Other industries’ technology has affected the hospitality industry. Here are four examples of how technology has changed hotels’ guest experience

Today, technology touches nearly everything we do. It streamlines many of our day-to-day tasks and keeps us connected to the world around us. Whether it’s ordering your favorite restaurant’s steak dinner to your front door via Postmates, grabbing a quick ride to the airport via Uber, or having your groceries delivered to your home via Amazon Fresh, technology has impacted nearly every facet of our daily lives. The constant evolution of new technology can make it difficult for some to keep up, however, technology in other industries continues to have a trickle-down effect on the hospitality industry.

The following are four examples of how technology has changed hospitality — even though it has roots in a different industry.

Advancements in Digital Keys

Back in 2017, Tesla introduced new technology to the automotive industry with its digital key for the Tesla Model 3. Since then, other car companies have jumped on board to offer owners the ability to lock, unlock, and sometimes start their vehicles by simply having a smartphone present. Today, even car rental companies and car-sharing apps use digital key technology to allow access to cars.

Digital keys are straightforward to use. You simply download the car manufacturer’s app to your phone and connect it via Bluetooth. Once you’ve installed the app, hold your phone to your car’s door, and your car will either lock or unlock for you — it’s that simple!

It’s also that simple for guests to unlock their hotel room too with a mobile key. In fact, it is the same straightforward process as unlocking your car. With a hotel mobile app, guests can unlock their room and other gated areas of a hotel with a mobile key on their phone. Guests can even share mobile keys with family or fellow travelers, easily and safely.

Improvements in In-Room Dining

According to Statista, about 53.9 million Americans use food delivery apps on a regular basis. Today’s travelers, especially Millennials and Gen Zers, crave the same convenience that food delivery apps provide. After a long day of sightseeing or business meetings, a hotel guest wants to recharge in their hotel room with a meal they can order at their leisure.

New technology in hotels, such as branded mobile apps and smart-room tablets, offer guests a similar experience to their favorite food delivery service. Using a mobile app or smart-room tablet, guests can view up-to-the-minute updated menus, place a dining order and track the order’s progress — all while lounging on their hotel room bed or balcony. Guests no longer have to wait on hold for a staff member to pick up the call, only to let them know they’re currently out of the Halibut.

Another benefit of digital ordering? The ability for a hotel to easily offer a forced modifier. Is a guest ordering the Filet Mignon? Digital dining systems can automatically suggest a glass of Cabernet or a small house salad to go along with that steak — providing the perfect opportunity to drive your property’s non-room revenue.

Enhancements in the Room Environment

Parks Associates reported in late 2022 that about one in four, or some 15 million internet households, own a Google Nest smart thermostat. With the rise of smart thermostats in the home building and home remodeling industries, today’s consumer looks for this same comfort from their hotel room.

Using bedside smart-room tablets, hotel guests can adjust the temperature and lighting controls to their exact specifications all while lounging in bed, providing the ultimate guest experience.

Augmentation of the Concierge Desk

By now, we are all familiar with the effect that AI has had on our conversations about new technology. The customer service industry has been greatly affected by the advent of AI-driven chat bots, and according to a 2022 article from ChatBot.com, 62% of consumers would rather use a chat bot than wait for a customer service agent to answer their request. Another 64% of consumers claimed that 24/7 service is the most appealing feature of a chat bot.

So, what if your hotel was able to offer 24/7 concierge service — even when your on-staff concierge has gone home for the night? Deploying a branded hotel app or smart-room tablet allows guests to digitally contact the “concierge” and ask any question they have at any time of the day and receive real-time answers.

Why is technology important

Technology has advanced and evolved every industry. The more you notice how technology has changed the world, the more you can anticipate guest expectations for this new technology at a hotel.

 

How can you improve your property’s guest experience through mobile apps and smart-room tablets? For more information, request a demo today.

