Integration makes transportation booking easier at Firmdale Hotels

Alice is newly integrated with transportation automation platform Chauffeur Express. The integration, built via Alice’s open application programming interface, is making it easier for concierges to book guest transportation and make transportation booking a better experience for guests at Firmdale Hotels’ eight London properties.

Before integrating Alice and Chauffeur Express, Firmdale concierges already were using both systems to improve guest service. Concierges were using Alice to track guest requests, make guest reservations, create guest itineraries and letter confirmations, and improve concierge team organization and communication. 

“Alice is an essential tool in our day-to-day operation as it makes communicating very efficient between our team. Without the help of Alice, we would not be able to provide the kind of service we provide,” Oliver Koenicke, head concierge at Firmdale flagship Ham Yard Hotel, said in a statement. 

Alongside Alice, Firmdale concierges were using Chauffeur Express to optimize transportation operations across the group’s portfolio of London hotels. Chauffeur Express helps hotels manage transportation requests by instantly assigning rides first to hotel-owned resources before assigning them to hotels’ preferred transportation providers, automating the booking process for concierges via an easy-to-use web interface. 

By integrating Alice and Chauffeur Express, concierges now can book guest transportation all in one interface and have confirmations and real-time status updates automatically communicated to guests via email and text. 

Chauffeur Express CEO Alex Dicu said the integration automates and syncs transportation tasks and other information between both platforms, from the guest info in the hotel property-management system to Alice to Chauffeur Express. Every transportation booking and change updates in real time, without the concierges being involved.
 

“We are in a moment when hotels are actively looking for tools to better help them operate their business,” Dicu said. “In a world of real-time everything, the guests expect the real-time feeling in everything they do—from the moment they book a room to how they can access additional services, to the in-room experience and even after, when they write a review. And I think the key to make all those tools appealing for hotels is to offer them ‘plug-in solutions’ that integrate different vendors seamlessly without requiring hotel employees to change any of their habits.”