Learn more about Maestro Four Diamond Service and free 'Web Connection' training at Northwind's HITEC booth

Vintage Hotels combines beautiful locales, Four-Diamond comfort and exceptional service at its three properties in the Niagara-on-the-Lake region of Ontario, Canada, to provide discerning travelers with a gracious sophisticated destination. To strengthen its already superb guest service and give its staff tools for greater efficiency, Vintage Hotels installed the Maestro Enterprise Suite.

Sandra Gaston, Assistant Corporate Controller for Vintage Hotels, explained the benefits the hotel company wanted to achieve by replacing its aging legacy property management system (PMS) in 2003. "Our goal was to implement a multi-property solution that would incorporate all our important modules and provide a seamless interface between the three Vintage Hotels properties. We selected the Maestro PMS Enterprise Suite and it has proven to be the right decision on all counts." NORTHWIND's Maestro Property Management Suite integrates Maestro PMS, On-line Reservations, Sales and Catering and Spa & Activities Management modules on one database for seamless information management.

"We evaluated many companies that said their solutions could automate a multi-site operation," explained Gaston. "After a thorough analysis, it was clear that Maestro's centralized single-image platform that used one database for all our properties, offered the greatest benefits. With Maestro we run three hotels with separate identities in different locations, but we are working off a single database. We can easily toggle between hotels from any terminal on the system to quickly cross sell our properties and serve guests more quickly since we don't have to log out of one property's system to access another."

Vintage Hotels transitioned smoothly to the Maestro system in January 2003 and implemented a full suite of Maestro modules to streamline service and operate more efficiently. The Maestro solutions used by Vintage includes:

• Front Office - Provides staff and management with a scalable easy-to-use PMS that automates all front office operations within a centralized environment for smoother guest service and management control.
• Yield Management - Enables fully integrated real-time rate optimization for multiple properties across all reservation channels from a central location to maximize rates and standardize pricing and marketing strategies.
• Maestro Analytics - A true business intelligence tool that accesses multiple-property data sources and enables managers to create their own reports to spotlight performance or expense trends before they impact the bottom line. Maestro Analytics provides information for more intelligent business decisions.
• Spa & Activities Management – This fully integrated module enables Vintage Hotels to schedule and bill for the use of its spa facilities and other activities to ensure guests always have their expectations met on time.
• Sales & Catering – A fully-integrated multi-property sales, banquet, function room and catering system that professionally manages all types of corporate and other meeting activities.

Vintage Hotels staff is more productive thanks to Maestro's intuitive user interface that relies on familiar point-and-click functionality. According to Gaston, her staff finds working with Maestro a very positive experience. "The Maestro team provided initial training to facilitate the switchover to the new system. After conversion we also received ongoing training webinars through NORTHWIND's Four Diamond Service program, which eased the conversion for new employees. My team likes Maestro because it makes their jobs easier."

Maestro also interfaces with many third-party systems at the hotels such as point of sale, electronic lock, call accounting and in-room entertainment applications. This enables full property automation creating the most productive working environment that frees staff to provide guests with the highest quality service. "With Maestro, our properties are almost completely automated," says Gaston. "Many of the things we had to do manually now happen automatically. The potential for keying errors has been greatly minimized, our guest records are more accurate and our operation is more efficient. The bottom line is Vintage can provide a seamless guest experience from booking a reservation to check out," Gaston said.

Maestro PMS – Tools for more effective marketing

"Guests at Vintage Hotels enjoy a personalized stay that they'll never forget," said Lisa Jane Wheaton, Director of Revenue Management for Vintage Hotels. Wheaton notes that Maestro provides tools Vintage Hotels needs to take the next steps in its ongoing goal to provide personalized service to every guest that stays at its hotels. "Maestro's centralized single-image database gives us a view into each guest's booking history and preferences and this helps us identify patterns. When we know what a guest prefers, we can anticipate their needs to ensure they have a memorable experience at Vintage Hotels."

