Customers
Maintenance meets marketing when it comes to the W Hotel brand.
Upholding its brand image for boutique luxury hotels is a top priority for W Hotels, and superior maintenance plays a critical role. That's why the W Hotel of Seattle depends on Bigfoot CMMS.
The W Hotels reputation for high style and luxury accommodations means that every room must be in perfect condition every day for every guest-no broken windows, sluggish air conditioning or problem plumbing. And that translates to regular preventive maintenance and equipment repairs for 426 guest rooms, plus the hotel's public areas, function rooms, and offices.
Unanticipated problems do arise, of course. Every time a member of the maintenance staff responds to a guest complaint, a work order is generated, populating a well used tracking and reporting system. Audits are conducted regularly as part of W's brand standards program, so the Seattle hotel needs a system that can select rooms, issue related work orders and document all work done. Bigfoot fits the bill perfectly. It also easily handles the other half of the maintenance department's responsibility-all of the equipment and systems required to keep a 30-story building, including restaurants and 100,000 square feet of meeting space (that's nearly two football fields) operating smoothly.
The ability to manage and track work at a high level of detail is one of many reasons Harv Palmer, Chief Engineer, chose Bigfoot in 2004. The other was simplicity. "Anyone can learn to use Bigfoot in no time. We had a more complex system, but it was too complicated…and too expensive. What we do isn't rocket science, but we need to do it flawlessly."
Bigfoot has made a huge difference. The department now has much better control over PMs and equipment. It also now has the records to document its claims and influence purchasing decisions; for example, after maintenance showed that it had replaced 280 power flush plugs, the hotel switched to a different brand. In addition, Palmer reports that the department is better organized and able to respond to both report and work requests quickly.
The ability to run a tighter ship with Bigfoot has also enhanced perceptions of the maintenance department. Hotel management and staff have a new appreciation of what's involved in being maintenance professional, from what it takes to provide responsive quality service to staff members' special expertise in such areas as air conditioning and boilers. One of the side benefits is that compensation for maintenance staff has gone up.
Respect for the maintenance department extends to the 16 other hotels in the quickly expanding W system; all of them carry on a healthy and informal competition, and, with Bigfoot's help, maintenance at the W Hotel Seattle is always #1 or #2.
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