Replaced Reception Staff with a Self-Service Kiosk for a Rotterdam Theater Restaurant
A custom digital reception kiosk handling ticket info, appointments, food and drink ordering, and newsletter sign-ups in two languages. How Castit built a tailored self-service solution for Luxor Theater's Café Dox that elevated the guest experience and freed staff for higher-value work.
In hospitality, the entrance experience sets the tone for everything that follows. A guest arriving at a busy theater restaurant might be there for dinner before a show, for a meeting with someone they're catching up with, or simply to enjoy the venue in its own right. Each of those guests needs different information, different attention, and different next steps. Handling all of that through a single staff member at a reception desk works, but it's not always the smoothest experience for the guest or the most efficient use of staff time.
Luxor Theater came to Castit looking for a different approach. They wanted to replace the traditional reception with something more modern, more capable, and more aligned with how guests actually want to interact when they arrive. This is how a custom digital reception kiosk was built specifically for their restaurant, Café Dox, and what changed once it was in place.
About the Client
Luxor Theater is one of Rotterdam's most prominent cultural venues, known for hosting major productions, renowned artists, and a regular calendar of performances that draw audiences from across the region. The theater is also home to Café Dox, the popular restaurant attached to the venue, where guests come to eat before performances, meet for events, or simply enjoy the atmosphere of a Rotterdam cultural institution.
Like all theater restaurants, Café Dox sees a varied flow of guests with different needs. Pre-show diners arrive on tight schedules. Meeting guests need to find the right person quickly. Drop-in visitors want simple service without unnecessary friction. Handling all of those journeys smoothly, especially during peak times, is part of what defines the quality of the experience at the venue.
The Challenges
Luxor Theater wanted to modernize the reception experience at Café Dox and replace the traditional staff member at the entrance with a digital solution that could handle multiple functions at once. The Castit team identified two main challenges in the project:
- A user-friendly interface for a diverse audience. The kiosk needed to work just as well for visitors who are comfortable with technology as for those who aren't. With audiences ranging widely in age and digital familiarity, the interface had to be simple, intuitive, and welcoming to everyone.
- Seamless integration with Luxor Theater's existing systems. The kiosk needed to pull ticket information from the theater's ticketing system, notify restaurant staff when guests had appointments, and connect to a newsletter subscription system, all without creating workflow friction for the venue.
- Multilingual support. Given the international audience the theater attracts, the kiosk needed to operate in both English and Dutch, so guests would feel comfortable using it regardless of language preference.
What Luxor Theater needed was a custom digital solution that could carry the responsibilities of a reception staff member while also doing things a person at a desk simply can't, like running 24/7 menu browsing or instant newsletter sign-ups.
The Castit Solution
Castit designed and built a custom digital reception kiosk specifically for Café Dox, with a simple and intuitive interface and four key functions integrated into the kiosk.
- Ticket information. The kiosk connects directly to Luxor Theater's ticketing system, allowing guests to view information about upcoming events and performances right at the entrance. Guests don't need to ask a staff member or check elsewhere, the information they care about is right in front of them.
- Appointments and notifications. When a guest arrives for an appointment, they can enter the name of the person they're meeting on the kiosk. The system then notifies that person via a phone call, automating a process that previously required a staff member to track down or call the right person manually.
- Food and drink ordering. Guests can browse the menu and place food and drink orders directly through the kiosk, eliminating the need for a waiter to take the initial order. The flow is faster for guests and more efficient for the kitchen, especially during busy pre-show windows.
- Newsletter subscription. The kiosk also functions as a sign-up point for Luxor Theater's newsletter, helping the venue expand its reach and stay in touch with guests beyond a single visit. What used to require a printed sign-up card or a staff prompt now happens naturally as part of the entrance experience.
- Bilingual interface. The kiosk operates in both English and Dutch, giving guests a comfortable, language-appropriate experience regardless of where they're coming from.
- Tight integration with theater systems. Castit handled the integration work end to end, so the kiosk works seamlessly with Luxor Theater's existing ticketing and operational systems. The kiosk feels like a natural extension of the venue rather than a bolted-on third-party tool.
The Results and Impact
The digital reception kiosk has been a clear success for Café Dox.
Embraced by Guests
Shorter Wait Times
Staff Focused on Hospitality
Wider Newsletter Reach
- Guests have embraced the kiosk. The convenience and user-friendly design have landed well with visitors, who appreciate being able to find information, place orders, and handle their own arrival on their own terms.
- Wait times have dropped. With the kiosk handling multiple functions in parallel, the bottleneck at the reception desk is gone. Guests get through the entrance experience faster, and the flow into the restaurant feels smoother during busy times.
- Staff focus has shifted to higher-value work. With the kiosk taking on the routine intake tasks, restaurant staff can spend more time on actual hospitality, like attending to seated guests, ensuring a great dining experience, and handling situations that genuinely need a human touch.
- Newsletter reach has expanded. The newsletter subscription function has given Luxor Theater a stronger channel for staying in touch with guests, supporting marketing, event promotion, and ongoing communication well beyond the single visit.
- The guest experience has been modernized. The combination of streamlined processes, reduced wait times, and accessible information has brought Café Dox into a more contemporary mode of welcoming guests, one that fits both the venue's profile and the expectations of today's diners.
Digital Solutions Work for Theaters, Restaurants, and Venue-Based Hospitality
Luxor Theater's experience reflects something true for theaters, cultural venues, and venue-based restaurants more broadly: the entrance experience has more potential than a single staff member alone can deliver. A well-designed self-service kiosk doesn't replace hospitality, it supports it, by handling the routine logistics so the human team can focus on what only they can do.
For theaters, museums, restaurants, hotels, conference venues, and other hospitality environments, the value of a custom digital reception solution is in combining ticketing, ordering, appointments, and engagement features into one accessible touchpoint. Wait times go down. Staff time gets redirected to higher-value work. Multilingual support widens accessibility. And custom integration with the venue's existing systems keeps the operational side coherent rather than fragmented.
If your theater, restaurant, hotel, or hospitality venue is looking for a self-service or digital reception solution that fits your specific operations and guest experience goals, Castit can help. The team builds tailored digital solutions that work with your existing systems, scale with your operation, and prioritize ease of use for guests and staff alike. Visit Castit to learn more, or reach out to talk through what a custom kiosk or digital reception setup could look like for your venue.