Small changes can have large impacts; don’t miss an opportunity to get a 5-star rating every time

Professionals working in the hospitality industry know the top guest review websites rank based on a combination of quantity, recency, and quality of your reviews. It’s not hard to see how good, recent reviews can help bury and balance out any poor reviews.
According to TripAdvisor, “because the Popularity Ranking is based on user feedback, consistently collecting new, high-quality reviews—that reflect levels of service and value that meet expectations—is the best way for businesses to improve their position over time.”
If “95% of all travelers read online reviews before booking,” then how can you increase your stars to gain the confidence of travelers? Here are five simple ways how to increase your stars on top guest review websites to improve the guest experience at your property!

1. Confirm Up-to-date Information

In this ever-changing world, it’s imperative to make sure your information on the internet is up-to-date. From Google Business to Yelp to TripAdvisor, guests have a wide range of outlets to find out information about your property. For the most part, this information should be evergreen and not require constant updating. However, with the pandemic, staff shortages, and changing requirements, this information might be in a continuous state of flux. The last thing you want is a frustrated guest who has found incorrect information. To avoid this altogether, make sure all guest review websites have the correct information. From times of service to availability of hotel amenities, allocate this task to an appropriate employee. This simple but often overlooked task will save you immensely.

2. Teach Employees Service Standards

From the general manager to the maintenance worker, everyone should know the basics of how to provide the best service and hospitality for each and every guest. At the end of the day, every single employee represents the hotel’s overall brand. Make sure your staff is knowledgeable about these necessary standards and is placing guest service at the forefront.

3. Meet Guests Where They Are

In today’s digital world, just about everyone is on a smartphone. So why not offer mobile solutions to connect with your guests? Adding features like mobile check-in/out or mobile key entry can dramatically improve your guests’ user experience. It can also significantly increase guest engagement with your hotel. The ability for guests to access everything they need on their mobile devices is now an expectation, and consequently is becoming an industry standard. Of course, we know not everyone prefers this type of service. Your goal should be to meet your guests where they are, with mobile and in-person solutions to service all types of travelers.

4. Give Guests the VIP Treatment

Smart rooms and the convenience of technology brings added luxury to the hotel guest room as well as elevates the guest experience. According to MediaPost, “69% of households in the U.S. have at least one smart device, while 12% of those (about 22 million homes) have several.” This means a significant number of hotel guests are accustomed to using smart devices and connecting to the Internet of Things.

By providing smart devices like:

• Smart-room Tablets with features like a digital compendium and digital service requests
• Smart TV capabilities like casting and access to streaming providers
• Smart-room Controls like lighting, window treatment control, and temperature adjustments

Can only elevate the guest’s overall room experience. The more they enjoy the room and stay, the more likely they are to express this on guest review websites.

5. Thank Guests for Their Stay

Another easy but often overlooked detail! Keep it short and sweet. Thank the guest for their stay and request a review with a link to a popular guest review website like TripAdvisor. Don’t be discouraged if not everyone provides a review. Typically, only “5-10% of consumers write [a] review.” Regardless, sending a thank you note to guests can leave a positive impression.

Whether or not you put into practice all five or just one of the methods above, making adjustments toward elevating guest experience is the ultimate goal. If the hotel information is correct, service standards are instilled, guests have mobile and tech options, and feel welcomed at your hotel, the likelihood of a 5-star review–and returning guests!–are certain.

For more ways to increase your 5-star guest review, click the button below to schedule a demonstration of INTELITY’s solutions including mobile check-in/out, mobile key entry, smart-room tablets, and casting.

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What shifts in guest behavior mean for hoteliers in the coming days.

