Luxury Hotel Shines Through Digital iPad Menus

Oct. 10, 2012 - PRLog -- Sankara Hotel, Nairobi’s premier luxury spa hotel, is taking a fresh approach to its menu presentation, becoming the first hotel in Kenya to adopt the iRiS F&B application for its menus. Guests will no longer have to trawl through the heavy, leather-bound paper menus, but will be presented with a modern, impressive and visually stunning platform (the iPad) from which to select their fine wines, single malt whiskies and rum.

The application was installed onto iPads in early September 2012 with guests being enticed by the stunning images and detailed descriptions of the champagnes, wines and regions. Searching by grape variety and regional preference to find the perfect wine is simple. Additional information such as tasting notes, aromas, awards won, vintages and other characteristics are all available at the touch of a finger.

The hotel’s new Champagne Bar features the iRiS Sommelier and is dedicated to serving high end liquor. Turning the menu presentation digital is part of the hotel’s strategy to offer a whole new experience.

Sankara’s General Manager Mr Moshi Perera says the new technology will allow customers to interact with the menu, know what wine pairs with what food, read notes from the winery and boost their confidence in the high end drinks, especially those that are new to them.

“It enables our customers to interact with our menus better and be more informed about what we are offering here. They can read about the Japanese Hibiki – the 12 year old is one of our numerous World’s Best Blended Whisky award winners available at the bar -  and go share all the information with a friend, sounding like an expert.” he said.

The hotel will have the ability to easily remove anything that is unavailable on the menu, preventing customer disappointment, as well as being able to add items – something that is more difficult with paper menus.

Operationally, the restaurant can update their wine lists at their will. Changing products, prices and availability couldn't be simpler. The removal of printing enables the restaurant to be more environmentally friendly, reduces costs and allows the restaurant to be pro-active and makes this a compelling advance in the dining experience.

The hotel is currently using the iPad menus in the rooftop bar and the main restaurant and guests appear to be enjoying the experience:

“Customer feedback is very positive and we will look to make more use of this technology as time goes on” commented Mr Perera.

For more information or to see how your restaurant / hotel can benefit from digital menu  technology, visit http://www.irisvalet.com/products/iris-f-and-b/