Project Description

The Mansion on O Street

Hospitality Solution using FileMaker

Background

The Mansion on O Street in Washington D.C. is a historic luxury hotel unlike any other. Featured on the Travel Channel’s hit series Mega Mansions, the hotel boasts high profile visitors, eccentric styling, hidden doors and passages, and every item you see can be purchased. From a business standpoint it is also a bit peculiar in that the Mansion on O Street operates as three separate businesses under one roof: a hotel, event venue, and a non-profit museum.

Challenges

With three different yet interconnected operations, the Mansion needed a versatile solution that could handle all three components separately, complete with separate tax rules, and bring it all together when needed. The Mansion on O Street wanted a solution to handle accounting and point of sale transactions, assist with reservations and bookings, and help improve marketing strategies. Additionally, The Mansion sought to improve resource scheduling, and simplify inventory management. It was clear that The Mansion on O Street required an exceptional hospitality solution to match an exceptional operation.

The Process

Docuwrx consulted with The Mansion on O Street to gain a greater understanding of how each aspect of the  business operates. Through multiple on-site visits, interviews, and discussions, those at The Mansion provided great insight into how each part has its own challenges, workflows, and processes. With this knowledge DocuWrx prepared a detailed and itemized quote including any elective customization to achieve secondary goals for The Mansion on O Street’s review with no charge or obligation.

After approval, DocuWrx began to design and build the solution.  DocuWrx took specific workflows, needs, and desires into account while carefully planning and organizing the structure of the solution. Employing the Agile Development Method throughout the building process provided adaptive planning and development. The Mansion on O Street contributed continual feedback for evolutionary prototypes so that the solution met and exceeded expectations.

Upon completion DocuWrx met with The Mansion on O Street to demonstrate specific workflows prior to launch. This step ensured that the solution functioned intuitively to the unique needs and processes of the business. After deployment, an account manager was designated to provide support going forward and to maintain excellent satisfaction.

Results

DocuWrx worked to create an end-to-end solution that took on all daily operations down to the valet service with the ability to operate the solution on a mobile device:

  • Accounting
  • Reservations and Booking
  • Smart Resource Scheduling and Allocation
  • Inventory Management
  • Point of Sale Payments (with automatically calculated tax rates, and types)
  • Marketing and Guest Relations

As the solution was all-encompassing, the effects are also extensive. The powerful accounting system handles all three arms of business. With complicated sales, service and tax categories, it could be a pain to try to calculate, let alone put it together for a big-picture perspective. Each aspect of the business can operate independently or as integrated as needed. Reporting is also vital, so the solution was developed to automatically send reports containing selected information on a set frequency. Manually-run reports can be generated and viewed at any time, displaying preferred types of information with an impressive level of detail. The complicated tasks can now be completed in minutes.

With all the comings and goings of guests, the hotel needed to update its online booking system. At the time, a guest would submit their reservation request information, which would then be converted to an email, which would then be converted to a manually-entered form. DocuWrx rebuilt a portion of the website, cut out the middle steps, and made it so when an online reservation comes in, the guest’s information is automatically loaded into the solution. A guest’s entire stay can be scheduled in the solution.

Of course, with the Mansion being the venue of choice for many events, they needed the ability to schedule resources and equipment. Today there is no more worry about being 20 chairs short for a wedding. With a grid-view schedule, equipment and personnel allocation can be planned in advance to avoid any last minute disasters.

As nearly every item is for sale from the bed, to a piece of art, the rooms are ever-changing, and the hotel needed an efficient way to keep track of inventory. Each item can be cataloged and entered into the Mansion’s solution, complete with pricing. Knowing the location and price of an item within a database makes rearranging a room and sales orders an easy task. The solution also has the capability of creating QR coded labels for each piece, that can be scanned for easy identification, description and pricing.

What is the use of selling goods and services without an integrated point of sale (POS) system? DocuWrx’s solution is able to handle all types of transactions, from cash and credit card payments, to billing. Without needing any special equipment, taxes and totals are automatically calculated and input into the integrated accounting system. No more struggling to piece together three different types of transactions into one big ledger.

Of course, the most important part of being in the hospitality industry, is to make sure a guest is satisfied in a memorable way. Part of the Mansion on O Street’s solution, is the ability to email future, current, and past guests. Using their contact database, the solution can automatically send information, confirmations, satisfaction surveys, and thank you letters with pre-made templates. From welcoming new guests to thanking repeat guests for their business, they can maintain contact with their clientele. The Mansion on O Street’s solution developed by DocuWrx takes care of the hard, complicated, and tedious tasks, so that its staff can do what it does best: Catering to their guests.

The Mansion on O Street2024-03-15T18:24:12+00:00

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