tc vending Posted December 29, 2016 Share Posted December 29, 2016 I have a large hotel 9 floors they have 7 snack machines bottler has drinks. The hotel want us to do the snack I think this is to many machines. Don't do any hotels advice appreciate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southeast Treats Posted December 29, 2016 Share Posted December 29, 2016 Rarely does it pay to put machines on multiple floors of a hotel, and doing snacks without having the drinks makes it even worse. I like hotels as long as they are 90+ units or so, but I want to have all the vending, and set up one good vending area (or at most two if they are very large and spread out) as opposed to multiple poor ones. You can offer better commissions and credit card readers to try and get the proper setup with drinks, but also realize that some hotel brands push their properties to do multiple floor vending as part of the flag requirements. I just pass on those. Talk to the manager and ask what their flag wants and what leeway they have, and sell the idea that you can provide better service, nicer equipment, and more selection for the guests with a good central vending setup. Most hotel properties are not too price sensitive, so you can add on your commission costs, but keep the prices reasonable... a $4 bottle of water won't sell most places. Negotiate a location in the property with good visibility and traffic flow, indoors, well lit and handicapped accessable (no converted broom closets!) - know the ADA requirements for vending and share the info with management. Make sure your machines meet the current standards. Be open to offering traveler comfort items if the hotel does not already provide them to guests - tylenol, advil, etc. I have one rental condo account where I even stock toothpaste, razors, and shampoo at their request. Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southeast Treats Posted December 29, 2016 Share Posted December 29, 2016 If you need info on the ADA requirements, I just posted an article in downloads/ vending tools. It should be available as soon as a moderator looks it over. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Golfdogs Posted December 29, 2016 Share Posted December 29, 2016 Vandalism is also a concern at hotels. I've had real nice machines at nice hotels that didn't look so nice after they were broken into. Security camera missed the culprits on different occasions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PHX1 Posted December 30, 2016 Share Posted December 30, 2016 This would probably be a big waste. If it's a nicer hotel the guests don't use vending a whole lot. Only place 1-3 snack TOPS. And get the drink machines while you are at at or it won't be worth it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lacanteen Posted December 30, 2016 Share Posted December 30, 2016 We are toying with the idea of credit cards only in hotel accounts to reduce vandalism. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snickers Posted December 30, 2016 Share Posted December 30, 2016 Be prepared to pick up all the machines when the chain of hotels switch to doing their own little micro market. Not saying it will happen but it did to a few here. Sodas were the only money maker when we had them on snacks + sodas. Your hotel may be a great money maker on just snacks alone. If they don't do much volume there will be a lot of rotating product and you better have an outlet for 7 machines worth of close dated product. They may hit you with wanting a commission if they haven't already. Hotels around here change ownership around here every few years it seems. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AngryChris Posted December 30, 2016 Share Posted December 30, 2016 I try to avoid anything where it's difficult to get a contract... Not because I need a contract, but because places like hotels and big retail chains or nursing homes have a habit of kicking the little guy out because corporate doesn't care. I have some locations that kicked butt over the last 10 weeks and I'm going to cancel them so I'm not dealing with stales for the next 9 months until another vendor gets to take over during the busy season or demand commission or new equipment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PHX1 Posted December 30, 2016 Share Posted December 30, 2016 If you get thrown out that much you are probably doing something wrong. We have a handful of nursing homes that do very well and have been in most of them for over 4 years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AngryChris Posted December 30, 2016 Share Posted December 30, 2016 51 minutes ago, PHX1 said: If you get thrown out that much you are probably doing something wrong. We have a handful of nursing homes that do very well and have been in most of them for over 4 years. I completely disagree with you in this specific circumstance. My two retail chain locations have national contracts with someone but I don't know who. They won't allow the individual locations to have their own contracts as far as I know. I haven't been kicked out but these locations but I have seen the stories and I know I could be at any moment due to no fault of my own. I also have a single nursing home. A management company called me about 3 or 4 years ago saying I had to pay commission and give newer machines. I cannot get the contract here. However, I still have the account. A separate location that I'm cancelling has a new management company and they offered me another location but I turned it all down because they want commission and newer equipment, etc.. I have no hotels but the point is that if there's a high potential risk of being kicked out strictly because a large vendor or management company won the national contract, then I try to avoid such locations. If it's not part of a big chain, then my point isn't relevant. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southeast Treats Posted December 30, 2016 Share Posted December 30, 2016 3 hours ago, lacanteen said: We are toying with the idea of credit cards only in hotel accounts to reduce vandalism. LA, do you have any credit only locations now? Interested in how well that works, have considered it for some locations.... and do you know of anyone who can/is tying in room keys to vending? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lacanteen Posted December 30, 2016 Share Posted December 30, 2016 12 minutes ago, Southeast Treats said: LA, do you have any credit only locations now? Interested in how well that works, have considered it for some locations.... and do you know of anyone who can/is tying in room keys to vending? We have not done any yet, but have a few franchise friends in large cities that have. They say that there was no difference in sales volume. I may revisit this in the new year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tc vending Posted December 31, 2016 Author Share Posted December 31, 2016 Thank you for all your advice guys not going to take the location to many machines for the location. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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