The Queen at Chester
Joji Esao, Hotel Manager
“Every week we're seeing stronger numbers than last year.”
Dining uptake doubledIn-house dining, after the pre-arrival invitation changed
Read the case study
In a city, guests make their plans before they see yours.
So we ask early, and offer what fits.
City guests are more often visiting friends or family than celebrating, and every restaurant in town wants their evening. The hotel that asks first, on the guest's own phone, has the best chance of the table, the early room and the easy checkout.
Show us where guests get stuck. Nothing to prepare.
WhatsApp · Sunday, five days before arrival
Whitcombe HouseGood morning Mrs Hughes, we are looking forward to Friday. Are you in town for work, or seeing people?
Visiting family, we're out with them Saturday
Whitcombe HouseLovely. Would you like a table here on Friday, the night you arrive? The kitchen is open until ten.
Yes, 8pm for two. Any chance of the room early? Our train gets in at 11
Whitcombe HouseTable for two at eight, booked. We can have your room ready from eleven for £20. Shall I add it?
The first evening
Ask early enough to beat the restaurant down the road.
Dinner needs the longest run-up of any offer: four to seven days before arrival. Leave it to the day before and a city guest has already booked somewhere else.
At the Queen at Chester, guests were making dinner plans before they saw the hotel's. Once the invitation moved into a pre-arrival conversation, in-house dining uptake doubled.
Arriving and leaving
The time of day is what city guests care about.
Early check-in and late checkout get a yes from 70.8% of the guests offered them, more than any other standard offer in our dataset. A guest on a morning train, a late flight or a day of meetings will pay for the hours that fit.
We offer it in the conversation, and the payment and the room time land on the booking.
Checkout
The bill settled before the queue at eleven.
On the morning of departure the guest gets the folio on their phone and pays by link, then leaves the key in the box. Reception stays free for the guests who are arriving.
Late arrivals
Nobody waiting up for a guest who will not arrive until ten.
We ask roughly when they will get to you, so the night team knows before the shift starts. If a guest is running late, they say so in the same conversation, and the message reaches the desk.
What your team sees on Friday morning.
Covers for the restaurant, the early rooms for housekeeping and the late arrivals for the night team, on one sheet before service.
Yes, 8pm for two. Any chance of the room early? Our train gets in at 11
Whitcombe HouseTable for two at eight, booked. We can have your room ready from eleven for £20. Shall I add it?
Yes please
Whitcombe House · Morning briefingFriday · sent 06:00
| Arrives | Guest | Room | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11:00 | Hughes, 2 | 12 | Visiting family · early check-in paid · table 20:00 |
| 17:00 | Adeyemi, 1 | 9 | Work · late checkout Sat |
| 21:30 | Moore, 1 | 4 | Business · late arrival |
3 arrivals · 1 early room · 2 covers booked · 1 late arrival
Housekeeping sees the early room, the restaurant sees the covers, the night team sees who is still to come.
Bring us the booking you lost to the restaurant down the road.
Thirty minutes. We look at where your guests get stuck and tell you honestly whether we can make it easier.
Book thirty minutes
Nothing to prepare.