5 Simple Tools to Create a Better Hotel Guest Experience
You’re always looking to differentiate yourself as a hotel owner or operator. Technology has never made that easier! With the right tools, you can provide a memorable hotel guest experience that will drive repeat business.
Explore Technology Ideas for a Better Hotel Customer Experience
1. In-room digital assistants
More and more consumers are turning to voice-activated assistants to help with everyday tasks. After all, “Alexa, what’s today’s date?” or “OK Google, what’s the weather?” are common phrases these days.
Why not extend this easy experience to guests’ trip? Installing a digital assistant, like the Amazon Echo or Google Home, in your hotel rooms is easy. Plus, it lets your consumers bring their home experience with them.
Even better, you can train in-room devices to respond to things like, I’d like to place a room service order, or Make me a reservation for a massage tomorrow.” The guest just has to say their name and room number and they’re all set!
However, privacy concerns might keep tech-savvy guests from having a truly personal experience. If that’s an issue, opt for a speaker system that let the customer plug in their own phone, like an. iHome. Then, they can use their phone’s built-in assistant (like Siri).
2. Offer short-term tech rentals
If a hotel guest forgets their phone charger at home, their whole trip could be much more difficult. And the more technology we have, the more likely we’ll forget to pack it.
To offer a better experience for hotel guests, consider renting out technology basics. Chargers and batteries are just the beginning. Consider more unique devices like e-readers or watches for running. Get your computers out of the business center!
You can establish a small fee for the service, or simply take a deposit and card number. Additionally, you could set a fee based on your reward level (for example, platinum guests receive free device rentals).
3. Wi-Fi landing pages
One of the very first things hotel guests do is connect to the Wi-Fi. And when they do, what do they see?
The landing page that guests go to when connecting to the internet is valuable real estate. What are you telling people on that page? If it’s a generic message about your hotel, then you’re missing out on an opportunity to provide a great hotel customer experience.
Update the landing page so that it welcomes them, inform them about the things you think they’ll find most valuable, and the things that differentiate your property.
4. Create a mobile-friendly site or app
We all know that your hotel’s website can make a big difference in the customer experience. You already know to make your webpages incredibly rich, easy to use, chock full of useful information.
But what’s even more important? Making sure your site is optimized for mobile. Even if you’re a small B&B in a rural area of the country, your guests visit your website on their phones.
On the other hand, if you run a larger resort with multiple activities and a dedicated client base, consider investing in an app. Some consumers are hesitant to install another app on their
Using venue marketing software can help you display useful content, such as interactive floor plans, to personalize the experience for group planners.
5. Use near-field communication and Bluetooth
At Disney World, visitors can get a MagicBand or Card that lets them unlock their room, purchase food and merchandise, buy add-ons and more ” all completely hands-free. Technology like near-field communication (NFC) and Bluetooth make this possible.
Even if your property is smaller than Disney World, this can be a big benefit to the hotel guest experience. Better yet, it gives you more data about how your guests spend time and money in your hotel.
While bracelets and cards are one way to bring this to life, you can also set this up on a guest’s smartphone. They just need to authorize it.
When it comes down to it, a differentiated hotel guest experience relies on personalization. Luckily, it has become much easier for hotel and resort operators as technology has involved. Differentiate yourself and you’ll stand to do well.
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