Managers at the boutique coastal ranch and spa The Ranch at Laguna Beach chose ALICE to improve staff communication, but have “fallen in love” with the mobile platform’s other operations-enhancing features
New York, NY — Southern California escape, The Ranch at Laguna Beach, has selected ALICE’s mobile request management software ALICE Staff to improve staff communication across the 87-acre resort. ALICE, the hospitality industry’s leading operations platform, 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 majestic, but signal-blocking Aliso and Wood Canyons – was challenged by poor cell phone and radio reception, which frustrated staff communication and operations. Fortunately, they had recently installed state-of-the-art WiFi across the property during a three year renovation, and sought a mobile staff communications system, like ALICE, that could run on WiFi and replace their unreliable radios.
Staff at The Ranch LB, who have been using ALICE since March of this year, are thrilled with 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 guest rooms or picking up room service 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 delighting 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 benefitted other aspects of the resort’s operations. As a manager, Front Office & Spa Manager Kelly Dwyer appreciates ALICE’s reporting tools, which have helped her as the hotel winds down its multi-year renovation: “It’s helpful from a trend standpoint to see which rooms are having issues again and again. 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.”
