CIVILIAN Hotel is a boutique lifestyle hotel in New York City’s Theater District, known for its modern comfort with artistic flair. With 203 rooms, a compact lobby and a lean front office team, the hotel is intentionally designed to create a sense of familiarity as guests come and go. But in such an intimate space, keeping the lobby free from front desk bottlenecks is essential to making space for guest interactions.
Lisa Rodolico, CIVILIAN Hotel’s Front Office Assistant and Manager, had seen Canary work well at a previous property. She pushed for the switch when the hotel’s previous guest-facing solutions created more problems than they solved. We talked to her to learn more about the transition and the improvements the hotel has seen since implementing Canary.
The hotel had a check-in kiosk installed from opening day, but it often failed, causing errors that left staff to clean up the mess. Because of mounting guest frustration, the team ultimately began redirecting arrivals back to the front desk instead. Once Canary’s Self-Service Kiosks hit the market, the team decided to give kiosks another try. Now, guests have the option to check-in and get their keys from the front desk or the kiosk, both working in tandem to provide a great experience.
“I had faith in it, because I used Canary at my old property and could vouch for its reliability," said Lisa. “Canary’s Self-Service Kiosk is extremely reliable, and it handles most of our check-ins now. The team loves it too, now no one wants to use anything else.”
CIVILIAN Hotel runs at a high occupancy, experiencing weekday check-in rushes and weekend checkout waves in equal measure. Canary’s Mobile Check-In and Self-Service Kiosk keep guests moving through the small lobby so it doesn’t feel crowded. Most guests submit their information before arrival via Mobile Check-In. Among those who don’t, about half opt for the kiosk automatically.
“It clears up the lobby, which is always my biggest concern,” said Lisa. “It's nice that guests can still get service from us at the desk, or if they’d rather they can serve themselves at one of the two kiosks. If the guest needs a hand, we’re always there to assist.”
The property has many business travelers, meaning third-party billing has historically been a challenge. Authorizing third-party payments used to be done through scanning and faxing, but Canary’s Digital Authorizations sends a link that lets guests pay securely in less than five minutes.
“Guests are often worried that the authorization process is going to be long and annoying,” said Lisa. “I assure them it's about five minutes tops, and they’re always delighted by how simple the process is.”
Guest requests and property-wide updates used to mean lots of phone calls for both guests and staff. Today, Canary's Guest Messaging lets the team check in on guests who haven't arrived with a quick text, and broadcast messages reach every in-house guest at once when there’s a promotion or schedule change at the restaurants.
“The broadcast option is extremely helpful,” said Lisa. “When we want to tell guests about a restaurant promotion or live music, we don’t have to call every room. I don’t know what I’d do without Canary.”
