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Case Study

Transformative Hospitality: Amanpuri, Phuket, Thailand

Claiming an entire peninsula and one of Phuket’s finest white sand beaches, Amanpuri offers the idyllic Thailand escape of days gone by. To a soundtrack of whispering coconut palms and the sigh of the turquoise Andaman Sea, the property provides the space, peace and privacy of a private island with exceptional private villas and guest pavilions, world class restaurants and a medical grade Holistic Wellness Centre. Known as the original Aman, this resort holds 40 villas among the natural landscape.

The Original Aman

For the duration of its lifespan, the property sat without televisions and any other form of technology in their guest rooms. In an effort to appeal to a younger generation of travelers while maintaining their current demographic, the property decided to uplift the entertainment offering for their guests. This was to be done along with the impending refurbishment of the rooms. Further, with oversized rooms and spaces, the resort saw an opportunity to improve the overall guest experience with the addition of room automation.

The property, however, did not have any infrastructure to do any kind of automation. An additional challenge was the decision on what to do with the current lamps that were installed years prior and were not compatible with modern day technology.DigiValet as a specialist also designed the room control ecosystem for this resort property with its huge pavilion size.

In addition to the changes being made to the current guest rooms and tech profile, the brand wanted to showcase a new retail offering that would increase the footfall in their retails stores, knows as Aman Boutique, further playing to the younger travel demographic, and increasing the exposure of the brand overall.

AMAN Arrival

An integration into the property’s PMS allows for a unique, hyper personalized arrival experience, perfect for the Aman Brand. A personalized welcome letter displayed on the iPad greets the guest on arrival, generated through a native integration with the property’s PMS.

In-Room Controls

DigiValet Guest Experience specialists worked with the Aman Design team to develop a room control ecosystem that would not only modernize the rooms, but also bring all the desired convenience to the guests. These changes included:

What came up is a true engineering marvel topped up with famous Italian glass-work.

Guest Room Entertainment

For the first time since its inception, the pavilions were retrofitted with Hospitality televisions. DigiValet’s flagship entertainment experience is used to supply the content. In addition, an integration into a soundbar provided for an added auditory experience.

The linear TV experience consists of a full range of TV channels provided through IPTV, direct through a head-end provided by DigiValet. DigiValet’s enhanced entertainment package allows for direct access to Netflix, YouTube, andAmazon Prime - with the guest able to sign into their own personal accounts for each service respectively. Due to thePMS integration, these accounts can either be signed out of manually, or will automatically be signed out and erased upon the guest’s departure at check out. AppleTV and DigiCast (DigiValet’s proprietary guest streaming solution) completes the experience, allowing for mirroring of the guest’s personal devices - regardless of the platform.

The dynamic DigiValet Entertainment Suite provides a full range of VOD options, including user generated content with personal guest streaming through AppleTV and DigiCast for screen mirroring.YouTube and Amazon Prime round out the entire experience.

Food & Beverage

With an interactive Food and Beverage experience, guests have the ability to view PDF menus, and gain information on property restaurants. A phase II integration into Micros Simphony will soon allow for completeIn-Room Dining ordering, along with a full range of customizations and specifications within the order process to address allergies, preferences, and a variety of other requests.

Spa

Life enhancing wellness immersions are what most of the Aman properties are popular for. It was very important to feature all wellness programs which are easily understood and searchable by guests. The DigiValet team worked with the head of wellness programs to present this important element of the property in the most meticulous fashion.

AMAN Retail

As AMAN continues to push for a brand extension with the launch of retail clothing line, DigiValet acted as the perfect platform to increase the awareness and eventually footfall to the Aman Boutique.

“Through our work with DigiValet, we’re allowing our guests to uncover and understand the essence of the Aman experience in the guest room. This could come through creating personalized lighting and temperature ambiance in the room, creating one’s own itinerary during the stay, or even just relaxing in one’s own room watching Netflix and ordering in room dining. DigiValet allows guests to switch off all lights with one touch, set an alarm, and wake up to soothing music along with refreshing lighting.”

- Archie NatividadGroup IT Director, AMAN

Conclusion

Since the installation, the property has seen usage rates of 87% property-wide for the overallDigiValet iPad app. Usage has been virtually equal between both Room Automation and Entertainment, with 60% and 61.4% guest usage through the app respectively.

With the adoption of the DigiValet solution into the newly renovated guest rooms, Amanpuri was able to successfully increase not only the tech profile of their rooms, but the overall guest experience as a whole. Guests have shown the appreciation of the new technology enhancements across the pavilions, as shown through the usage statistics.

In all, an incredibly positive experience has allowed the Aman brand to continue to push for excellence in their offerings, while continually setting themselves apart from their competitive set.

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