The Ritz

A TISSL system is now in place across The Ritz London – from the Palm Court to the hotel’s mini-bars – in a project which was installed overnight, meaning no downtime or disruption to service.

TISSL has completed a major installation at The Ritz London, supplying the prestigious hotel with a comprehensive system which encompasses 12 terminals, three handheld terminals and a kitchen monitor system.

Opened by hotelier Cesar Ritz in 1906, The Ritz is the only hotel to have been awarded a Royal Warrant by HRH The Prince of Wales for services to banqueting and catering.

TISSL’s system is spread across key areas within the hotel including Palm Court, famous for its afternoon tea, The Ritz Restaurant and The Rivoli Bar, as well as room service and The Ritz’s conference and banqueting functions.

“It’s a great honour to have been selected as EPoS supplier to The Ritz,” says Kevin Coetzee, Managing Director of TISSL. “This is one of the most complex projects we have ever worked on but our extensive experience with prestigious venues including The Fat Duck and the Institute of Directors in London meant that we were well-placed to create an exceptional EPoS system for The Ritz.”

The project involved installing software onto a managed server, with several interfaces – including reservations and Opera PMS. TISSL also installed the system overnight – meaning that there was no downtime or disruption to service.

“We worked closely with The Ritz to understand their requirements and tailor a system for their particular needs,” says Kevin. “Each one of our clients is different and we always spend time getting to know and understand their business.”

TISSL has provided The Ritz with custom slip bill printing, a custom HTML check viewer (to allow receptionists and other staff to view checks), and custom mini-bar ordering and replenishing.

“We have developed a system where the TISSL mini-bar applet posts sales directly to EPoS,” says Kevin Coetzee. “We know that keeping on track of mini-bar sales can be a major headache for hotels worldwide, so wanted to come up with a viable solution for The Ritz.”

In the kitchens of The Ritz, TISSL has created a specially modified monitor, which allows the chef to not only co-ordinate what is going on in the kitchen with a huge volume of orders but also to view the table plan and current status of tables in the restaurant. TISSL has also worked with The Ritz to be able to offer it a number of custom reports.

“This was an exciting project, as it involved every major interface we have, while we provided a large amount of custom development to tailor the system to meet their requirements,” says Kevin Coetzee. “For example, we further developed the hotel’s PMS interface to a higher enhanced specification to include many additional features.”

Once the system was up and running, TISSL provided end-to-end training with more than 150 staff at The Ritz and will provide the hotel with ongoing support.

“We worked very closely with the IT team at The Ritz to add some innovative features to the front end and the interfaces – which helped to achieve the most out of all the products involved,” says Kevin Coetzee. “We are delighted to be working with such a prestigious establishment.”