Geen chaos meer in de lobby, roomdelivery is er

the Future of HospitalityYeah. That's really nice that you you understand the language of hospitality, and that makes a difference than different than Uber Eats and all the other companies that just come in. You know, they want to rush. Where's the this guy? Put it at the front desk, and then whatever happens, happens. Exactly. Yes. So, yeah, that's very nice. And I I have to ask because for the guests, like, what is the the other difference than just getting the order to the room? Is there, like, an another differentiator from you than Uber Eats and other platforms?

Sanne FeikenSorry.

the Future of HospitalityCan you explain me For the guest, like, let's say I'm ordering. So I can order from Uber Eats Uber Eats or from room delivery. So what is the difference for me as as the one that that's ordering? Of course, it gets to my room, but I might think, okay. Yeah. Uber Eats has more options maybe. So what is the the difference there for me as a guest to order from room delivery? Like, what's what's in it for me beside the maybe that's that's the the only thing that's also good, but just want to know, like, what else are you are you thinking about this room delivery?

Sanne FeikenGood question. Yeah. What's why should a guest choose for room delivery and not for Uber Eats? We are fully integrated in the hotel process. Yes. So guests can, of course, choose to place or for Uber Eats because we are so used to. So we expect service. So that's also a little bit part of the hotel and why we fully integrate e delivery the whole in the complete guest journey with the QR codes in their room. We wanna be be an extension of the whole guest journey. Yeah. There is still the option that they can choose for for Uber Eats. We cannot exclude that. I think integrating it and making it a complete service because we have big goals for the future to be the complete digital service for guests, guest journey for the hospitality.

Sanne FeikenWe think we can outsource that for hotels and also improve guest journey as well, and we hope that within one or two year that when a guest goes on vacation for business trip, they don't even think it's we think, okay. We have we have room delivery. That improves my guest journey and my stay, and I will choose room delivery over Uber Eats, and we don't wanna compete with them. It's just a different markets. Yeah. Amazing.

the Future of HospitalityYeah. Yeah. I I like the name, of course, roomdelivery.com. That's Yeah. That makes us feeling that they had an extra room service feeling. Yeah. And I I have to ask as well, like, example, which hotels are, like, your interesting clients? Because let's say a hotel has, like, a nice f and b place in the hotel, like, a nice restaurant or whatever. Isn't it, like, kind of competing with them? Because I think they might think, okay. I don't want to push my guests to order something outside of the hotel because I want them to to spend the money in my hotel. So how how does that work? Like, are there specific hotels, like you said, that don't focus that much on F and B that should be the nice hotels to become your clients? Or how does how do you look at it?

Sanne FeikenYes. We we thought of that as well, and we can integrate a hotel restaurant in our application, and they will be on top of with notification. This is the hotel and restaurants, so no delivery cost, those kind of thing. And also to promote the hotel as well because we don't want to put the restaurant or the hotel. But at the same time, guest behavior doesn't only focus on the hotel restaurant. It can be the case that I don't want a hamburger from the hotel room. I want a pizza. I want sushi. I want breakfast because I slept in late and I missed the I missed the breakfast.

Sanne FeikenSo this, we have a wider range of more options throughout the whole day instead of on specific times.

the Future of HospitalityYeah. Nice. So basically, what you have to say, think, is that you want to give the guest the best experience, and sometimes you just cannot deliver it because you don't have the options. You don't make sushi or, like you said, breakfast is already closed. So what do you do? So, you know, you can give them the experience to order from an outside like Uber Eats. I keep saying Uber Eats like there aren't any others. Yeah. But if that experience isn't good, then they they connect it with your experience. They say, like, yeah. I didn't have, like, a good time. Ordering food was kind of bad. So we have to look at the whole experience from a low a guest that is visiting your city, and then this is included. Right? Exactly. We wanna enhance the whole guest journey and the whole guest experience,

Sanne Feikenand we want to be, yeah, a part of a hotel service for the whole process as well. Yeah.

the Future of HospitalityYeah. And and maybe a stupid question, but if if somebody orders in, like, from the restaurant in the hotel, like, I I guess that not the delivery guy, a courier is coming to take that order.

Sanne FeikenExactly. That's why we call it room service redefined.

the Future of HospitalityNice. Nice. I get it. And I've I've spoken to, like, via LinkedIn with Finchant a little bit, and he told me that you're also rolling out other modules besides F and B. So I'm very curious. Like, can you expand a little bit more about what what are those modules? Because when I think of room delivery, just think of food and drinks. Yes. What what else is coming up?