The Maestro PMS gathers data about guests including name, address, company name, birthday, anniversary, food allergies, special requests such as the type of view and other personal preferences. "Before a guest arrives, we review their information to ensure we are meeting or exceeding their expectations. Knowing what a guest enjoyed in prior visits enables us to market to them more effectively." says Wheaton.

"Maestro can also be used to orchestrate return business," said Wheaton. "We frequently launch targeted marketing campaigns to encourage hotel loyalty based on our guests' attributes, likes and dislikes, and combinations of all of the data collected in the guest history." Wheaton also stated that Maestro's ability to enable reservation booking through various online and voice channels, specifically in use at Vintage its two-way GDS integration with iHotelier, assists in effectively bringing more business to Vintage Hotels. The two-way GDS integrates with Maestro PMS and its yield management module allowing yield directives and controls influence across the board offering the best room rate delivery from every reservation channel. And because all three hotels are operating from a single server, the hotel group can offer and cross book a multitude of packaged stays through these facilities.

Activities integration

Vintage Hotels uses the Maestro Spa and Activities Management system to schedule and bill spa appointments and other activities for guests with real-time integration to the Front Desk, Accounts Receivable and Guest History modules, consolidating client information and accurately billing to the correct folio. This gives Vintage Hotels the ability to capture guest preferences and stay details that lead to greater guest retention, and contribute to more successful marketing and revenue potential.

To further enhance the Spa module, Vintage Hotels recently went live with a Spa Point-of-Sale system in its two luxury spas, which also reside on the single Maestro Enterprise database. With the Spa POS systems in place, room reservations are linked with spa reservations. Gaston notes that this increases the chance for cross-selling between the spas and the Vintage hotels. It also increases activity options for guests. For example, if a guest books a reservation at one spa and then decides to go to the other, an agent can just click a button and make the change.

With Maestro PMS, Vintage Hotels has a technology partner that unifies the automation of its three properties, to enable its staff to focus on what is most important: Providing guests with a high touch memorable experience that leaves them wanting to return again and again.

By H. Rae Gibbons and Allison Gerrard. Reprinted with Permission by Accuvia.

Maestro Enterprise Suite

We know how important it is that you provide your guests a consistent level of service and repeat recognition, while maintaining a 360 degree guest view at every point of contact. NORTHWIND empowers its clients by delivering robust Maestro application solutions sharing a single-image database. The Maestro Property Management Suite of solutions, with deployment options in Windows, Unix, Linux, Terminal Services, ASP and Web, is comprised of over 19 integrated modules including Front Office (PMS), Accounts Receivable, Analytics & Business Intelligence Tools, Sales & Catering, Multi-Property Mgmt., Condo Owner Mgmt. w/ Owner Web Functionality, Timeshare Owner Mgmt. w/ Owner Web Functionality, Spa & Activities Mgmt., Membership Mgmt., Yield Management, Golf Course Mgmt., Customer Relationship Mgmt., Central Reservation Office, Corporate Enterprise Mgmt., GDS Two-Way XML Connectivity or Integration, Web Booking Engine, Work Order Maintenance, Fine Dining & Retail POS, Table Res. w/ Web Booking, Concierge, Guest Experience Mgmt.

About Northwind

NORTH WIND, is recognized in the hospitality industry for its 'standard setting' Four Diamond Support Services and state-of-the-art Maestro technology. The company is widely respected for being a partner that understands how to help you boost productivity and strengthen management control for your hotel, resort, conference center or multi-property group by providing you with flexible software solutions that increase productivity and maximize ROI. With a network of dealers and offices worldwide, NORTHWIND is a leading supplier of software for all types of hospitality operations including hotels, resorts, timeshares, condominiums, retreats, state parks and clubs. Maestro applications are engineered for operators who need to manage their enterprise in a real time environment for the utmost operational control and profitability.

NORTHWIND will be exhibiting at HITEC 2007 June 26–28 in Orlando, FL Booth #325. Contact or visit us to find out what our service can do for yours!