Hotel Co. 51 is an independent European Hotel Operator of Moxy, Courtyard By Marriott, and Residence Inn. Founded in Amsterdam in 2020, the company currently operates 34 properties across the UK and Europe.
About The Company
Hotel Co 51 had positioned itself as a boutique hotel service targeting a new generation of travellers seeking style and comfort. Their stylish and playful ambience was attracting a lot of interest, and they were looking to expand even further.
Then, the pandemic hit. The travel industry was severely affected. With many international borders closed and lockdowns enforced, Hotel Co. 51 found themselves needing to hold back on recruiting.
With a skeleton staff, lone working was common, especially late at night in hotels. Staff often found themselves alone on reception or on other floors when guests might be intoxicated or pose a threat. This led to complaints about feeling uneasy in a large, busy hotel filled with strangers.
With this feedback from the team, the company needed to quickly find a solution to monitor their lone workers, make it easy for them to call for help during an emergency, and make their staff feel safe while working.
What were their goals?
Hotel Co. 51 was looking for a lone working monitoring system that would work seamlessly across their multiple locations in the UK. The urgency to find the right system became more pressing when the pandemic made lone working even more common.
They have night shift workers and lone workers that need safety monitoring. Night shift workers are vulnerable due to the dangers from acts of violence since crime rate is typically higher at night. Lone workers are also vulnerable to acts of violence, but also face added risks of falling, becoming injured in an incident, or having a health issue when nobody is around to help them.
As a business that operates 24/7, Hotel Co. 51 needed a solution to remotely monitor staff safety across multiple locations, while also providing their staff with 24/7 access to emergency help.
Strategy – What was the plan?
It was clear from the beginning that they needed a lone working safety solution. Hotel Co 51 explored the solutions offered by three companies, including Vatix.
In the end, they chose the solutions offered by Vatix for the following primary reasons:
- Panic button with lone worker device functionalities
Our Safe Pro device had the ideal solution of a one-push SOS panic button combined with other lone worker device functionalities such as two way audio with reliable speed, GPS, and man down alarm.
- Competitive pricing
Some of the other solutions the company explored only had a panic button without other functionalities, such as two-way audio. Some solutions had additional pricing for the panic button.
With Vatix, the all-in-one solution they needed came at an uncomplicated fixed cost per month, making it easy for them to meet their needs
- 24/7 monitoring centre response team
It was very important for Hotel Co. 51 that their staff could connect and speak to someone in a 24/7 monitoring centre response team.
With the option to choose Vatix 24/7 Monitoring services, Hotel Co. 51 were assured that a real life person would be able to immediately respond to any of their staff that pushed the SOS button.
Results
By equipping their front desk and staff with Vatix’s Safe Pro devices, Hotel Co. 51 found the solution that meets their exact needs to monitor staff safety across multiple locations.
The staff were also very happy with the solution, reporting that it was a hassle-free routine to integrate into their daily operations. Hotel Co. 51 was also very pleased with the after-sales support from Vatix.
As lockdowns began to cease and borders started opening up again, Hotel Co. 51 needed to add new talent to their team. They loved how the process to equip their new team members with Safe Pro devices was easy with a fast turnaround.
Furthermore, the company was impressed with how their Vatix account manager would provide regular usage reports and proactively follow up on hotel branches that reported low usage to ensure they were using the solutions as required.
Today, with hotel operations resuming to pre-pandemic activity levels, Hotel Co. 51 are assured by having a system that can monitor their staff safety in all situations, whether they’re working at night, working alone, or dealing with a customer that makes them feel unsafe.
“At the end of the day, it’s not just about price, it’s not just about the product; it’s also the engagement piece. The most valuable service from Vatix is the people. It’s not robots you’re speaking to. The Vatix team is down to earth and personal. We can really connect with the team if there’s a problem, discuss, and solve it together. And that really means a lot to me.”
Donovan
Regional Director Operations