Sanne FeikenWe want to be the complete digital service for for the hospitality branch. Everything what you can think of, that's the best when you're staying in a hotel. In a few steps, in our application, it's possible to deliver. Our first module, what is next on the agenda, and we are already working on a is a ticket service, but you can think of I mean, ticket for events, concert, museum, those kind of things. But we're also working on a texting module, wellness, a gym daypart, a flex dayparts, guest essentials. Sometimes you forget something. Actually, everything what a guest might need during their stay, we offer it.

the Future of HospitalityNice. So it's it's that's not really that they get something physical. It's more like that you say, like, okay. We know the we can deliver the whole, yeah, journey, like you said, in in our app. Yeah. Nice. Nice. So when are you going to to to go live with some new features? Like, what is the the focus now?

Sanne FeikenThe focus now is to gain market saturation. We are focusing now on Amsterdam. We want to be widely adopted within a year in Amsterdam, and we expect already in a month or two to be live with our next model for tickets and events. Yeah. We have big plans.

the Future of HospitalityYou must have You must have big plans. Yeah. So how does it work like at the moment? How many hotels are connected to to room delivery in Amsterdam? Yes. At the moment, we have over a thousand hotel rooms in Amsterdam. We are expanding by ZIP codes.

Sanne FeikenWe started in January January also for your reference, and we are expanding by ZIP codes because we need saturation around the hotel to onboard the hotel, but also to deliver from from the restaurant as well. So, yeah, food is just our starting point. We are growing day by day. Every day, we are growing. We are in conversations with with big parties with even white label options. Yes. Nice.

the Future of HospitalitySo I guess it's kind of a challenge because you also have, like, two clients that you have to maybe even three clients that you have to get into into room delivery. You have to connect with the hotel and to sell it to the hotel. You have to connect with the the local restaurants and etcetera. And you have to connect, of course, with with the guests. So how can you how can you do that? Because the other companies are so huge in it. It's kind of difficult to become like a new player in this. Right? Or maybe am I overlooking something?

Sanne FeikenNo. I understand where you're coming from because I had the the concern. I don't wanna call it a concern. I had the same problem in the beginning as well when I was asked for this for this task. But we don't see it as competition because we are operating in a hotel niche market. We are only hotel. We are not for the general public. So, therefore, in our opinion, we are not competing with the parties as Uber Eats, fast resort, or just Eats in in English. We are focused on hotels. Yeah. So it's a different it's a different market.

the Future of HospitalityI get it. But but for example, can, like, every restaurant just come in and become a partner in the room delivery app? Or do you like

Sanne Feikenso what's, the the best fit and who knows? No. We don't wanna be the same generic model as other delivery platforms. We wanna create value. We wanna create a premium service quality. We wanna create a local ecosystem around hotels. So we're also working with the maximum range of delivery of maximum food creators, but also we choose and handpick our restaurants very, very, very closely and based on reviews, but also the concept what they are offering. But we we also have as well we do have the midnight pizza, and the midnight kebab also in our in our in our offering. Because sometimes you come home late late from walking all day through the city or you have to go for festival or whatever, and you do wanna get that pizza. But hotels can chill while onboarding if they wanna exclude certain restaurants to

the Future of Hospitalityprotect their brand proposition. Oh, nice. And also, I guess, at this day, for example, the hotel sells sushi, then they don't want you to offer sushi in the room delivery app. Right? And this they can exclude these restaurants. Yes. Very nice. Very nice. And who is, like, the the paying customer? Because I know from other models, that, for example, the the restaurant pays, for example, a 20% to 30% fee to Uber Eats and Thijs Resort, like you said. How does it work? Is the hotel paying you? Is the is the restaurant paying you? Is the guest paying you? Everybody?

Sanne FeikenNo. We are we are between the guests and the restaurants. And in the future, between guests and the tickets or the tax guests or other modules we are offering, we take a small percentage from that, still a competing percentage in opposite of the other parties on the market, and we share that with the hotels. So the hotels get a commission rates on every order that is placed by the guest. There are no administration calls, no crazy binding contracts. We wanna keep it honest, transparent, and fair. We want to be fair ecosystem.

the Future of HospitalityYeah. Nice. But now I understand also that if you shared with the hotel, then he has less, like, competition to think, like, okay. They buy outside because he still gets something out of it, and he enhances the guest experience. So it's not that it only makes you guys better. It also the from it.

Sanne FeikenYes. The hotels, yeah, earn a commission on every order that is placed

the Future of Hospitalityto every order from the guest. Yeah. Nice. And and what is the feedback from the current hotels that you have? Maybe the feedback from guests that are using room delivery. Can you share some some of that? Definitely.

