Forced modifiers are just one way upselling in hotels can be maximized

During a busy time of the year, like the start of the holiday season which we are quickly approaching, hotels are continually looking for strategies to drive non-room revenue. One key way to do this is by deploying a guest experience platform that will allow guests to “add-on” to their stay via digital in-room dining, gift shop purchases on a smart-room tablet and upgrades at check-in through a mobile device.

But, before we dive into some of these tips, let’s first clarify what is upselling in hotels and what does it look like? Upselling in hotels is a sales technique where your staff use technology like a guest experience platform to encourage guests to purchase additional products, upgrades or services beyond their initial reservation or room booking. Upselling in hotels drives non-room revenue, while oftentimes also enhances the guest’s experience and comfort during their stay. Here are three easy ways to improve your hotel upselling strategy using technology:

Use Forced Modifiers with In-Room Dining

When it comes to in-room dining one key hotel upselling technique is utilizing forced modifiers to provide guests with more extensive options. For instance, if a hotel uses a guest experience platform to power their digital dining, whether that’s on a branded mobile app or smart-room tablet, it’s easy for the platform to automatically suggest add-ons to the guest’s meal. Notice a guest is ordering the steak? The platform can automatically offer the guest a class of Cabernet Sauvignon to accompany their meal. See that they’re ordering a side of fries? Suggest upgrading to the sweet potato fries for an extra $3.

When using a guest experience platform to power your digital dining, hotel staff can create an upselling strategy by segmenting their menu, matching and pairing select forced modifiers that complement the guest’s primary meal, and use enticing descriptions and images to close the deal.

Offer Upgrades During Check-In

Aside from in-room dining, upselling in hotels can easily be integrated into the check-in process — especially when a guest checks in via a hotel branded mobile app. Personalized upsell options can include room upgrades, promoting special offers on amenities, and tailored add-on services. Additionally, incorporating personalized messages based on the guest’s profile and preferences can make the upsell suggestions more relevant and appealing. Notice a guest booked using a conference code? Automatically offer them 20% off any spa service during check-in.

Train Staff Regularly

Staff training is critical to the success of upselling in hotels. Using a staff operations hub, hotels can track a guest’s onsite habits. Then, your hotel’s waitstaff can refer to the guests’ past meals to suggest a bottle of their favorite wine, for example. This will make the guest feel special and like they are receiving personalized service, while increasing revenue. By training staff to harness the technology they have at their fingertips, they can tailor their upsell recommendations, making them more relevant and persuasive. This data-driven approach ensures that guests receive offers that match their needs and preferences, ultimately leading to increased non-room revenue and improved guest satisfaction.

Interested in learning more hotel upselling techniques? Curious how technology can help drive non-room revenue at your property? Request a demo today.

Smart-room tablets and branded mobile apps elevate the guest experience, making guests feel right at home during their holiday travel

The holidays are here and that means busy schedules, festive decorations, and an influx of travelers at your property. While this might sound overwhelming at first, the holiday travel rush provides you and your staff with an opportunity to create an experience that your guests will never forget — and will likely tell others about.

Aside from hanging holiday garland and decorating your lobby’s Christmas tree, hotel technology can help create a festive and seamless experience for guests that will keep them returning to your property every holiday season.

Here are a few ways you can use hotel technology to create a welcoming environment for your guests:

Consider the Details

There’s no place like home for the holidays, and while guests staying at your property might not be celebrating in the comfort of their own homes, that doesn’t mean that they can’t experience some of the same comforts in their hotel rooms. By utilizing a smart-room tablet that integrates with smart-room controls, guests can adjust the in-room lighting and temperature controls all while lounging on their bed, creating an in-room atmosphere that makes them feel right at home. Also, by providing guests with a casting option, like Google Chromecast, on your in-room smart TVs, guests can cast their favorite holiday movie to their in-room TV for a little extra holiday cheer.

Easily Promote Festive Activities

Your hotel can provide a space for some of the same traditions that your guests are used to doing during the holiday season, while simultaneously driving non-room revenue. One past example came from the Boston Harbor Hotel, which, a few years ago, ran a festive pop-up whiskey bar to drive non-room revenue. Push notifications were sent out to guests via bedside, smart-room tablets with a message that read, “Tell your friends you are going to be late to dinner,” along with the bar’s hours. Within an hour, the hotel recorded a revenue intake of more than $700. Smart-room tablets are an easy way to share onsite holiday events, promotions and activities when guests are most likely to interact with them.

