How Belmond increased guest satisfaction and conversion

Challenge: Tedious manual reconciliation and a need for efficiency

Prior to integrating with Adyen, Belmond's hotel staff processed payments manually, which proved inefficient and disrupted the luxury experience promised to guests. This traditional approach caused delays and required guests to spend additional time at Reception during check-in and checkout, failing to meet the fast-paced demands of the hospitality industry.

"In the past, we spent a lot of time behind computers, behind paperwork, and emails. But for luxury hospitality, you must have time for guests," says Santi Roggio, Head Concierge at Grand Hotel Timeo, A Belmond Hotel.

Solution: Mobile check-in process and wireless terminals

“We know that over the last 12 month period, we've had more than a 90% conversion rate in our properties using Adyen, and those are numbers that we've never had visibility on before.”

Bryan Hammer

VP of IT, Belmond

Integrating with Adyen and PMS partner Infor, meant that Belmond could leverage a mobile check-in process and mobile terminals for payments. Guests can now enjoy the convenience of checking-in or out from anywhere within the premises, without needing to fumble for wallets.

Upon arrival, guests are presented with a mobile tablet. They can sign digitally with their finger and complete the transaction on an Adyen wireless terminal. 

For the most convenient checkout experience, guests can call or message from their room to inform Reception that they’re ready to depart. All Belmond associates have to do is authorise the charges to the credit card, and the guest can continue with their journey.

Belmond refers to this as slow luxury, which creates meaningful time for guests to connect more with their surroundings.

Result: Increased guest and staff satisfaction

By combining operational efficiency with Adyen’s innovative technology, Belmond has elevated its service levels to new heights. With the time saved on manual reconciliation, they are able to deliver an unexpected service that exceeds the guests’ expectations.

“Since our integration with Adyen and PMS partner Infor, our day-to-day tasks have become easier and have freed up more time for staff to focus on guests. The staff have more time. The guests have more time. Everyone is happy.”

Santi Roggio

Head Concierge, Grand Hotel Timeo, A Belmond Hotel

This commitment to world-class hospitality and service has resulted in significant outcomes, such as a 4.2% increase in Belmond’s Net Promoter Score (NPS), reaching its highest value ever.

“Our customer experience and the operational efficiencies at Belmond are so much better now because of this tight ecosystem of the partners. It's raised the bar for any new partners coming in because now we say, ‘if you want to do business with us, if you want to play in this space, you need to be integrating at the same level everybody else is.’”

Bryan Hammer

VP of IT at Belmond

Challenge: Protect sensitive card data and reduce risk

“We had the challenge to tokenise credit card data in our systems. We needed a partner that could help us to tokenise all of that in an easy way and reduce our risk profile, and make us less attractive as a target for the bad guys.”

Bryan Hammer

VP of IT, Belmond

Managing a diverse portfolio of hotels, safari camps, trains, and river cruises, Belmond faced legacy data management challenges, including securing sensitive credit card information in its systems. This posed security risks and regulatory compliance challenges, prompting the need for advanced solutions

In addition to this, hotels must prioritise staying updated and innovative in data security, particularly with the release of PCI DSS v4.0. This updated standard introduces new requirements for mobile technology, contactless payments, and cloud security to address evolving hospitality industry needs.

Solution: Enhance security and payments with proxy tokenisation

“We used Adyen's expertise and experience, and they helped to develop the solution and work with those partners, and more importantly, deliver it. Working with Adyen helped us to deliver on proxy tokenisation. This was new, so we leaned a lot on Adyen's experience and resources. It gave us a comfortable feeling. It reassured us. And we trusted Adyen to help guide us through this.”

Bryan Hammer

VP of IT at Belmond

Belmond introduced proxy tokenisation – a method involving a random string of characters that are used to replace sensitive credit card data. It provides significant benefits for Belmond by making it less appealing for attackers. By ensuring their stored data holds no value, they enhance security, adhere to regulation, and keep up with innovation.

Result: Invisible payments for a discreet and seamless experience

"Technology facilitates a great hospitality experience at Belmond by being discreet and seamless. You don't always want everybody to know that the technology is prevalent and when it is there, it has to be fun or exciting or easy to use."

Bryan Hammer

VP of IT, Belmond

Proxy tokenisation has helped Belmond hotels secure their payments by reducing the risk of data breaches.  

Partnering with Adyen has unlocked new possibilities for Belmond, especially in enhancing their online booking experience.

“Adyen is working with our developers. This means we can deliver on innovations that we were always thinking about before, but we were never able to deliver. So the future booking experience at Belmond, working with Adyen, is going to be amazing.”

Bryan Hammer

VP of IT, Belmond

As of early Q1 2024, Adyen has been successfully deployed in over 80% of Belmond’s product portfolio and operates in 100% of Belmond's eligible global hotel portfolio. Adyen went live with Belmond in the last two locations: Brazil's Copacabana Palace and Hotel das Cataratas. They also launched Maroma on the Riviera Maya, Mexico.

“For any potential customers considering Adyen, I would say get ready for a great experience. They're a pleasure to work with. They're pleasant, they're optimistic, and they come up with solutions and ideas. It's a culture of let's work together and figure out a way of how we can do this.”

Bryan Hammer

VP of IT at Belmond