to run their hotel operations. While Oracle worked for them at the time, they began to experience issues that were directly impacting their hotel. “We were eagerly waiting to be transitioned to the cloud for over two years, which never ended up happening,” stated Christina Ongerth, Co-Owner of the Dylan Hotel at SFO. “We also found the support to be lacking and we were expected to know how to resolve technical issues on our own, which left us in a tough position on numerous occasions.” In addition, their server was quickly becoming outdated, and they were having issues with a full and constantly crashing database. With all of these issues mounting, they began their search for a complete, cloud-based property management solution that could manage all of their hotel’s needs. After a lengthy search process weighing multiple options, The Dylan Hotel at SFO determined that Jonas Chorum was the best solution to manage their property going forward.

BENEFITS OF JONAS CHORUM
Since implementing Jonas Chorum, The Dylan Hotel at SFO is enjoying a more a streamlined and efficient business thanks to the improved capabilities of their property management system. One of the biggest benefits so far has been the ability to access the software through the cloud from anywhere, and at any time. This has been a big time saver for management, as they rarely have to contact the front desk to look something up or make rate changes within the system, and are now able to do this on their own from wherever they may be. They have also reduced their overall IT expenses, as they no longer have a costly server to maintain as well as antiquated back-up hard drives, and with the stability of Jonas Chorum, they are not losing revenue due to service glitches anymore. Another major benefit has been the rate management system within Jonas Chorum. As Christina stated, “The process for changing rates is great, and definitely a huge improvement over Oracle. The ability to change rates daily, and sometimes several times in a day, is a big advantage as it allows us to stay ahead of the competition. With the ease of changing rates, we are doing this more often, which ultimately helps us maximize our occupancy rates.” In addition, paperless registration and folios have helped modernize the way they do business. Not only is it better for the environment, but the ability to automatically send folios directly to the guests has improved guest satisfaction, as the checkout time has been drastically reduced and they are no longer receiving calls regarding misplaced folios. Employee satisfaction has also increased, as the front desk staff enjoys how easy the software is to use, while searching for guests is more accurate, and the system is more reliable overall.

LEVERAGING GUEST MESSAGING & ENGAGEMENT
With the shifting hospitality landscape towards a more contactless guest experience, the Dylan Hotel at SFO made a commitment to enhancing the way they communicate and engage with their guests. “We were looking for a messaging solution that I would not only value as a user, but as a guest as well,” stated Christina. “A simple platform that would allow us to message guests with reminders of their upcoming stay, happy hour specials, or even room upgrades. Having Whistle directly integrated with Chorum PMS gives us the ability to do just that, all within an easy to use and efficient system.” The benefits of the guest messaging functionality have also had a direct impact on their bottom line. As Christina stated, “With our automated pre-arrival text message offering a deluxe room upgrade, we have been able to get this offer directly in front of our guests, which has had a great response rate and has helped us maximize the value per guest.” In addition, the Dylan Hotel at SFO has been able to enhance the guest experience by connecting the right promotion, with the right guest. “With the built in filtering and import capabilities, we can automate the process of sending text message offers to guests, letting them know of specific amenities and upgrades that would be beneficial to them.” Overall, the Dylan Hotel at SFO has created a more personalized touch when it comes to their customer service, which is directly in line with their branding. “As a boutique hotel, the guest experience is everything,” stated Christina. “The ability to stay in close communication with guests, respond to guest requests faster, leverage modern technology, automate and streamline guest messaging, and more have all contributed to enriching the guest experience.”

WORKING WITH THE CHORUM TEAM
Upon making the decision to deploy Jonas Chorum, the implementation process began quickly thereafter and The Dylan Hotel at SFO was up and running in no time. Regarding the implementation process, Christina had this to say, “The implementation team and our trainer were fantastic. You can tell that the team at Jonas Chorum really love their jobs, it comes through on their responsiveness and the pride they take in their work.” With regards to support, The Dylan Hotel at SFO knows that the Jonas Chorum support staff will be there to help if needed, “I will say the support team is great,” stated Christina. “They are quick to respond and are very knowledgeable. My staff rarely call support because of how easy the software is to use, but when we do, the issue is resolved in a timely manner.” With a thorough and detailed implementation, as well as a consistent and reliable support team, The Dylan Hotel at SFO knows they are in good hands with Jonas Chorum.

CONCLUSION
By implementing Jonas Chorum, The Dylan Hotel at SFO no longer have to worry about their software and can focus on operating their property. With the ability to access Jonas Chorum from the cloud, management is able to be more mobile and agile, while reducing their IT expenses at the same time. When it comes to rate management, the seamless and intuitive process within Jonas Chorum has given them the ability to change rates multiple times within a day – something they didn’t have confidence in doing with Oracle. The paperless nature and faster check-in and check-out times has improved guest satisfaction, while the ease of use and functionality of the software itself has helped boost employee morale as well. Backed by a complete property management solution, combined with a strong support team at Jonas Chorum, The Dylan Hotel at SFO is running a more efficient business with increased revenue and occupancy.

ABOUT JONAS CHORUM
Jonas Chorum is a suite of streamlined, intuitive and flexible property management solutions, designed to provide hotels with everything they need to operate more efficiently and cost effectively, all while delivering a personalized guest experience. Product offerings include Chorum PMS, Chorum CRS, Chorum POS and Chorum Sync. The cloud-based platform features a lineup of high-tech applications and user-friendly features, making it a superior software solution for independent hotels, chain hotels and hotel management companies. With its sophisticated software and elegant platform architecture, Jonas Chorum delivers unparalleled functionality and systems integration with a clean, intuitive, and streamlined user interface that is remarkably easy to use. The Jonas Chorum suite of solutions was designed with hotel management professionals in mind, ensuring the product meets the needs of the hospitality industry today.