Sanne FeikenEvery hotel, what we are onboarding at the moment is actually super positive. I had that idea why why was this not earlier on the market? Even some hotels are now directly saying it as one guest while guests are checking in. You can order room delivery with our room service. No. Only nothing but positive feedback. Yes. And they're that the orders are linked to the guests, the hotel rooms. Yeah. They have to sorry. They have to the hotel. They're placing an order. So the whole process is streamlined,

the Future of Hospitalityand, yeah, they are very positive about that. Yes. Well, did you also get any feedback from from guests, like ordering stuff, or don't you know exactly what they

Sanne FeikenNo. Guest no. Guest experience as well. Same. Yes. Because we get a lot of requests. I would like to order wine. Can I order a taxi? We don't deliver that yet. Yeah.

the Future of HospitalityWait a little bit more, and it will come in the future. Exactly. Yes. Nice. Nice. And, of course, a lot of things are are changing now in hospitality hospitality with with with technology, with AI. A lot of things are going fast in maybe different direction than we are used to to to to see. Like, what do you think will be, like, the the future of of this in general, like, besides room delivery, the future of, like, ordering food in a hotel, let's say, in about three, five years? How do you see that?

Sanne FeikenI think not only the the the future in food and not only the future in hospitality, but I think the future is digital. Yeah. We are so used to order everything online, digital service, next day delivery, same day delivery, within a half hour delivery, our expectations of service and experience is all digital. There are even hotels out of the market that have fully integrated AI and technology in the whole guest experience that if you have a stay at a certain hotel that it collects the data on how your room temperature was how the lightning was. So that if you come there for next day, you have the same setting.

Sanne FeikenSo the future is digital, and I think room delivery is the perfect play at that.

the Future of HospitalityYeah. Now how are going to do something with AI? That's, of course, not only a buzzword with everybody. Even if I go to the supermarket, they want to say something with AI because that feels like trendy. So are you going to do something with AI in the future, you think, or is it possible?

Sanne FeikenI think the question should not be, are you going to do something with the future? But then and but yes. I think it's inevitable. Every every yes. It will be fully integrated.

the Future of HospitalityYes. Yeah. Nice. Like, I'm kind of curious. I'm kind of a digital nerd, if I can say that. That I I really believe that, like, delivery in general will be done also in the future with with drones because that's what what for example, in the ecommerce ecosystem, companies like Amazon, they really focus on delivery via drones. And, of course, it's not there yet, but but that's kind of interesting that when that happens, a lot of things change. It changes because delivery is, like, super fast. Almost everybody can can send a delivery. So maybe too much forward thinking. But do you think it's also, like, some kind of a trend that that will change delivery? Or didn't think about it yet, and I'm just super nerdy.

Sanne FeikenNo. No. No. No. No. In our strategic plan, we have not thought about it in that kind of length because at the moment, we also stand really for personal service. Personal service with the hotels, personal service with all of our partners we are working for because we wanna make a difference in that same way because everything is already so fully integrated and digital service. If you have a request nowadays and you want support, you are talking to chatbot. So at the moment, we wanna make a difference by personal service, so we are open on all opening times for restaurants to deliver at that personal service if there are questions from hotels, guests, that kind of things.

Sanne FeikenBut I do think in the future yeah. Maybe that's enough as well. I have not seen already videos that in China mostly that drones are coming in to deliver an order which are placing through a machine. I have seen robots in hotels delivering room service. I think yes, I think that those things will be fully integrated in the future, but in the same time, the needs of personal support and personal contacts and so still need it and create a difference. So difficult. It's balancing.

the Future of HospitalityYeah. I get what you mean. So that's also the one of the USPs of room delivery that you want to make it you want to make it a guest experience, like, humanize it, make it more personal. And that's because when you're in a hotel, everything is suddenly nice. You look at all the small details. Like, I he smiled at me at the front desk or the delivery guy smiled at me. That those are small things that you that you want when you are a guest. If you're just a local ordering food, you can leave it at the door, you don't care if he, you know, isn't smiling. But when you're in a hotel, you expect, like, the the best of the best. Right? Exactly.

Sanne FeikenYes. But there are also hotels nowadays. Some have even have a hologram as a front desk. You have the check-in machines even at hotels now. Yeah. But I think still personal service is very important, and we cannot overlook that.

the Future of HospitalityNice. Nice. So, yes, Sanna, we're we're almost out of time. Is there something that you want to add? It can be anything. For example, I don't know, your personal vision about hospitality, something you want to share about your your own stuff, room delivery stuff, whatever. Is there something you want to share on this podcast?

Sanne FeikenNo. Yeah. We are here to change the market and to create value and service. So, yes, we have big plans, and

the Future of Hospitalitywe are following up on them. And I'm really curious to see where you are in a in a few months from now because things can move fast. Right? Definitely. Yes. Yes. It was really nice to to talk with you. Thank you for taking the time and sharing this this experience from room delivery.

Sanne FeikenSo thank you very much. Thank you for having me.