The hospitality industry has been waiting, hoping, and working tirelessly to facilitate a return to pre-pandemic occupancy rates. According to STR and Tourism Economics Hotel, occupancy is expected to continue trending upward from the historic lows of 2020, averaging 63.4% for the year. But will the industry ever really return to “normal?” The answer is no–but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Travel has already rapidly increased over last year, and room reservations are projected to climb even more in the coming months. But the landscape of travel has changed dramatically, along with the conveniences and expectations guests have become accustomed to having. To keep those glowing reviews coming and also ensure guests return, hotels, resorts, and casinos should plan for the guest preferences and expectations of today’s travelers. Here are three places to start on how to meet new guest preferences:

1. Prepare for the Influx of Leisure Travel

Morning Consult’s State of Travel and Hospitality reports that 64% of U.S. adults say they have traveled within the past year, with younger and higher-income consumers leading the way. Americans were among the most eager to get back to traveling, with 50% already planning to take a leisure trip within the next six months (AHLA 2022 Report). We’ve written recently about the importance of personalization-focused loyalty programs so guests experience targeted marketing that makes them want to return to a property and even visit recommended sister properties. Leisure travel is not a one-time thing; if guests, especially younger guests, love their stay, they’ll be itching to come back.

2. Embrace the New Remote Business Travel

Due to the rise in remote work, fewer people are traveling for business but more people are working while traveling. Whether they are in town for vacation or they are a local remote-worker looking for a change of scenery, more travelers are taking their work on the move. That’s why many hotels now offer expanded office space options and amenities. Some hotels are renting out rooms as office spaces during work hours, or offering a remote-work package that includes a private office space for the guest to use. Offering amenities and special packages for “bleisure travelers” and remote workers can further increase bookings and guest satisfaction. Creating targeted promotions, like an evening spa treatment discount or a happy hour special, that are marketed through smart-room tablets or a mobile guest app encourage guests to take some R&R during their stay and increase revenue for the hotel.

3. Meet and Exceed Tech Expectations

During the pandemic, contactless options became a lifeline for many hospitality businesses to keep operations running while protecting guests and staff. Now, many of those technologies, like mobile check-in/check-out and mobile key, are the standard expectation for most hotel guests. The majority of travelers today are chronically online and expect to have the same convenience of accessing everything they need on their mobile devices. When it comes to looking for a dinner spot or local attraction, modern guests are used to scouring the internet for what they want. So why not offer them a “digital concierge” by laying out relevant local information in a hotel guest app? When it comes to service requests and, at the end of their stay, reviews, making a hotel guest app the one-stop-shop for everything a guest needs allows them maximum convenience while giving the property access to vital data about what their guests want from their stays.

Rising to meet the modern guest preferences starts with personalization during their stay that offers convenience and added value. Whether business or leisure travelers, young or old, making your physical space work for modern guests and providing digital touchpoints elevates their experience overall.

To learn more about hotel tech that can elevate your guest’s experience, start a conversation today.

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In the age of personalization, loyalty programs are evolving to elevate guest experience and increase incremental revenue.

Many, if not most, hotels, resorts, and casinos utilize some form of loyalty program, but how effective are the loyalty programs in place? A stagnant loyalty program does little to motivate return stays or advance revenue streams. A recent study by Catalyst found that many loyalty programs have not evolved with the modern guest. 60% percent of loyalty programs offer transactional rewards–think points redemption and member’s only discounts–while a minority offer rewards focused on access and personalization. For those not utilizing personalization strategies, this could be a missed opportunity, because points and rewards only go so far without personal touches and a data-driven member experience. Adding personalization into a loyalty program can elevate the user experience while also creating greater opportunity for incremental revenue.

Get the Word Out

What’s the benefit of a loyalty program if no one uses it? Step one to revitalize a loyalty program for today’s guests is to ensure the guests know about it. A hotel guest app can be utilized to promote a loyalty program and support a personalized customer experience. Customized, automated text messages; eye grabbing banners on the top or bottom of the app homepage; and an information page detailing the benefits of joining are just a few ways to make sure a loyalty program doesn’t go unnoticed. And where can personalization come into this part of the process? Guests who’ve booked with a property before should get a tailored invitation to join the loyalty program. Hoteliers can use data collected from a hotel app to learn certain guest preferences and behavior and create certain offers to attract them. Targeting emails and texts can be the difference between a guest staying with you once or twice and a guest making your property their first choice when they travel.

