The Ranch at Laguna Beach in Laguna Beach, Calif., selected Alice’s mobile request-management software Alice Staff to improve staff communication across the 87-acre resort. Alice connects every department in a hotel with one platform for all staff communication and guest requests.
Prior to Alice, The Ranch LB, which is nestled in the signal-blocking Aliso and Wood canyons, was challenged by poor cell phone and radio reception, which frustrated staff communication and operations. Fortunately, it had recently installed state-of-the-art Wi-Fi across the property during a three-year renovation, and sought a mobile staff communications system, like Alice, that could run on Wi-Fi and replace the unreliable radios.
Staff at The Ranch LB, who have been using Alice since March of this year, now say how easy it is now to communicate with one another, regardless of where they are on property. Previously, when the resort’s staff relied on radios to relay guest requests or internal work orders, lags in communication were a common occurrence. When the radios cut out completely, staff would often have to traverse the vast property to find the right staff member to communicate the message to. This caused routine delays in daily tasks such as inspecting guestrooms or picking up roomservice trays.
Now, with Alice, and the newfound connectedness the platform provides, staff members in every department (which, at The Ranch LB, includes front desk, engineering, housekeeping, reservations, spa, events, and F&B) are happy in their new productivity. Even the resort’s head chef has downloaded the Alice staff app, happy he can now enter his own maintenance requests (such as the walk-in cooler not chilling) from his phone instead of having to go to the front desk to ask them to radio out for assistance.
Although managers at The Ranch LB chose Alice primarily to improve staff communication, they’re pleased with how other features of the platform have benefited other aspects of the resort’s operations.
As a manager, Kelly Dwyer, front-office and spa manager, appreciates Alice’s reporting tools, which have helped her as the hotel winds down its multiyear renovation. “It’s helpful from a trend standpoint to see which rooms are having issues again and again,” Dwyer said in a statement. “If there’s persistent leaking in a particular room or building, I can be proactive about following up with vendors to make sure things get fixed. Having maintenance issues tracked like they are in Alice has been incredibly useful.”