Canary Technologies announced today it has been accepted into the Preferred Hotels & Resorts Alliance Partner Program as the exclusive Guest Management System provider. This means Canary’s mobile web end-to-end system will be available as a solution for Preferred’s members—more than 650 independent hotels, resorts, residences, and unique hotel groups across 80 countries—to engage with. Canary’s Guest Management System encompasses contactless check-in and checkout; the ability to offer upgrades and add-on amenities to guests from the time of booking through checkout; a secure PCI Level-1 compliant authorization solution that replaces PCI non-compliant paper/PDF third-party authorization forms and prevents chargebacks and fraud; and the ability for front desk and concierge teams to communicate with guests at scale through automated, broadcast, and direct messages. LODGING checked in with Michael Osgood, vice president of quality assurance, alliance partnerships, and Preferred Golf, Preferred Hotels & Resorts, about what this announcement means for guests, member properties, and hotel teams.
How does this service fit into Preferred’s tech strategy?
Preferred Hotels & Resorts is always looking to align with technology companies that are forward-thinking, enhance the property and guest experience at our member properties globally, and create new revenue opportunities for our member properties themselves. Canary Technologies was able to meet each of these criteria, which is why we have them as a Preferred Hotels & Resorts Alliance Partner.
What is the timeline for the rollout of this partnership?
Preferred Hotels & Resorts began rolling this partnership out to our member properties in 2021, and it has been well received by multiple properties globally who have elected to use Canary Technologies’ solutions.
What does this partnership mean for Preferred’s guests?
Canary provides a new technology for our members to implement on the individual property level. In turn, this will enhance the guest experience by providing them an option to speed up their check-in time, arrive early, upgrade their room, or request a late check out at the click of a button.
How does the system benefit member hotels and property-level teams?
The Canary Technologies solution will create new revenue opportunities for our member properties by providing the capability to add upselling features to an existing guest. Enhancing the guest experience while creating new revenue for the property is a win-win.
What are you most looking forward to with this new partnership?
For Preferred Hotels & Resorts, our number-one goal is to create new opportunities for our member properties to enhance their on-property guest experience while generating new revenue. We believe that the member properties that do align with the Canary Technologies solution will see an immediate impact in both of these areas.
What other tech investments are you focusing on in the year ahead?
Preferred Hotels & Resorts is a data-driven company and part of our strategy is to turn raw data into actionable information. In the year ahead, by using predictive analytics, machine learning, and classical reporting on our large set of collective data, we will be able to help our member hotels identify friction points, optimize revenue, and enhance the guest experience in ways that they would not be able to do on their own.
