The Modern Hotelier #216: Providing a Better Parking Experience for Hotels | with Munir Maluf
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Steve: Welcome to another episode of The Modern Hotelier. We are coming to you from the Independent Hotel Show in Miami, Florida. We're joined by Munir Maluf, the CEO, and founder of MP Parking. Thanks for joining us, Munir. How you doing today?
Munir Maluf: Pleasure. Very well, thank you.
Steve: Good, good, good. So Munir, can you tell us a little bit more about your thoughts on the current valet parking experience?
Munir Maluf: Sure. I think there's a little bit of disconnect sometimes between the hotel culture and the brand to the experience upon arrival. Many times Valet Service might be outsourced and so it's a little bit of a disconnect sometimes and it's important. It's the arrival. So we realize the importance of it.
Steve: It's the first impression, right? 
Munir Maluf: That's correct. 
Steve: Yeah. Absolutely.
David: And so tell us what makes a great guest experience for Valet?
Munir Maluf: A great experience is done. We think by small things, I mean we're in a details business, all of us, and even from small things, we always wanna have the client smile, feel at home, feel welcome. It's very important those making people feel good. It's part of arrival especially is super important. 
Steve: You bet. Can you tell us a little bit more about what sets MP Parking apart from, you know, standard valet parking companies? 
Munir Maluf: Sure. We are a company that really focuses on details. We maintain communication very closely with the hotels. We always try to extend their brand a little bit towards outside. We let them choose our staff and get to know them. We have our staff come in, meet with them, they have to feel a part of the hotel. So that's what we try to do always. 
David: It's great. Can you explain to us the smart valet podium that's right behind us here? 
Munir Maluf: Perfect. Yes. So after many years of experience in this industry. And many people are requesting different things. We came up with this idea. Where we put everything together. So we have a very nice podium designed in Italy. Very attractive, very nice calls attention. And for anybody who's arriving when they see this, there's so many things that they can, they're offered as soon as they come in.
There's a phone chargers chilled bottled water, there's advertising wherever. People when they request their cars, they can request different things. I like a coffee. I take some water, and we have many benefits to the valet operator because we control everything by camera, so we make sure they're always on point looking good, looking sharp. We have the valet system incorporated, so every single car we know who parked it, where was it parked, when was it asked for? It's all data. So for us, we're very excited about having this. 
Steve: Yeah, absolutely. It definitely stands out and looks a great first impression when you stands out.
Munir Maluf: People ask it's very notice noticeable, elegant.
David: Absolutely. I love, love it. 
Steve: It looks great. So what do you think is the future for parking at local hotels? 
Munir Maluf: I think more and more hotels are gonna have to be more involved with parking because it's an important factor. I mean, it can make or break somebody's experience. So the hotel has to gain more control over it.
And that's basically what we do incorporating having a closure tie with our clients and understanding their audience and understanding the needs being part of their brand and culture, we're part of the experience. 
Steve: Absolutely. And even with the staffing shortages that have been happening in ho in hotels, this is a great answer for that, especially for the valets.
Munir Maluf: Yeah. Employees feel very happy working with us because now they have more things to sell more opportunity for gratuities. And they're comfortable. They're under the roof. It's water water resistant. They sit down. They have a fan here. People like to work with. 
Steve: Everybody's gonna be fighting over this job.
Munir Maluf: I hope so. 
David: So, for those who are watching, how can they find out more about the Smart Podium valet? How can they find out more about MP Parking? 
Munir Maluf: The best thing to do, David, is go to our website www.parkmp.com They can log in, they'll see who we are, they'll contact us. Any questions they have, they can do so they can also see the levalets.com
They'll find information about the car itself. But we'll be happy to answer any questions MP Parking. 
David: That's great. Well. That does it for another episode of The Modern Hotelier. This is probably one of the coolest things I've seen at a trade show in a long time. Thank you so much for joining us.
Munir Maluf: Thank you very much.