61% of consumers will spend more for personalized experiences. But if guests crave more tailored stays, how can hoteliers more easily deliver them?
Hospitality is an industry that revolves around human experiences, and although technology is vital for modern, connected journeys, it must be used in the right way. In other words, technology should help create a more human hotel guest experience.
It begins with a mindset shift. Technology and human experiences should not be thought of as polar opposites. Great tech enables more human experiences, empowering hotel staff to disengage from admin and process and connect more meaningfully with the guests in front of them. Here’s how.
8 ways technology can improve hotel guest experiences
Here’s how to be more purposeful with eight ways that technology can help create a human hotel guest experience.
1. Dynamic pricing beyond bedrooms
Hoteliers have been dynamically pricing rooms and beds for years. Why stop there? If you’re offering different space types, you should be able to price them strategically too.
Parking spots, bike rentals, co-working spaces… When you manage these digitally, you can set rates based on various attributes like length of stay. So if you have a long stay guest, they can get a favorable parking spot rate.
Some tools will even let you go one step further and automatically change prices based on live demand. As well as maximizing profit, it has a positive impact on guest experience. For example, a digital breakfast list could help you provide recommended dining times to encourage certain guests to avoid busy periods.
2. AI-powered personalization
Our industry has been talking about AI for a while now, and it’s finally being meaningfully implemented into hospitality software. One way to create more human guest experiences is by using AI to summarize guest profiles to provide more personalized welcomes.
Valuable guest data like preferences, complaints and purchase history is often stored in disparate places within a PMS, or else all entered in a single text field. Either way, it’s hard for front desk staff to review all this information quickly when the guest is standing in front of them.
AI can instantly parse all this data and provide a snappy summary of what the guest likes, identifying relevant upselling opportunities and providing tailored information that your hotel staff can use to personalize their conversation.
3. Flexible payment options
When it comes to taking payments throughout the guest journey, it’s important to cater to your guest’s preferences. As well as traditional card types, you should accept alternative payments through Apple Wallet and Google Pay, as well as any popular region-specific providers like iDEAL in the Netherlands or SEPA Direct Debit across Europe.
There’s nothing personal in making a payment – it’s a far more human experience to keep this administrative necessity firmly in the background. That means one-click payments should also be a priority. Choose a PMS that securely stores card details so that once it’s in your system, staff can action additional payments without the guest even needing to hand over their card.
4. Multilingual booking and check-in
The point of booking may be the first time a guest properly engages with your brand, so it’s important to make a great first impression. Providing abooking engine with multiple language and currency choices is a simple and effective way of starting a personalized guest journey.
If your website can track your visitors’ location and choose the language and currency accordingly, that’s ideal. If not, a clear and simple drop-down menu with all your options also works. This not only means a more seamless experience, but also increases the conversion rate as visitors can quickly see all the information they need in a manner they understand.
5. Virtual concierge and chatbots
Key to a more human hotel experience is ensuring that guests know their wants and needs will be listened to. Provide a virtual concierge though an app, web-browser or in-room device to help guests with requests and information 24/7.
There are plenty of sophisticated chatbots out there that can quickly answer the vast majority of guest queries, and fast answers are usually what guests want. If a question makes it through to your staff – either directly or through chatbot triaging – make sure they have easy access to the guest’s profile so they can provide personalized, relevant responses.
Explore seven benefits of using a hotel chatbot.
6. Personalized marketing
Guests that are fully engaged with your property will spend an average of 46% more than disengaged guests. That’s the difference between a guest spending $500 and $730.
Email is still the go-to channel for hotel marketing, which isn’t surprising given that email marketing has an ROI of up to 42:1. Personalizing your messaging and offers based on guest profile data like previous upsells will further boost your success rate, as well as making your guests feel understood by your brand.
Get your guide to Perfecting Guest Communication.
7. Personalized check-ins
We spoke about the importance of choice when it comes to payments, and the same is true for checking in. The best technology puts guests in control, allowing those who prefer expedience to head straight to their room, while others can check in the traditional way.
A fully digital guest journey means online check-in including digital signatures, and a digital key sent straight to their phone. Onsite kiosks are a hybrid option, as guests can handle check-in themselves, with staff on hand in case of any questions. Meanwhile, those who want a more human touch will get more time with staff and more personable, meaningful interactions.
8. Choice throughout the guest stay
We touched upon the importance of choice when it comes to checking in and payments, but this attention to personal preference should be present throughout the guest’s stay.
Technology helps personalize the in-stay experience by offering different options for different types of travelers. For instance, younger generations of visitors are typically less willing to call people on the phone, so providing an in-room QR code to order room service digitally will improve their experience. Those who prefer to ring down and talk to someone still have that option, meaning everyone’s happy.
See how leading hotels do it
That’s the theory – let’s see how it works in practice. One great example is The Chloe, a boutique hotel in New Orleans. Thanks to Mews, their arrival process consists of handing guests a cocktail rather than needless admin.
But that’s only the tip of the iceberg. To discover how more leading hotels put these tips into practice, download our guide to building the ultimate tech stack for a tech-led, personalized guest journey.
