Hotel Hospitality Meets Technology
ALICE or A Life Improving Customer Experience, connects guests to their hotel by way of a mobile app, and at the same time makes it easier for hotel staff to collaborate on a unified platform. To get a better understanding of what they are doing and where they are headed, we spoke with their cofounder and president, Alex Shashou. According to Shashou, the concept for ALICE came to fruition as he was traveling around Asia with his cofounder Justin Effron. They had issues checking in, unable to do so through a mobile app. They had to work around language barriers, and also would have to use international minutes that are generally quite costly. Fast forward to 2012, they decided to create an initial foot in the door approach, a simple guest app that allows them to check in from a mobile device and integrate it into a property management system. For Shashou, the hotel and hospitality industry runs in his blood as his family owns three chains in the UK. Through their platform a guest can use the app or text the hotel to see if their room is ready to be checked into, and when they arrive continue their conversation in-person. For the hotel, the entire conversation is visible to anyone with access, making it easier to know what the guest needs prior to them even stepping foot into the lobby. According to Shashou, ALICE provides full visibility, control, and ownership over tasks. It allows managers to remove the noise and see what guests are really doing. ALICE is also up against some well established organizations and platforms, but because they are an all-in-one solution, they can go from three vendors to one. Their biggest competitor? The radio. There is a learning curve to adopting their platform, and some hotels use lower tech solutions such as phones and radios to communicate. Advancing to a cloud based mobile solution will take time for hotel staff to adjust to, but results in saved time, increased communication, and a better experience for their guests. Their platform also allows hotels to easily link back to prior guest reviews, allowing the staff to adjust to their needs in the future or identify if there is a necessary change to their existing processes.
Team and Product Growth
As the team plans for growth this year, they will be adding several new team members, 15 in total. Their first challenge is to bring in new members for the sales team, followed by production developers in the New York City area. Their goal is to grow at a faster pace than in previous years. For those interested in joining a budding startup, understanding ALICE’s core values and culture is a great place to start. First and foremost, they believe in honesty and transparency. In a lot of startups or even established organizations, typically employees are left in the dark about big deals; however, the executive team announced early on about the impending Expedia deal. They also put a strong emphasis on learning. Launched in 2012, ALICE previously raised 3.2 million across two rounds.
