The days of waiting for a cocktail server to take your drink order while playing a slot machine are over at one Las Vegas casino. Now, it's as simple as pressing a few buttons.
The more than 600 machines at the Westgate Las Vegas are equipped with the Beverage Ordering Service System that allows players to skip waiting for a cocktail server to make their rounds. Westgate is believed to be one of the first properties in Las Vegas to offer this technology.
Players press a martini glass logo drink order button on the machine touchscreen, which brings up a menu to search for the drink of their choice.
The bartender in the area gets an alert that a drink order has been placed and the waitress is also alerted. The drink is made and delivered.
Throughout the process, the player can track the status of their order from when it is received to it the drink being poured and on its way for delivery.
“This will help us improve our service and get us to the top of the list of the beverage service,” said Tyler Conover, loyalty marketing director for the Westgate. “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.”
To save time, drinks can be saved in a favorites menu for the next time a player orders a beverage through the system. The menu is tied into Westgate’s players program, so the drink can be retrieved each time the guest visits the property and inserts their player card into any gaming machine.
Players in the upper tier of the club will get an extra menu, which enables them to order premium liquor.
“Those options don’t appear on the screen for someone who just signed up for the players program or are on the lower tier,” Conover said. “It can differentiate between the different levels.”
Since the system went live Feb. 28, Conover said, it took some getting used to by both players and employees, but the response has been positive overall. Once users get the hang of the system and trust that their drink will be delivered, they become fans of the system.
“There’s a training piece to it,” he said. “We’re still very much in its rollout phase, so we’re still getting people comfortable with it.”
There is no limit to how often a person can order a drink and it is still up to servers and staff to know when a patron has had enough.
Servers will still roam the casino floor assisting those who don’t utilize the service.
“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,” he said. “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.”