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The Arden Hotel:

Securing Parking Spaces and Parking Revenue

 

 

Our business is running a hotel. Our staff are trained to run a hotel and they are very good at that. They are not here to be car parking attendants or running cash machines. So we were looking for a system that really minimised the amount of administration that was required by staff when introducing this system – and I think we have achieved that.

Mr D. Gardner

Manager, The Arden Hotel

The Arden Hotel

The Arden Hotel is a family-run independent hotel which began life as a roadside café in 1968. Equidistant between Birmingham and Coventry, this prime location soon became home to the Birmingham NEC Exhibition Centre and the area has continued to grow massively with visitors using the NEC, airport, train station and office blocks.
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Opened in 1968

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216 Bedrooms

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280 car parking spaces

Solving an Issue

Car parking had become a key issue for the Arden Hotel with their 280-space car park regularly being full to capacity due to unauthorised parkers. Dave Gardner, Manager at the Arden Hotel felt that the Xparc barrier-controlled system would be the most effective method to manage the hotel’s car park and additionally, would improve security and create a revenue stream.

 

Value for Money

Crucially important to the Arden Hotel is offering their customers value for money; as an independent hotel they have the freedom to set their own parking charges, and choose not to charge their hotel residents and visitors for parking.

The Xparc system allows the hotel the flexibility to offer differing levels of free parking for different types of guests and visitors.

A Dramatic Improvement

The system went live in January 2016 and with no previous method of enforcement, the result was “a dramatic improvement – within a week it was quite clear how much unauthorised parking we were having”.
For the Arden, the system comprises of the Xparc Entry and Exit Terminals with Barrier Gates and ANPR cameras, Dave knew that they needed a smart system that was more than just a simple barrier and they “chose to have ANPR to minimise the administration in using the system”.

There has been a dramatic improvement – within a week it was quite clear how much unauthorised parking we were having. Having the Xparc system has really achieved the goal.

Mr D. Gardner

Manager, The Arden Hotel

Four Ways to Validate Parking

Validators

The Arden has two validators, one located in the bar and one which can be moved between function rooms or to the dining hall for added convenience for visitors. The validators have pre-set values to discount parking for a few hours to all day.

Point of Sale (Cashier) system

At the reception desk, the Point Of Sale system allows the front-of-house team to set the end date and time of the free parking.

Whitelist

Using the Xoffice back office system to manage whitelists, which work with the ANPR system to trigger the barriers with no need to collect a ticket or validate the visit.

Paystation

The paystation located in the reception foyer accepts coin, banknotes, chip & pin and contactless payments for car park users that do not meet the criteria for free parking.

Categories of Customer

One of the Arden Hotel’s USPs is offering free parking to their customers giving them excellent value for money. There are six categories of hotel user that benefit from free parking

Categories of Customer

Hotel Guests – all guests receive complimentary parking with their stay from the time of arrival until 2pm on the day of check out. This is validated at the reception desk.

Categories of Customer

Conference/Wedding guests also receive free parking and a ‘floating’ validator is used to provide guests with hassle-free parking validation at the most convenient time during their visit.

Categories of Customer

Park & Fly customers book their parking online and validate their parking at reception.

Categories of Customer

Leisure users – the Arden has a gym and swimming pool and they allow their Leisure users three hours of complimentary parking, validated at the reception desk.

Categories of Customer

Drop-in visitors – the Arden has many customers who drop in for meetings or for lunch, these visitors also receive up to 3 hours free parking, validated at the bar.

Categories of Customer

Regular users – Staff, suppliers and also VIP customers are added to a whitelist to allow them unlimited free access in and out of the car park with no need for validation.

Categories of Customer

Other users of the car park are required to pay for their parking at the paystation in the reception foyer.

Seamless Integration

A key factor for the Arden Hotel is that the barrier system should integrate into the day-to-day running of the hotel without causing too much additional administration: “Our business is running a hotel. Our staff are trained to run a hotel and they are very good at that. They are not here to be car parking attendants or running cash machines. So we were looking for a system that really minimised the amount of administration that was required by staff when introducing this system – and I think we have achieved that. We knew there would be some increase in managing such a system but it’s been at an acceptable level. So it has been very good from that point of view”.

Insightful Data

With the Xparc system in place, the Arden is now in the position to monitor the car parking levels and usage. The goal of reducing unauthorised parking has been realised and as the system becomes further embedded into the hotel’s practice, it will provide insight into busy periods and help with planning for parking capacity (e.g. Park&Fly).

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