Success Spotlight: The Hyatt Regency San Francisco
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Success Spotlight: The Hyatt Regency San Francisco

A creative stored-value card program offers surprising benefits for a popular hotel.

Street view of the Hyatt Regency-located in the financial district of San Francisco, California.
A waterfront paradise in San Francisco

Located in the sweet spot of the financial district, the Hyatt Regency San Francisco is a tourist hotspot and waterfront paradise in the downtown Embarcadero district. The hotel features 804 rooms, top notch event venues, a multitude of restaurants and bars, and the world’s largest hotel lobby (at 42,000 cubic feet). Just a short ways away from downtown and directly across from the iconic Ferry building, the area allows for quick access to famous attractions like Chinatown and Fisherman’s Wharf, and Alcatraz.

With its prime location and multitude of features, the Hyatt Regency in San Francisco has been incredibly popular with tourists and locals alike. Even so, as Director of Operations Neal Eads notes, they were always looking for ways to improve their hotel and guest experience.

Innovative program facilitates transition

When the hotel made the transition from traditional room service to an open food marketplace, they sought help from Smart Transaction Systems (STS) to implement a convenient way for customers to pay for their food on site.

STS worked with the Hyatt Regency to customize their versatile stored-value card solution: the VIP Card. Hotel staff load cards with value and present them to guests for use in their marketplace, dining areas, and other on-site amenities. Eads also uses the cards as a promotional tool and a simple way to increase customer satisfaction.

This program allowed us to save time and money, and still give guests what they want.

-Neil Eads, Director of Operations at San Francisco Hyatt Regency

Eclipse Kitchen and Bar features an exquisite menu, relaxed dining location, extensive drink options, and a vast array of artwork in the world’s largest hotel lobby.
Unique benefits for hotel guests & staff

“Our guests seem to really enjoy using our cards,” says Eads. “We give them out frequently as a courtesy. The loaded amount on the cards can be used as payment for any food/beverages they pick out from our market and dining areas.”

Eads also notes that the program has helped to keep labor costs low. “We don’t offer traditional room service, so the card allows people to go pick out the food they want. This also takes pressure off the cooks and staff, as they no longer have to guess what specialty items someone would like and bring them up.”

The Market area offers a wide selection of pre-packaged delicacies for busy travelers, and options for vegetarians and vegans.
Reduced costs & improved customer experience

Eads’ advice to other Hyatts looking to start their own rewards program? “Cater to what your guests want and need. This program works well for us because many guests missed the traditional room service that we used to offer. So this program allowed us to replace that service, save time and money, and still give guests what they want.”

Several other Hyatt locations are seeing the advantages of this type of program and have adopted STS VIP cards for various applications as well. The Manchester Grand Hyatt Hotel, Hyatt Regency San Francisco Airport, and The Hyatt Regency McCormick Place hotels have all seen great results with the program so far.

“We have enjoyed working with the Hyatt Regency San Francisco to implement a creative solution that reduces costs and improves customer satisfaction,” says Ray Clopton, president and CEO of STS. “We’re happy to see that the service is working well for other Hyatt hotels as well. We are very focused on enhancing the program with additional features that we will be announcing soon.”

Learn more about the Hyatt Regency San Francisco at SanFrancisco.Regency.Hyatt.com.