Create Incentives to Join

Once guests know the loyalty program exists, what will give them that final push to sign up? In an effort to motivate guests to take that step, creating incentives can help make signing up a no-brainer. Consider offering a discounted drink or spa treatment when a guest signs up for the hotel’s loyalty program. For some properties, a special deal on a future stay might be fitting. Whatever the incentive may be, creating an instant reward for a guest who is already at your property can have major ROI down the line. And to sweeten the deal even further, this is a perfect opportunity for additional personalization– drawing from past data to make the incentives tailored to certain guests. For example, if a property’s hotel guest app has logged that a guest ordered the same drink two nights in a row, making the next one in the house if they join the loyalty program can make signing up irresistible.

Use Every Tool in the Tool Belt

While the majority of these ideas and strategies revolve around digital personal touches, it’s important to utilize physical opportunities as well as digital ones. For instance, a QR code on a sign in the lobby, restaurant, or on the TV in a guest’s room can enable guests to access a hotel’s loyalty program landing page with one touch. Whatever data a property has access to, can be utilized to target loyalty programs, opportunities and promotions, both through a mobile app and/or on a smart-room tablet. The avenues for motivating guests to join are limited only by imagination and the tech a hotel invests in. Exploring and experimenting with the tools available can lead to breakthroughs suited to the unique features of a certain property.

Get the word out to your guests about what you have to offer, add incentives that make it clear it’s well worth signing up, and use all the tools in your physical and digital toolbelt to make your loyalty program a success.

To learn more about how to advance your loyalty program through a hotel guest app, reach out to our team.

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Curate your hotel content to improve guest satisfaction and deliver a memorable guest experience 

When the hospitality industry made the big shift to contactless solutions during the pandemic, a wave of properties invested in features like mobile check-in and mobile key. But those features only scratch the surface on how a comprehensive hotel app that includes a content management system can elevate the guest experience. A content management system hosted on a mobile app, or in-room tablet allows management teams and staff to carefully curate content that can transform a hotel app guests use sparingly, to an information hub that guests frequent.

The App as an Extension of Your Brand

When considering ways to boost guest app engagement, a good place to start is by viewing the hotel guest app as an extension of your property rather than a siloed piece of tech. Visuals and language on a guest app that follow a hotel’s brand guidelines strengthens its brand identity and recognition. For a hotel with a casino, this could mean using vibrant imagery and colors. For a boutique seaside hotel, this could mean building a simple home page with a beachy design. Content management is really about allowing your app to be the window and map to what your property has to offer your guests. That starts with adding personal touches and making the design and layout unique to the property. Making a guest app feel like an extension of the hotel doesn’t have to be complicated, it just needs to be intentional.

Giving Guests Control through Content Management

What if the only thing stopping your guests from their ideal stay is that they don’t have the right information? With an easy to use content management system, hoteliers can offer more than the basic room information. They can offer information about their amenities and enable guests to curate their own itinerary. With a hotel app, guests can access information on nearby attractions, book local tours or unique experiences, even make dinner reservations and arrange rideshares. Hotel and amenities information is the bare minimum for a guest app, but that won’t make a property stand out. Good content in a hotel app can raise guest engagement as well as showcase what a hotel, resort, or casino really has to offer.

Staff Processes to Keep Content Up to Date

A barrier to successful content management is foresight. Without a plan for updating content, a hotel guest app won’t remain relevant. A property doesn’t need a team of writers or developers to keep content fresh and accurate – all that’s needed is some planning. First, decide which staff members will be responsible for updating app content. Then those staff members may need some training on how to use the app, such as upload images, or add rich media. Then create a schedule of when the content needs to be updated. It can also help to have brand guidelines and resources handy. The more team members understand the importance of content management, the more knowledgeable they can be when interacting with or updating the app.

