Background
Since 1775, the White Hart has been a beacon of comfort for weary travellers en route from Exeter to Princetown. Recently refurbished with a £500,000 investment, this Grade II-listed former posting inn with 28 uniquely furnished bedrooms and a thriving pub and restaurant stands as one of the most charming and authentic Dartmoor hotels.
Led by owners James Jackson and his partner Hannah Chester, the family previously owned Jamaica Inn on Bodmin Moor. They chose Rezcontrol following a strong recommendation from their previous EPOS system at Jamaica Inn, having also looked into PMS suppliers including Mews, Guestline and Opera.
Above all, the management team at the White Hart appreciate Rezcontrol’s ease of use and customer service ethos.
The problem
“I needed a logical, intuitive and well-integrated PMS"
Rezcontrol was recommended to James by their POS provider Newbridge, as it was vital that PMS and POS worked hand in hand. He needed the team to be able to charge to rooms through the till system, and he also needed an easy integration with ResDiary to maximise restaurant bookings and revenue, without losing table reservations if an accommodation booking was cancelled.
“Once I had seen the system for myself, I could also see how easy it would be for staff to learn, which is crucial with a new team, busy hotel and tight deadlines!” said James. “It is so very logical – if a new team member has worked on reception in any capacity before, they will easily pick it up. That then translates to a smoother customer journey and guest experience.”
“We also wanted to be able to start with a blank canvas following the refurbishment, during which we added 11 new bedrooms as well as enhancing the bar and restaurant, kitchen, courtyard and communal spaces,” explained James.
The solution
"Rezcontrol has met and exceeded our expectations"
All hotels worry about migration day, but when The White Hart set up Rezcontrol in spring 2024, it went through without a hitch, and the team was up and running within a very short space of time.
“Onboarding was very smooth, and if ever there is an issue, it’s great to have continuity with support – we always get through to the same people, and tickets are answered within hours,” said James. “I’m also quite technically-minded, so it is even nicer not to have to explain and re-explain a problem, only to be told to do something I’ve already tried!”
“The booking engine makes life so much easier, avoiding duplication and errors”
The White Hart has also recently taken on board Rezcontrol’s new booking engine, which they are delighted with.
“It represents a significant improvement over other systems I’ve worked with, which required multiple entries of the same information from different platforms,” explained James.
The benefits of Rezcontrol
"Rezcontrol helps create a smooth customer journey and guest experience"
Before introducing Rezcontrol’s new booking engine, the team not only had more to do, preventing them from spending time with guests, but it also led to the potential for errors, either with double bookings or unscientific rate setting meaning room sales were undervalued.
“It was so painful,” said James. “Now it’s also so easy to change a booking if a guest decides to add an extra night – you just drag and drop – and of course all direct bookings are saving on commission to OTAs.”
The combination of ease of use and seamless integration capabilities, combined with the new booking engine, makes Rezcontrol “easily the best of our third party providers”, said James. Hotels work with numerous integrations, for everything from POS and finance to housekeeping and staffing, and for the White Hart the way Rezcontrol brings everything together is paramount.
“Rezcontrol is so intuitive and easy to train staff on, and with excellent support and seamless integrations. It’s easily the best of our third party providers – and our account manager is a superstar!”
Key to their success in bringing everything together so smoothly is Rezcontrol’s account management service – all customers can book a management call every couple of months, in addition to being able to access support 365 days a year.
This is where James feels that Rezcontrol’s customer service ethic excels. “Nathan is literally the superstar of everything,” he says, adding that it is within the account management role that he can find out new shortcuts or services the team may not have known existed.
In addition to its intuitive nature, the fact that nearly all the functions which a hotel needs to run smoothly can be accessed from one place is a real benefit for James and his team. “Again, it comes back to the logic with which the PMS has been designed,” he says.
“Everything can be accessed from the planner – and the automated reporting is excellent”
Another benefit James and his team have seen is with the end of day reporting. “I can just press a button and pull all the POS sales into Rezcontrol for reconciliation,” he says. “It’s so easy.”
As The White Hart re-opened under new ownership with Rezcontrol, James can’t make any performance comparisons in terms of KPIS or revenue with a previous system, but he is adamant that the speed of adoption, ease of use, the support he and his team enjoy and the way the integrations work with the PMS, have all contributed to their success from Day One. It’s an excellent system, for a very fair price, and it has been a total breath of fresh air.”
“Rezcontrol has definitely played a role in our instant success on reopening”
“Rezcontrol has met and exceeded our expectations, being so intuitive and easy to train staff on, and with excellent support and seamless integrations.”