In 2019, we were approached by the owners of two luxury hotels in London: The Thistle Hotel in Kensington Garden and the Thistle Express in Luton. They were looking to improve the usability of their car parks and asked us to implement measures that would make the car parks more profitable, better enforced, and more convenient for their guests to use.
The Car Parks
Situated near Hyde Park, the Kensington car park has 70 spaces available. Spaces were originally guest-only. Because of inadequate parking, guests in nearby hotels would often use the Thistle car park illegally; a lack of enforcement made it hard to prevent this.
The hotel’s owners also noticed that the car park was underutilised by guests, as many visitors to London rely on public transport over driving. This meant the car park had the potential for extra revenue that was not being taken advantage of.
The Luton car park has 35 spaces reserved for hotel guests and is located next to a shopping centre, near several public car parks. Due to a lack of enforcement, the car park was often abused by locals and airport visitors parking there for free. The owners wanted to put measures in place so only hotel guests could use it.
What Car Park Management Solutions did we offer?
To improve the Kensington car park, we decided to turn it into a public car park with priority given to hotel guests. We did this by implementing a chargeable parking system using pay-by-phone technology. Hotel guests would have the price of parking optionally included in their hotel package, while non-guests could pay to park on their phones or in the hotel reception. This generated considerably more income for the hotel than before.
To prioritise guests, measures were put in place to ensure there would always be enough space to accommodate guests over public parkers. In addition, the car park was made free from barriers, making it more convenient for users.
At the Luton car park, we put in place a guest-only automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) system. Guests were required to register at reception to get free parking; unregistered cars were automatically logged and penalised, providing effective rule enforcement.
The Results
By discouraging illegal parkers, our enforcement upgrades helped Kensington and Luton hotel guests park without needing to worry about finding a space. This improved their overall experience in the hotels, which would be reflected in their reviews and feedback.
The pay-by-phone system in the Kensington car park also took advantage of available space to improve the park’s profitability.
Britannia Parking are Specialists in Car Park Installation and Management across the UK
Britannia Parking are proud to be the UK’s leading provider of car park management and ANPR systems. With over two decades of experience, we will design an effective solution for maximising your car park's safety, enforcement, and profitability.
To find out how we can upgrade your car park, send us a message via our online form!
