iPalapa’s iPoolside is a mobile, interactive service platform that enables resorts and guests to reserve and manage cabanas, umbrellas, pool chairs, and more, cutting out the often stressful wait times spoiling vacations

Toronto, Canada – HFTP’s HITEC, the world’s largest hospitality technology conference, has selected iPalapa to participate in this year’s Entrepreneur 20X competition. This will be HITEC’s first visit to Toronto. E20X is a forum in which a limited number of carefully selected startups pitch their solutions to a panel, and audience, of experienced hoteliers and investors from around the world in hopes of gaining not only great exposure but some advantageous prizes as well.

Vacations to crowded beach resorts many times result in guests having to wake up at the crack of dawn to march down to the beach to throw a towel over a few chairs in hopes of reserving them. Often, this ends up in arguments and ruined vacations. iPalapa provides resort guests with a simple to use app that enables them to reserve specific spots on the beach or poolside a day ahead removing all the stress from vacationing. Guests can even review the application before arrival, reserve locations and receive an email confirmation.

In addition, the iPoolside platform provides a dashboard to the hotel staff that shows what locations have been reserved and by whom, enabling them to provide a much higher level of service to their guests. iPoolside provides hotels with complete control over the beach and pool map. Hotel managers can set and change pricing, enable half day and full day reservations, exclude certain cabanas or areas from guest access, and allow priority access based on guest status. Full metrics and data analytics are available in real time to hotel management. Hotels will know the exact return on investment of each cabana and add-on offering. Hotels are now able to offer repeat guests the exact locations based on prior preferences along with more targeted offerings by reviewing detailed notes from previous stays.

Julian Tucker, Director of Resort Operations at the Hyatt Regency Aruba Resort, Spa & Casino, who has been using iPoolside for about three years now states, “iPalapa for our resort has revolutionized our most important touchpoint for our customers, not only has it provided us the opportunity to give options to our customers, but it has also allowed us to be on the cutting edge of this technology and really change the way we look at shade on our property. For today’s generation, it has given a quick and efficient way to provide great service to our guests using this tool as the backdrop.”

HITEC E20X is the perfect forum for iPalapa’s coming out party. Shawn Tarter, President of iPalapa Corporation reveals, “We’ve been keeping iPalapa under the radar for a while now, implementing our solution at a few resorts, kicking the tires and tweaking it. With the participation of our valued customers we are now more confident than ever that we can disrupt the normal course of shade management and bring forth a much higher level of guest service at the place that guests might expect it most, while on vacation. I can’t think of a better place to share our application than HITEC E20X and thank them for including us in the competition.”