Crowne Plaza Perth, a 189-room IHG property steps from Australia’s Swan River, creates a premium experience for both corporate and leisure travelers. With a business center, farm-to-table restaurant and proximity to the city’s top attractions, the well-appointed hotel blends convenience with comfort in the heart of Perth.
The hotel has always prioritized communication with guests, but their previous messaging platform made this a manual, time-consuming process. Since switching to Canary’s AI Guest Messaging, keeping in touch with guests has become a breeze. We sat down with Operations Manager Kai Kankal to learn about the benefits they’ve seen.
Guest reviews are an integral part of the hospitality industry, but capturing feedback is a common challenge. With Canary AI, Crown Plaza Perth automates post-stay thank-you messages and shares a Tripadvisor review link. The result? Nearly double the number of reviews compared to the same time the year prior.
“Since adding a post-checkout message, the number of Tripadvisor reviews we get has skyrocketed,” Kai said. “And since we have more time to spend with our guests, our review scores have gone up, too.”
Crowne Plaza Perth is near a similarly named casino hotel, leading to frequent booking mix-ups. Now, Canary’s AI Guest Messaging sends a message right after booking to set expectations. During the stay, AI checks in with guests and, if needed, automatically creates a service ticket through Canary’s seamless integration with Quore, notifying the right department instantly.
“This is an older building, so sometimes things go wrong. But often, we wouldn’t know guests had an issue until we read about it in their review“, said Kai. “Now, the AI sends messages to guests during their stay so we’re able to address issues promptly.”
Adding Canary’s AI Guest Messaging into the existing tech stack was quick and easy thanks to Canary’s integrations with OPERA and Quore. Additionally, Canary's local customer support provides a significant advantage over their previous vendor. Kai now benefits from a dedicated local customer success manager who’s available to address any needs.
“Having someone in Australia I can reach out to makes a huge difference,” Kai told us. “Knowing there’s a support contact in the same time zone is one of the biggest advantages of Canary, and it’s something our previous service didn’t offer at all.”
As Kai looks towards the future of hospitality, he’s excited to see how AI will continue to improve the guest journey—and he knows Canary will be at the forefront of the shift.
He told us, “I love that Canary is always innovating. AI is going to be the future of hospitality, and the way Canary AI responds, you can’t even tell it’s a bot. It’s really well designed, and it’s freed up so much time for my staff. Their reduced workload lets them spend more time with guests, which makes all the difference.”
