Players can build a favorites menu or order exclusive VIP drinks.
The Westgate Las Vegas has more than 600 gaming machines that are now equipped with the ‘Beverage Ordering Service System”, which allows players to make their drink orders directly from their seat without having to wait for a server to come around. The technology is similar to the ordering system you would find in trendy full-service movie theaters.
If Westgate Las Vegas is right, the days of waiting for a cocktail server to take your drink order are over.
By pressing a martini glass logo on the Beverage Ordering Service System, the player can search for and view a drink menu. Then they can place an order for a drink of their choice.
The Beverage Ordering Service System has one major advantage for the casino: players do not have to leave the gaming machine or wait for a staff member to receive a new drink.
Drinking and Slots
Many Las Vegas casinos offer free drinks, which is an investment in bad decision making by their gamblers. Courtesy drinks long existed for players and bystanders alike, but in recent years, Vegas casinos have done away with the pretense and stopped serving non-gamblers.
With the new ordering system at the Westgate, the nearest bartender and waitress will each get an alert that a drink order has been placed. From there, the drink is made and delivered to the player.
Once the order has been placed, the player can then track their drink. From the drink order being received, to when it’s being poured and finally to when it’s being delivered each step can be tracked.
“Cocktail Service Is a Big Thing”
Tyler Conover, the Loyalty Marketing Director at the Westgate, said of the new system, “This will help us improve our service and get us to the top of the list of the beverage service.”
“Cocktail service is big thing for guests. It is something that sticks out as a dissatisfying. This helps us, and we want to improve and be ahead of the pack. It will help us improve wait times for cocktails.”
Favorites Menu and VIP Drinks
For regulars, the convenience is enhanced. Players can save their drinks in a ‘favorites’ menu linked to their player card. That menu is saved and can be accessed any time the player comes in to the Westgate. By using their player card on any machine, the player can access the menu and order their favorite drink.
Players in the upper tier of the club can enjoy the perks of an additional menu that only VIP members can access. The machines enable the players to order from premium liquor that is only available to the high rollers.
Conover added, “Those options don’t appear on the screen for someone who just signed up for the players program or are on the lower tier. It can differentiate between the different levels.”
Westgate Received Positive Reviews
Westgate Las Vegas, formerly known as the Las Vegas Hilton, is the first properties to offer this type of technology in Las Vegas. The system went live on February 28 and has gotten mostly positive responses overall, according to management.
Though it will still be a while before players and employees are fully used to the machines, once the users get the hang of it and see that their ordered drinks come a lot faster than having to wait on a cocktail server, there will most likely be many fans of the new system.
Tyler Conover said, “There’s a training piece to it. We’re still very much in its rollout phase, so we’re still getting people comfortable with it.”
“Like Self-Service Checkout”
Those who do not like change should have no fear. Servers will still walk around the floor and are available for anyone needing assistance or for those who chose not to use the system. Players can order as many drinks as they want through the system, there is no limit. However, employees will still decide when a player has had enough to drink.
The Westgate‘s Loyalty Marketing Director added, “Not everybody is going to use it, but for those who do, it speeds those transactions and it leaves more time to have a conversation. I think of it a lot like a self-service checkout at a store. Not everybody is going to use it, but…it shortens the lines for everyone else.”