Lean into Creative Ideas

For anyone looking to upgrade their content management skills, don’t be afraid to try different tactics. Every property is unique and while you can read a million blogs about ways to improve your content, a big part of successful content management is trying new ideas and seeing what works for your property. This could mean utilizing data collected from your app to come up with promotions and upgrades that will be enticing to your guests. Brainstorm with your staff to come up with content that will help deliver a memorable experience for your guetss.

Want to learn more about how to elevate guest experience through a hotel guest app? Start a conversation today.

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A brief breakdown on how a guest experience platform can meet today’s guests’ unique needs.

In the past couple of years, consumer behavior and preferences have shifted as they became accustomed to engaging in personalized and digital experiences in their daily lives such as using fitness apps, ride shares, and food delivery. Hotels need to meet the expectations of this new digitally driven audience in order to remain competitive. But finding out what digital technology will work best with a property can seem like a daunting task. Consider adopting a guest experience platform.

Just what is a guest experience platform? In general, it is a cloud-based software that enables guests to access and request hotel services right from their smartphone or in-room tablet. A comprehensive guest experience platform will include features such as mobile key, mobile check-in, guest messaging, and staffing tools. A guest experience platform is often flexible, able to adapt to any property’s unique needs by adding or subtracting features, it’s easily scalable, and often includes reporting tools that can be used to provide a more personalized guest experience.

Read on to find out how a guest experience platform can help hoteliers meet next-generation guest expectations and set hotels apart from competitors.

1. Hoteliers Looking for Solutions to Deliver a Modern Guest Experience

Today’s guests are looking for greater control over their hotel stay and a more personalized guest experience. With a guest experience platform, hoteliers can meet these modern guest needs and have the ability to exceed expectations.

The great part of a comprehensive guest experience platform is the range of guest-facing features that can give guests more control over their stay such as voice-enabled room controls, TV casting, in-room dining, and more. For example, INTELITY’s mobile check-in includes ID verification and payment tokenization which enables guests to check-in pre-arrival and completely sidestep the need to go to the front desk upon arrival. As guest behavior continues to evolve, having the option to add features can help ensure a property has access to future hospitality tech developments they may want.

With a guest experience platform, hoteliers can also offer a more personalized guest experience. Guests today are looking for unique stays, want promotions and offers tailored to their personal preferences, and desire more authentic experiences. Consumers are experiencing more personalization in other areas of their lives so it makes sense that they are also looking for the same experience in their hotel stay. With a guest experience platform, hoteliers can collect a wealth of guest data which they can in turn use to provide greater personalized service for each guest.

2. Reduce Tasks and Increase Efficiency

A guest experience platform can also include back-of-house solutions that can streamline operations, improve staff workflow, and empower staff to deliver a better guest experience. A robust guest experience platform allows for countless added touchpoints for guests to connect with staff and management, without physically interacting with them. For example, in-app information pages can be built out as a digital concierge; digital service requests can send updates through notifications, so guests can track the progress of their requests; and texts can be sent directly to guests with special offers or room upgrades they might be interested in. A holistic guest experience platform is designed to reduce unnecessary tasks and increase efficiency. The role of the platform is to support the staff and elevate the guest experience.

3. Properties With Working Systems to Add Onto

When implementing new tech, try to use solutions that will build off what’s already working for you. Integrations are the key to a guest experience platform. A holistic guest experience platform can work in tandem with current systems. For a hotel that already has a guest app, a guest experience platform that has a ticketing and task management solution can help the hotel staff maintain a better work flow, save time, and be able to focus on guests’ needs. For hoteliers looking for more ways to connect with guests (without adding stress to their staff’s workload) using smart-room tablets can enhance the personal touch points by giving guests a control center to access digital features and room settings.

