Lotte Hotel Client Story

2024-07-10 07:36 Client Stories

The Lotte Hotel Group

The history of Lotte Hotel Group dates back to 1973 in South Korea when the first hotel of the chain, Lotte Hotel Jung-gu, opened its doors. Lotte's founder, Shin Kyuk-ho, then traveled the globe for a few years to get a more profound hotel industry experience. He gained invaluable insights from key players in the hospitality industry around the world. His work led to the inaugural Lotte Hotel debut in Seoul in 1979. The hotel quickly became an enduring icon within Korea's hospitality landscape. Currently, the hotel group includes over 30 hotels spread around the world.

Lotte partnership with Hoop

Two hotels within the Lotte Group, in Moscow and St. Petersburg, have built an extensive partnership with Hoop. They have integrated Hoop's solution into their management systems.

Lotte Moscow is an exquisite hospitality destination. It offers 300 spacious suites, including the prestigious Royal Apartment. Spanning an expansive 490 square meters, it is the largest and most opulent accommodation option in Russia.

Meanwhile, another Lotte establishment awaits in a historic mansion on St. Isaac's Square in St. Petersburg. The hotel features 150 elegant and modern suites. It has a spa, banquet halls, and a rooftop restaurant boasting a magnificent view of St. Isaac's Cathedral.

Unlike other Hoop clients, Lotte Moscow has already integrated an HMS (Hospitality Management System) solution before partnering with Hoop.

💬“We really appreciate the digital transformation opportunities. It’s important for us to track the time of receiving and completing requests, as well as managing workflow online. “As our team moved to the new workflow, there was no going back. It would be simply pointless to go back to the old way,” says Victoria, the head of the Guest Relations and Housekeeping Department.

💬"Lotte switched to our platform in 2020. We were glad that market leaders chose a revolutionary solution before it became mainstream," Tim, Hoop CBDO, added.

💬“We’ve been frustrated with legacy hotel management systems, as they did not meet our changing requirements. This and Hoop’s rapid upgrades led us to adopt their solution. A hotel is a living organism, and it’s challenging to confine it within rigid boundaries. So, for us, quick feedback was a primary criterion when selecting a tech partner,” sums up Victoria.

How Hoop integration progressed

The main aim of the Hoop team was to transfer the whole hotel to the new management system while maintaining the quality of the processes and helping Lotte employees quickly adapt to the new work interface.

In the beginning stage, we carried out a series of calls to better understand the workflow of the hotel. It was important to break down the integration process into separate stages according to how the hotel operates. This way, the Hoop team could more efficiently help with the transfer process at each stage. It was also essential to identify and model different real-life work scenarios at each stage.

For the client, integrating the system is a pretty straightforward process, as the Hoop team does most of the work. Still, it requires some engagement from the hotel personnel, so that the system is adapted to their needs. This determines the convenience of using the system in the future. At this stage, the Hoop team actively listened to the client’s considerations. They asked questions and helped the client formulate requests. In the end, the client plays a significant part in what the final product is.

💬“Thanks to the Lotte team activity, we’ve quickly coped with the preparatory stage. The team has outlined all business processes, and we’ve digitized them,” says Tim.

💬“Adaptation didn’t take long. It took about 1 week and went smoothly. I’d like to mention that Hoop offered us more extensive and advanced functionality compared to the previous vendor. It definitely made our work more convenient and opened new opportunities for us,” adds Victoria.

Lotte employees already had experience with a similar system. Thanks to the Hoop's intuitive interface, they quickly got the hang of the new product.

The result of the integration

💬“We’ve rapidly transferred the client to our system. The transfer took only about one week. It didn’t affect existing workflow and internal communications. We’ve also expanded the number of digital processes that can be utilized by hotel managers. We’ve introduced templates for standard procedures and tracking, checklists for shift handovers, time trackers, and reports.” says Tim.

💬“We’re using Hoop functionality to the full extent. I and other managers found reporting and analytics tools particularly helpful. For instance, take the number of maintenance requests. We analyze the frequency of requests coming from specific suites or areas. High frequency can imply the need for a repair or replacement. Thus, we manage to keep the suites at Lotte in perfect condition and receive the highest satisfaction from our guests,” sums up Victoria.

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