Case Study

Detailing a Decade of Digital Adoption at Crescent Hotels & Resorts

Dan Ensslen

Otelier · יָנוּאָר 16, 2025

It’s a common thread throughout the hotel industry: Operators are looking to remove much of the back-office work from staff at the property level and take on more of that responsibility at the regional or headquarters level. In many cases, this requires a digital adoption strategy. Crescent turned to Otelier to support this vision and they found DigiAudit whelp helped drive cost savings, same time and increase profitability

Why it matters: Crescent’s strategic move to centralize back-office operations through Otelier, not only enhances efficiency but also allows property-level staff to focus more on guest experience. This shift toward digital adoption highlights how technology can drive significant cost savings, streamline workflows, and provide real-time data to improve decision-making across an entire hotel portfolio—valuable insights for anyone in the hospitality industry looking to optimize operations and stay competitive.

Crescent implemented DigiAudit to manage their nightly audit process by moving important end-of-day reports to a secure online platform. It automated the approval process, reduced the need for paper signatures, and ensured all necessary reports are completed and stored correctly. This system saves time, reduces costs, and makes it easier for hotel staff to stay on top of compliance requirements.

Top 3 Core Objectives: Crescent's objectives for using Otelier are to centralize back-office functions for efficiency, streamline operations through digital tools, and improve data access for better decision-making and performance tracking.

Centralization of Back-Office Functions: By centralizing time-consuming tasks such as accounting, payroll, and audit compliance at the corporate level, Crescent aims to reduce labor costs and free up property-level staff to focus more on delivering superior guest experiences.
Streamlining Operations through Technology: Crescent seeks to eliminate manual processes by transitioning to digital systems, enabling more efficient data management, report generation, and internal communication. This includes moving key functions like night audit compliance and payroll into digital formats for quicker and more accurate access to important data.
Improving Data Access: Otelier’s systems allow for better performance tracking through accessible dashboards and reporting tools, helping Crescent’s leadership make more informed, data-driven decisions related to revenue, operations, labor productivity, and overall business performance.

"Much of our accounting functions that years ago were done on property – such as sales tax reporting, cash management, cutting checks – is now centralized....we’ve moved nearly everything that was previously done manually into a digital environment, including audit compliance, finance, procurement, payroll, and business intelligence."

Rob Smith

CFO

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👍 CFO Rob Smith said that Crescent’s CFO, Rob Smith, reflects on how their adoption of Otelier has led to tangible improvements in their operations, emphasizing efficiency and data-driven decision-making.:

"Much of our accounting functions that years ago were done on property – such as sales tax reporting, cash management, cutting checks – is now centralized....we’ve moved nearly everything that was previously done manually into a digital environment, including audit compliance, finance, procurement, payroll, and business intelligence."

⚖️ The selection process: During their research process, Rob Smith evaluated Otelier's product differentiators, customer support, and holistic value as a strategic partner and ultimately decided that Otelier was the best fit solution:

CFO Rob Smith said, about their decision: "DigiAudit has a very seamless process. Back in the day, my team would put together a front-and-back page routing sheet with names and signature slots. It started off with the Director of Finance, who sent it to the GM, who sent it to the F&B Director, who sent it to the Chief Engineer, and it somehow made its way back to Accounting several days later. Today, there’s a list of reports that go into Otelier DigiAudit and get authorized, and it’s all done very quickly."

📈 The results: Crescent Hotels & Resorts has seen significant improvements in efficiency and compliance since implementing Otelier DigiAudit, reducing manual processes and speeding up report completion. The system has streamlined the night audit process, enabling faster data access and more accurate reporting for better decision-making.

🕒 Faster report completion: The night audit process, once slow and paper-heavy, is now done quickly with digital reports and automated workflows.
📂 Improved audit compliance: Reports are now securely stored and accessible in the cloud, ensuring audit requirements are met without delays.
💰 Cost savings: By eliminating the need for manual paperwork, Crescent has reduced the administrative time and costs associated with the audit process.