Whether a hotelier is looking for specific features or tech that does it all, a guest experience platform can provide the unique setup. As guests continue expecting greater digital access during their stay, choosing a guest experience platform that will evolve alongside cutting edge tech and guest behavior trends is paramount.

To learn more about INTELITY’s guest experience platform, start a conversation today.

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Discover five guest marketing strategies to boost revenue

According to a recent survey by Hotelogix, 83% of guests prefer to receive hotel service promotions on their mobile devices. As more travelers become accustomed to using their mobile devices to manage their daily lives, a hotel app creates endless opportunities to reach guests when they are paying the most attention, help them discover all the amenities and activities a property has to offer, and ultimately improve the overall guest experience. A hotel app also enables hoteliers to incorporate guest marketing into their guest communications, offering guests rewards and other promotions with a personal touch. To help boost guest engagement, upsell services, and strengthen brand loyalty, start with these five best practices for guest marketing.

1. Create Engaging In-App Promotions

Create eye-grabbing banners so when your guests use a hotel app to check-in, view a digital menu, or look up operating hours, they are drawn to the item or event you are promoting. Rotating banners as well as stationary banners on the top or bottom of the screen allow you to put special offers in front of guests in ways they are more likely to see and engage with. A little extra time upfront spent on making a great in-app promotion ad goes a long way.

2. Make Communication a Two-Way Street

When it comes to guest marketing through an app, sending a text to a group or a specific person enables them to respond to the message. For example, instead of a generic message on a website to entice a guest to upgrade their room, consider sending a welcome text with an upgrade offer such as, “We see you are arriving at our hotel tomorrow. Would you be interested in upgrading to a room with a beautiful view of the ocean for an additional 30?” Messages like these eliminate barriers for your guest to act on them because they are easy to respond to and are more personal than an upsell option when booking online.

3. Tailor Offers Based on Guest Habits

Whether you are coming up with promotions for your guest app, or you sending targeted offers via text, tailoring your promotions and upsells to your guests’ habits may bring better results. Do you have strategies or technology in place to track guest preferences? If not, now is the time to institute some form of data collection; if so, now is the time to act on that information. You don’t want to waste time on marketing items, activities, or upsell that your guests don’t want. You and your team know your guests’ habits better than anyone, use that knowledge to elevate their experience and increase your revenue.

4. Maximize Push Notifications

In the age of the smartphone, push notifications can be seen as annoying or disruptive. However, using them wisely can have a positive effect and a productive outcome. The key is two-fold: use push notifications with intention and avoid over-using. Timely push notifications can be of great benefit to you and your guests. Because guests can’t reply to push notifications, this means of communication should be informative, giving them details about the event or promotion that will encourage them to act on it. This could look like sending out a message about happy hour shortly before it starts or promoting a ticket sale for an upcoming event. Push notifications have many uses outside of marketing as well, like updating a guest on their service request status, which is why they should be used for marketing with great intention and care. You can think of push notifications as the secret weapon of guest marketing solutions, maximize their impact by sending timely information that is sure to pique guests interest.

5. Utilize Omnichannel Messaging

Omnichannel Marketing is a marketing strategy that leverages the various channels to achieve greater results. This might include a mobile app, smart-room tablets, and casting. The goal is to increase the ways in which your guests see and are able to interact with an ad. If, for example, you are promoting a discounted spa treatment, a guest might see a banner ad for the deal while they are out and when they return to their room they are reminded of the offer by seeing the same ad on their smart-room tablet and the TV. Utilizing omnichannel marketing keeps whatever you are prompting at top of mind, so your guests are sure to see it and are given increased opportunities to act on it.

Ultimately, the goal in implementing guest marketing solution strategies like these five listed here is so you don’t have to worry about your promotions getting lost in a sea of emails again. By sending targeted messages, personalized offers, and special promotions to your guests at multiple touchpoints you widen your sphere of influence and create great opportunities for revenue return.

Want to learn more about INTELITY’s guest marketing solutions? Request a demo today.

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