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 guest messaging platform made this a manual, time-consuming process. Before Canary, hotel staff had to manually input each upcoming guest’s phone number and customize their pre-arrival messages, often taking more than an hour each day.
Crowne Plaza Perth found Canary Technologies after IHG selected Canary as an approved Guest Messaging provider. Canary’s #1-rated Guest Messaging system featured more automation and integration capabilities than their previous provider. Additionally, Canary responds to guest inquiries instantly with its AI capabilities.
Since switching to Canary’s Guest Messaging, staying connected with guests is easier than ever. Crowne Plaza Perth has saved time, sped up response times, and seen a boost in Tripadvisor reviews thanks to streamlined communication. We spoke with Operations Manager Kai Kankal about how these changes improved staff efficiency and the guest experience.
The hotel’s previous messaging system didn’t support automated message sends or sync with the hotel’s PMS, so manual outreach was the only option. With Canary’s Guest Messaging, the hotel automates pre-arrival, in-stay and post-checkout texts, freeing up staff for better service.
“Before Canary, someone would have to spend at least an hour a day manually sending out pre-arrival messages to guests,” Kai told us. “Automating that has reduced our administrative work by at least 40%.”
Crowne Plaza Perth is near a similarly named casino hotel, leading to frequent booking mix-ups. Now, Canary’s Guest Messaging sends a text right after booking to set expectations. Then during the stay, messages are automatically sent to guests to proactively answer questions or address issues.
“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.”
Another perk of Canary is the seamless integration with popular hotel tech systems, such as Quore and OPERA. If a guest responds to these in-stay messages with a request or maintenance problem, Canary AI automatically recognizes it and suggests a new service ticket for hotel staff. With one click, the hotel staff can create the ticket and send it directly to the right department.
“The integration capabilities of Canary has made a massive difference compared to our old platform,” Kai said. “Things we update on a daily or hourly basis are done automatically.”
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.”
Canary's local customer support provides a significant advantage over the hotel’s previous vendor. Kai now benefits from a dedicated local customer success manager who’s available to address any needs—far more convenient than trying to get support from someone across the globe.
“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.”