Prepare Early

By using a branded mobile app, hotel staffers can check in with guests before they arrive at your property to fill any needs or answer any potential questions. Help guests take care of last-minute holiday shopping needs or assist them with dinner plans by connecting them with your concierge who can make a reservation on their behalf. By anticipating your guests’ potential needs beforehand, their entire stay will be a seamless experience.

Know Your Local Events

The holidays often inspire a barrage of special local events and activities. Stay in touch with what is going on around your hotel and assign a staff member to research all local happenings. Then, share those events with your guests through smart-room tablets or your branded mobile app. Remember, during the holiday season many shops, attractions and restaurants have special holiday hours. Keeping up with these current activities will elevate your hotel’s reputation as a go-to source for local information.

Want to learn more about how hotel tech like brand mobile apps and smart-room tablets can make guests feel at home during the holidays? Request a demo today.

Mobile dining and food delivery apps are a staple for nearly all smartphone users. Here are a few ways hoteliers can bank on this same technology while streamlining their operations

Today’s travelers carry with them more than just luggage—they bring along the craving for personalization that smartphones have ingrained in our lifestyles. It’s one of the largest ways smartphones have changed our daily lives. And one of the biggest culprits of this “instant gratification” mindset has been mobile dining and food delivery apps. Ordering a three-course steak dinner to your front door from your favorite restaurant four miles away is now at your literal fingertips.

However, mobile food ordering apps are not just an at-home convenience. Today’s hotel guests crave this same luxury during their hotel stay when it comes to ordering room service. When it comes down to it, mobile in-room dining is a must when looking to provide a positive guest experience, but guest experience aside, mobile dining also affords you the opportunity to drive non-room revenue through forced modifiers and streamline your operations — making them a real win-win-win.

But first, what does mobile dining’s footprint look like at a hotel? A branded hotel mobile app can offer guests an array of conveniences — from mobile check-in to mobile key and booking spa appointments and requesting service items. But a large portion of a branded mobile app’s functionality includes creating a positive mobile dining experience. A branded hotel mobile app lets guests effortlessly browse up-to-the-minute accurate menus, customize orders, and place them directly from their smartphones or in-room tablet. An intuitive interface provides guests with a hassle-free way to satisfy their cravings without the need to place a phone call down to the front desk or visit the physical onsite restaurant.

Enhanced Efficiency

By deploying a hotel-branded app with mobile food ordering capabilities, hoteliers can save their staff time. A mobile food ordering app streamlines the entire in-room dining process. Orders are automatically sent to the kitchen, reducing the margin for error and eliminating the need for an employee to man the room-service phone line — allowing staff to focus on more immediate and time-sensitive tasks. Additionally, many mobile dining platforms integrate with the hotel’s existing systems, eliminating the need for manual data entry while reducing operational inefficiencies.

Streamlined Operations

Another way staff benefit from a hotel-branded app with mobile dining capabilities is they can easily manage orders, track inventory and food items, and monitor performance. This efficiency extends to the kitchen staff, who receive orders in an organized manner, reducing chaos and improving accuracy — and the guest experience.

Happy Guests, Happy Staff

Just like a mobile food ordering app, mobile dining in a hotel’s app can offer real-time tracking and updates, keeping guests informed about the status of their orders. This feature reduces guest anxiety and ensures that they know exactly when to expect their meal, which in turn, eliminates front desk calls.

Sustainable Savings

In addition to providing guests with a minute-by-minute accurate picture of available food items, digital dining eliminates the need for printed menus — saving paper, printing costs, and staff time by eliminating the need to regularly replace in-room paper menus. Additionally, mobile dining reduces food waste by improving order accuracy.

Interested in learning more about mobile food ordering and how you can deploy a branded mobile app that includes mobile dining at your property? Request a demo today.

Guest experience platforms create a symbiotic relationship where the benefits for wellness travelers and hotel staff reinforce each other

In recent years, wellness travel has surged in popularity as more travelers seek rejuvenation, mindfulness, and holistic health during their getaways. While the concept of wellness travel has always revolved around relaxation and rejuvenation, hospitality technology has recently taken it to a whole new level. One such example that has reshaped the wellness travel landscape is the guest experience platform.

Here, we’ll explore how guest experience platforms elevate your commitment to guest wellness, while streamlining operations for hotel staff — providing the ultimate guest wellness journey.

