The Grand Palace Hotel, voted Latvia's leading hotel for 7 years in a row, was the setting for Cardola VirtualHotel's debut.

After a successful initial 3 month trial in 10 rooms, VirtualHotel's touch units were deployed into all 56 rooms. This was the first time Virtualhotel had been deployed in a live hotel environment but the trends were immediately encouraging:

• More guests used the system than did not.
• Of those guests who used the system to place orders, the vast majority placed more than one order during their stay.
• There was a marked increase in sales via the system, particularly room service as guests were now able to see what they were ordering and the Grand Palace kitchen's attention to detail made it very difficult for guests to resist.

It soon became clear that having a touch panel in every room could open a number of doors and the ideas started pouring in from guests and hotel personnel alike. Armed with this feedback and the lessons learned, we went on to develop a number of new features.

As a hotel geared towards the business traveller, tailor made suits were offered as well as hunting excursions, arranged by experienced hunter and GM of the Grand Palace Hotel, Bernhard Loew.

Three years on Cardola continues to deliver results at the Grand Palace Hotel.