Wine list on iPad

Our digitalized pride

The digitalized wine list could at first sound odd. Why would anyone need techical stuff at a table? Can’t you drink a glass of wine without having to operate an iPad? What if you don’t know how to use it, damage it or, God forbid, pour some wine on this magnificent gadget?  Well, those are almost impossible. The digital wine lists don’t substitute sommeliers, the machines are simply utilized for assisting purposes, just like the wine lists made of paper did once. The new method is so simple that not only IT people welcome it. The five tablets at Kempinski Hotel Corvinus are so popular that even the test period saw an increase in drink consumption.

Not even the Americans?

Kempinski’s new approach is a one-of in Hungary but judging by the pleasantly surprised looks on guests’ faces, it has still yet to spread worldwide. The digital wine list is basically your normal iPad, where clicking on an icon brings up the list of wines. First, though, there’s a short introduction about the restaurant of Hotel Kempinski, then comes the categorized listing. Here you can select the preferred category and move on to a detailed search. This means that if you’d like to drink red wine, you can get a list sorted by name, wine region, type of grapes and size. Of course, prices are included as well as continually refreshed miscellaneous information such as the sommelier’s recommendation or the daily offer.

Looks gets ever more emphasized in the hospitality industry. Even more so in a 5-star downtown hotel, that Kempinski is. Accordingly, the digital wine list was designed in a refined way: beautiful pictures and nicely edited texts fill the screen. Texts are only available in English but the Hungarian version is on the way. Guests usually browse the list after ordering but before consuming the meals. Some feel at home with handling the iPad for the first time around. Others not only educate themselves in the field of wines but also in the field of technology.

5-star environment friendliness

The standards of 5-star hotels are very rigorous in many areas, including restaurant service. Some requirements have to be fulfilled and the solutions are oftentimes far from being environmentally friendly. Kempinski Hotel lays stress on compensating for this where it’s possible, introducing environmentally friendly methods. Such are the utilization of iPads and internet portals in the rooms instead of info sheets made of paper. And there’s something else: while guests recharge with life in the wine bar, the environment-friendly cars still low in number can recharge with energy at the electric recharging station.