A Game-Changer for Wellness Travel

Guest experience platforms have become the backbone of hotels and resorts that cater to wellness travelers. These platforms serve as a digital concierge, offering guests a comprehensive and personalized experience from the moment they book their stay until they check out.

For Guests: A Personalized Wellness Journey

1. Tailored Itineraries: Guest experience platforms allow travelers to customize their itineraries, ensuring they get the most out of their wellness stay. Whether it’s yoga classes, spa treatments, or healthy dining options, guests can plan their days to align with their wellness goals.
2. Convenient Spa Reservations: Gone are the days of waiting in line or calling the front desk to book a spa appointment. These platforms enable guests to book spa treatments with ease, either via a branded mobile app or smart-room tablet while relaxing in their rooms, ensuring they get the treatments they desire at their preferred times.
3. Healthy Dining Options: Wellness travelers often have specific dietary preferences or restrictions. Guest experience platforms offer access to menus with detailed nutritional information, making it effortless for guests to make healthy food choices that align with their wellness journey.
4. Seamless Communication: Whether it’s requesting extra towels, seeking advice on local wellness activities, or reporting an issue with their room, guests can seamlessly communicate with hotel staff through the platform, ensuring their needs are met promptly.
5. Enhanced Relaxation: With the ability to control room settings, such as lighting, temperature, and music through a guest experience platform via a smart-room tablet, guests can create the ideal ambiance for relaxation and restorative sleep.

For Hotel Staff: Streamlined Operations and Exceptional Service

1. Efficient Booking Management: Guest experience platform with a staff operations hub streamlines the booking process, reducing the administrative burden on hotel staff. This allows them to focus on providing top-notch service and address time-sensitive tasks and less on paperwork.
2. Anticipating Guest Needs: Guest experience platforms collect data on guest preferences and behaviors, enabling staff to anticipate and fulfill guest needs. From having a guest’s preferred herbal tea ready in their room to scheduling their morning yoga class, staff can proactively enhance the guest experience.
3. Personalized Service: Armed with information from the platform, hotel staff can provide personalized recommendations and experiences, such as suggesting nearby hiking trails for an adventurous wellness traveler or arranging a special romantic dinner for a couple celebrating their anniversary.
4. Reduced Stress: By automating routine tasks and providing a comprehensive overview of guest requests, guest experience platforms reduce stress and increase job satisfaction among staff. This, in turn, translates into a more welcoming and hospitable environment for guests.
5. Real-time Feedback: Guests can provide feedback through a guest experience platform in real-time, allowing hotel staff to address concerns or issues promptly, potentially preventing negative online reviews and ensuring a return visit.

A Symbiotic Relationship

Guest experience platforms create a symbiotic relationship where the benefits for guests and hotel staff reinforce each other. For guests, the ability to customize their wellness journey and access information and service at their fingertips enhances their overall experience. Additionally, hotel staff can operate more efficiently, anticipate guest needs, and provide personalized service, leading to higher guest satisfaction.

This symbiosis results in several positive outcomes, including:

1. Enhanced Guest Satisfaction: Guests feel heard, valued, and pampered, which leads to higher levels of satisfaction. Happy guests are more likely to return for future stays and recommend the hotel to others.
2. Improved Staff Morale: Reduced administrative tasks and the ability to provide exceptional service boosts staff morale and job satisfaction. This, in turn, fosters a positive work environment where employees are motivated to excel.
3. Higher Revenues: Satisfied guests are more likely to spend on additional services, such as spa treatments or wellness activities, driving non-room revenue for the hotel. Repeat business and positive reviews also drive future bookings.
4. Operational Efficiency: Guest experience platforms streamline operations, reducing the likelihood of errors and delays in service delivery. This efficiency translates into cost savings for the hotel.

Guest experience platforms have ushered in a new era of wellness travel, where personalization, convenience, and exceptional service are the expected. These platforms benefit guests by offering tailored wellness experiences and empower hotel staff to provide top-tier service, while minimizing stress and administrative tasks.

As wellness travel continues to gain popularity, guest experience platforms are set to play an even more crucial role in elevating the guest experience and ensuring that wellness travelers return home rejuvenated and satisfied, and hotel staff go home with a sense of accomplishment and fulfillment. Deploying a guest experience platform is a win-win situation that epitomizes the essence of modern hospitality.

Ready to elevate the wellness experience at your property? Request a demo today and discover how a guest experience platform can aid your hotel’s commitment to wellness.