JW Marriott Phoenix Desert Ridge Resort & Spa - IRIS Mobile Dining
“With the simple and seamless ordering platform, in-room sales and average check size have soared by 40% compared to traditional ordering!”
Hotel Overview
A transformative stay awaits at the five-star JW Marriott® Phoenix Desert Ridge Resort & Spa, AAA 4-Diamond gem. With 950 bedrooms, multiple dining outlets, and awe-inspiring views of the Sonoran Desert, the luxury resort is known for bespoke service, world-class amenities, and state-of-the-art facilities. Whether visiting Phoenix for an unforgettable family vacation, business meeting, romantic getaway, or special event, exceptional moments await.
The app showcases all the hotel’s F&B outlets
“The IRIS platform gives us many options to maximise revenue across our resort and enhance the guest experience.
With simple and seamless ordering, in-room sales and average check size have soared by 40% and the return on investment is significant - every hotel should have IRIS!
With new features being released regularly, we’re learning all the time, it’s amazing how the app is fully integrated and seamlessly connects to everything.”
“As we’re the only hotel in the area using IRIS mobile dining at this scale, it helps us stand out from the competition.
It not only meets guest expectations but exceeds them, offering a seamless, modern dining experience that drives both satisfaction and profitability.”
Hotel Requirements
The resort wanted to maximise F&B revenue across their estate, increase guest spend, and streamline operations to reduce staff costs.
They needed a flexible, scalable solution that would improve service speed, accuracy, and guest convenience, while setting them apart from local competitors.
Solutions Installed
The IRIS mobile dining app is now live across five outlets:
In-room dining
Just a Splash pool deck
Copper Alley bar & bites
Revive Spa Bistro
Kembara fine dining restaurant
Plans are underway to expand mobile dining to further outlets including the golf restaurant and lobby lounge, with the ultimate goal of making every outlet mobile-accessible.
Benefits
40% increase in guest spending
Average check size with mobile dining is 40% bigger compared to traditional in-person ordering. Many of their guests feel more comfortable ordering online [compared to phoning through an order] and tend to order more per transaction as it’s ‘guilt-free’ ordering and eliminates judgement!
The digital menus provide a wider choice of items (than the previous in-room menus), and with guests having more time to peruse the menus, they’re often tempted to order more and as such, revenue has increased. Photos on menus mean expectations are always met.
23% revenue growth year on year
Now in its second year of operation, the platform continues to deliver growth, with mobile ordering revenue climbing 23% year on year.
Upsells (fries, salads, sauces, drink pairings etc.) encourage guests to increase their order size. Likewise, the images, allergen info, and ingredient details help guests personalise their meals.
Guests prefer the app over phone orders, appreciating its speed, accuracy, and convenience. Regular guests and groups are already familiar with the system, further driving adoption.
Enhanced guest experience
Over 1,000 pool loungers and cabanas now feature QR codes, enabling guests to order food and drinks (including alcoholic beverages) straight to their spot.
Copper Alley and other outlets also feature table QR codes for quick, convenient ordering.
Mobile dining enables guests to sample meals from Kembara even when the restaurant is full by ordering for pick-up or for room delivery, ensuring no one misses out on signature dishes.
Families particularly value being able to enjoy fine dining dishes in the comfort of their rooms, outside of a formal restaurant setting. Likewise, the hotel gets a lot of corporate groups staying (delegates attending conferences etc.) who prefer to order online and dine alone in their rooms – after a long, tiring day, its more relaxing for them to enjoy in-room dining in the privacy of their room.
Quicker service and reduced lead times
As all orders go straight through to the kitchen, it saves time and effort - previously, guests would have to flag down a waiter who would then have to type the order manually into the POS. Now the chef receives the order directly and starts prepping the dish straight away.
Service times of 30 minutes for breakfast and 45 minutes for dinner are often exceeded.
As such, guests receive their orders quickly, and lead times are reduced. With reduced waiting times and improved order accuracy, guest satisfaction is enhanced.
Labour savings
Previously two order-takers per shift were required; now only one server is needed to check orders before delivery. Staff can focus on other guest-related tasks, and the hotel no longer needs to backfill roles.
Runners who take the meals up to the guest rooms take a few orders per wing at a time, so it’s more efficient and timely.
Easy management & insights
Staff can easily upload new menu items, specials, or images daily and seasonally. It’s simple to change the menus and create new categories so new staff members can start using it from day one.
Managers run data and performance reports from the dashboard, tracking top items and making informed decisions to boost sales.
No more manual updates - saving staff time and ensuring guests always see the latest menus.
Controlled pace of orders
The hotel had 40 tickets through the app at the same time on a New Year’s Eve event - they’d never seen orders numbers like it before!
Luckily, the hotel can control order flows with time slots (and limit the number of orders coming into the kitchen at any given time to reflect staffing levels), preventing the kitchen from becoming overwhelmed during peak demand.
Reduced costs and sustainable operations
Ordering is now 100% digital so there’s no need to print off and distribute 950 laminated menus for each room. Unlike paper directories, when changes are made, the digital menus are updated automatically online - you only have to print the QR code once and it never needs updating!
Not only does this reduce costs, but it’s also environmentally friendlier and saves trees - and prevents housekeeping from having to manually update the paper version room-by-room.
User friendly
Guests have stated that it’s a convenient way of ordering for them. Anybody can use it, regardless of age, and they feel it’s simple to use it if they haven’t used it before.
The hotel state it’s the perfect way to meet the needs of younger travellers and families, where app usage is synonymous with other areas of their lives.
Scalable platform
Building on the success of its five existing outlets, the hotel plans to roll out the platform more widely across the resort, driving additional F&B revenue and ensuring a seamless, consistent service for guests, wherever they choose to dine.
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