The challenge behind a seamless guest experience
At Valk Exclusief, hospitality and innovation go hand in hand. Valk Digital develops concepts that make every guest experience smarter and more effortless.
One of their most successful initiatives is the Valk to go-shop, a stylish, self-service store inside Valk Exclusief hotels where guests can grab a coffee, a snack or a phone charger at any moment of the day.
Behind that convenience lies a clear challenge. Valk Digital needed to offer guests a smooth and consistent payment experience, while simplifying operations for hotel teams. Managing different machines, payment flows and data sources across dozens of hotels created unnecessary complexity.
They were looking for one solution that would bring everything together, provide insights both centrally and locally and make it easier to understand guest needs.
A guide with a clear plan
SmartNow provides that solution by connecting all coffee machines to Valk Digital’s preferred payment provider, Adyen, while giving the entire organisation real-time visibility and control across every shop. It positions SmartNow not only as a technology partner, but as a guide that supports Valk Digital’s ambition to create frictionless moments throughout the guest journey.
One ecosystem for every payment
When Valk Digital began expanding its Valk to go-shops, connecting coffee machines directly to Adyen terminals proved far from simple. None of the machines could communicate with Adyen’s terminal protocol, making a unified payment flow impossible without an additional layer of smart technology.
“We wanted all transactions to stay within Adyen,” explains Timon Weijers, Project Manager at Valk Digital. “That is our standard across every hotel. The question was how to make coffee machines communicate with Adyen. SmartNow provided the answer.”
SmartNow’s technology bridges any self-service machine and Adyen, ensuring that every payment from any machine in any hotel is processed automatically and consistently.
It also enables Valk Digital to create QR-based vouchers for compensations or other specific use cases, which guests or staff can redeem directly at the coffee machine, fully integrated in the same unified payment flow.
These vouchers differ from the welcoming vouchers, which Valk Exclusief offers exclusively through their own shop module.
Clarity and control, from every hotel to headquarters
Once connected to SmartNow, Valk Digital gained something they had never had at scale: a unified view of all self-service payments. Through the SmartNow multi-property dashboard, hotel teams can monitor turnover, manage stock and track performance, while the head office maintains full oversight across all locations.
“The dashboard is very intuitive,” says Timon. “Everyone, from hotel staff to the digital team, can immediately see what is happening. It helps us respond faster to guest needs and make better decisions for the guest experience.”
SmartNow’s role goes beyond data. Whenever an issue arises in the field, the SmartNow team is available and quick to act. For hotel teams operating 24 hours a day, that responsiveness ensures guests always find machines working as expected.
Seamless rollout, reliable performance and fast response support
Rolling out SmartNow across Valk Exclusief hotels proved to be a straightforward process. New Valk to go-shops can be added quickly, configuration is clear and support is always within reach.
“Our communication with SmartNow, especially with Maarten, is always smooth,” Timon adds. “Implementation is easy, and we rarely experience issues. And if something does come up, SmartNow is immediately on it. That reliability matters a lot when you are managing dozens of hotel locations.”
This hands-on support model aligns closely with Valk Exclusief’s own service standards. Both organisations believe that guests should never feel inconvenience caused by technology. A seamless experience for the guest is the baseline, not the ambition. It is exactly this shared mindset that makes the collaboration work.
Scaling the Valk experience
Valk Digital’s ambition is to bring the Valk to go-shop to every Valk Exclusief hotel. “Right now, 26 of our 39 hotels already have a Valk to go-shop,” says Timon.
“In the short term, we are opening 11 new hotels, including high-end locations in Woerden, Maastricht and Rotterdam, and each one will feature this concept. It perfectly matches the sense of luxury and convenience our guests expect, and SmartNow helps us deliver that experience consistently.”
By combining effortless payments with real-time insights, hotel teams can adjust their offering to what guests truly want. The result is a smoother journey, better product availability, fewer barriers during busy moments and ultimately a better stay.
As Valk Exclusief moves toward deeper integrations with their new PMS platform, SmartNow’s QR-based vouchers also open the door to room-charge options, personalised perks and compensation flows, further enhancing the guest experience while keeping all complexity behind the scenes.
A partnership built on shared standards
For Valk Digital, SmartNow is more than a technology provider. It is a partner that understands the rhythm of hospitality, where every small interaction shapes the guest experience. Both organisations believe that convenience should feel natural, that technology should stay in the background and that every self-service moment should elevate the stay instead of interrupting it.
By unifying payment flows and providing control across all locations, SmartNow gives Valk Digital the tools to keep improving what matters most: the guest experience. Less downtime means more moments served.
Better insights allow teams to anticipate guest needs before they arise. And a consistent, intuitive payment experience removes friction from the journey and strengthens the sense of care that Valk Exclusief is known for.
When the experience improves, everything else follows naturally, from guest satisfaction to healthy business performance.
Ready to elevate your guest experience?
Want to discover how smart connectivity can transform your self-service operations and the moments that matter most to your guests?
Get in touch and explore what seamless control could look like for your organisation.
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Many thanks to Timon Weijers, Valk Exclusief and Valk Digital for the nice and pleasant collaboration!
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