Customer Story - Marysville Garden Cottages B&B
Australian B&B saves thousands of dollars a year with self check-in by Digital Keys
Marysville Garden cottages consists of eight fully self contained accommodation cottages. Nestled in a garden setting a short drive from Melbourne, Australia and at the edge of the Australian snowy alps, the accommodation is popular with adults for mountain biking, hiking in summer and skiing in the winter months.
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Before construction had begun of the cottages in 2013, the owner Anthony Slot approached Digital Keys with the brief to build a web self check-in system, so that he didn't need to design and build a managers office/reception desk on site, and employ a full time Receptionist.
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"The Digital Keys system has saved us loads of time and money in not having to staff a reception desk. The guest check in can be totally private, my cleaners can monitor the booking calendar so they know when and which rooms they have to clean. I can stay on the farm or on my building site workplace. There is time saved by us by not having to deliver keys to guests or the hassle of losing keys or changing locks" said Mr Slot.
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If a potential guest arrives unannounced at the unmanned cottages, they check themselves in through Garden Cottages website and then they automatically receive a receipt and a door code within a minute after their credit card payment has been approved so they can go straight to their room and enter the door code as their room key to enter. At check-out time the code expires, and the guests go on their way. The system also integrates with Online Travel Agencies, and interfaces to smartlocks with numberpads (see lock in image opposite)
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The system saves the managers hundreds of thousands of dollars a year in not having to staff a reception desk, and it makes management of the cottages efficient with the Manager being able to keep his day time job as a builder.
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"We are so proud to be the first in Australia to adopt this new, ingenious, money-saving innovation. It has also increased bookings with word of mouth spreading about how easy it is to check-in 24/7 without having to make complicated arrangements to pick up metal keys", said Mr Slot.
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The guests have reported that the self check-in system is simple to use and user-friendly. As a result, Marysville Garden Cottages have won various awards for customer service excellence including the Hotels Combined 'Stellar Stays' awards, TripAdvisor 'Certificate of Excellence' and Airbnb superhost status in January 2021 for earning 5 star reviews 100% of the time.
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