Campbell's Uses Maestro to Keep Guests Returning

Seattle visitors come for great service, beautiful location and the 'Best Wine List' in Washington S

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. October 14, 2008

OCTOBER 24, 2006. 24 2006 - Owned and operated by the same family for 105 years, Campbell's Resort on Lake Chelan has prospered through a century of changes and continues to attract guests to its beautiful property and pristine location. Seattle families once traveled by wagon from the rainy Pacific coast to the Cascade Mountains for the blue skies and warm weather. Today, a fourth-generation of guests arrive at Campbell's Resort in SUVs, but now they come for the resort's conference center and matchless wine list as well as for the beautiful lake and hearty outdoor recreation activities.

"We are the longest continuously owned and operated resort in the state of Washington and I am the fourth generation of Campbell innkeepers," said Art Campbell, president and general manager of Campbell's Resort. "We enlarged and modernized the resort and added a complete conference center, yet maintained our high standards for guest service. The key to our success is knowing who our guests are, understanding that they come here for a relaxed family environment, and then providing it." As part of its modernization program Campbell's Resort upgraded its system technology by installing Maestro Enterprise, a suite of software applications that automates its front office, spa, and convention and meeting facilities on one data base for instant access to guest information from any location on property.

"We chose the Maestro Enterprise Suite to integrate all our property's profit centers because it allows us to unite transactional data and guest information on separate specialized modules within a single system and database. This is the most efficient way to automate a resort like Campbell's with multiple profit centers. Maestro was the best multiple-module single-image database system we found."

Along with many repeat guests each year Campbell's Resort is attracting plenty of new business thanks to the area's recent notoriety as the new wine capital of Washington State. "Our business is seasonal, with a large number of families returning here for vacations in the spring and summer," explained Campbell. "The fall and winter seasons are attracting a growing number of business groups who come to the Resort for meetings in our 14,000-square-foot conference center, and our new Spa is very popular with guests in all seasons." By automating the Resort's front office operation, Spa and its Group Sales and Catering facility on Maestro modules with a single data base, the property serves all its guest segments more efficiently. The system tracks group purchases and meal extensions and its staff answers guests' queries quickly and professionally. Campbell's also installed the Maestro Analytics business intelligence system which allows the Resort's sales team to quickly analyze a group's past profitability from all profit centers while current agreements are being negotiated. The result is a contract based on the most complete business information.

"The reason our family has maintained a successful hospitality business for over a century is service," said Art Campbell. "We have very little staff turnover - our grounds supervisor has been with us for 37 seasons. We remember our guests and what they enjoy." Campbell's Resort is located at the end of the 55-mile long crystal Lake Chelan and summer guests prize its water activities like kayaking and swimming and scenic hiking trails. The resort is also building a strong winter following because it is close to the Echo Ridge and Mission Ridge recreation areas for Nordic and downhill skiing. Service is also the reason Campbell's Resort selected the Maestro Front Office, Sales and Catering and Spa systems to automate its resort.

"Service and technical support are 70 percent of any hotel system installation," said Campbell's IT Manager, Alaric Pratt. "NORTHWIND is my new benchmark for system support. They have a thorough knowledge of hotel operations and their installation teams are very professional. We believe in a single point of contact for support and Maestro's Front Office, Sales and Catering, and Spa systems are all on the same database and supported by the same team. They do a great job." Pratt also stated that he valued NORTHWIND's free training webinars and client conference calls where users can compare best practices and gain insights on how to make the most effective use of their systems.

Although it is a lakeside resort up 1,100 feet in the Cascade Mountains, Campbell's Resort is far from rustic. Many rooms have fireplaces, but the property's Campbell's House Caf'e, Second Floor Pub and Veranda dining outlets have received the 'Best Wine List in Washington State' award from Wine Press Northwest magazine for three consecutive years. Quite an accomplishment for a state that boasts upscale cities like Seattle, Tacoma and Spokane.

After 105 years of continuous operation, Campbell's Resort remains vital, continually growing and changing with the times. "We will be expanding our conference center in the next year," said Campbell. "Our new RiverRoom Spa and our extensive wine cellar are attracting a younger guest mix, but our hospitality heritage is still focused on cleanliness, safety and comfort; these never go out of style. We may use the most advanced Maestro Enterprise technology to run our business more efficiently, but we keep it in the background so we can focus on caring for our longtime guests and new friends. This is the key to our success."