Three ways hotel tech can help your property adapt to changing guest expectations and needs

When it comes to providing a quality guest experience, anticipating guest expectations and delivering on guest needs is key. Today’s consumers are used to being catered to and thanks to technology, they can have nearly anything they want — from a three-course dinner from their favorite restaurant to a package of paper towels from Amazon — delivered right to their doorstep within minutes with just a few taps of their mobile device.

Therefore, anticipating what a guest might need before they voice the need themselves will go a long way in creating a lasting impression and, eventually, repeat business and positive word-of-mouth. But oftentimes, this seems easier said than done. So, how can your property adapt to changing customer expectations? Using hotel technology is critical.

Here are three key ways technology can help your property adapt and anticipate guest needs.

Use Data to Your Advantage

Utilizing business intelligence is the first step to anticipating your guest’s needs and wants. By deploying a staff operations hub that tracks guest behaviors, you can better anticipate what a guest might want and when they might want it. For example, have you noticed a guest always orders a glass of red wine with their meal? Add this to their preference profile so your staff knows to automatically offer them a glass of wine next time they dine at your property’s restaurant. This will make their stay feel much more customized.

On a broader scale, business intelligence and data analysis can provide comprehensive data on everything from service request frequency to the average dining check size. Learning guest behaviors helps you gain insight into who’s staying at your hotel and what their digital activities are during their stay, allowing you to meet guest expectations and make their stay more personalized.

Customization Is Crucial

Speaking of personalization, offering guests a customized experience is critical for meeting changing customer expectations — and technology can help streamline this.

Using a hotel smart-room tablet, you can greet guests by name with a welcome message and even customize a welcome note for guests traveling under the same group. More customizations like in-room lighting and temperature controls can be selected to their exact specifications.

Additionally, casting enables guests to stream their favorite content directly to their hotel room’s television. Today’s guest is more likely to want to binge a show from their favorite streaming service rather than tune into the local news through a hotel’s cable package. Put them in the driver’s seat of their own in-room entertainment by offering a casting option.

Do More with Less

Just because your property might be feeling the effects of the staffing crunch, doesn’t mean your guests have to feel it. Using hotel technology like branded mobile apps and smart-room tablets allows your guests to place in-room dining orders digitally, so guests can sit back and relax while they track their order on a smart device. Their order can go directly to your property’s kitchen, eliminating the need of having someone answer room service calls and allowing them to get started on delivering orders. The same goes for the check-in and check-out process. A hotel branded mobile app lets guests check-in on their own time, and, with keyless entry, guests can skip the front desk altogether and head straight to their hotel room upon arrival, allowing your front desk staff to take care of urgent guest requests instead of being tied up with routine check-in tasks.

 

Interested in learning more about how hotel technology can accommodate changing guest expectations? Request a demo today.

Contactless technology in hospitality, such as mobile apps, puts guests in the driver’s seat of their stay

Thanks to technology, nearly any daily task can be completed without person-to-person contact. Consumers can get groceries delivered to their front door without ever leaving their home. Employees can conduct business meetings via Zoom without ever needing to be in the same office. Even rental car companies are allowing travelers to pick up a car without needing to stop at the rental counter. So, why should a hotel stay be any different?

After a long day of travel, the last thing a hotel guest wants to do is wait in a long lobby line to check into their hotel room. Luckily, contactless technology in hospitality can help alleviate this. Hotel branded mobile apps can set your hotel apart from the competition by allowing guests to check-in remotely and head straight to their rooms upon arrival. Here’s how.

Contactless Check-in

With a branded mobile app, the future of hospitality is here. Using a mobile app, guests can check-in remotely from anywhere using the app, and, with mobile key capabilities, they can securely access their hotel room key digitally and add it to their phone’s Apple Wallet. The primary guest can also securely share the room’s mobile key with approved guests on the reservation.

One of the benefits of technology in the hotel industry, such as mobile apps, is it streamlines employees’ jobs and allows them to focus on time-sensitive tasks instead of processing check-ins. This is especially helpful for properties that are feeling a staffing crunch.

Contactless Dining

Another way mobile apps streamline employee’s jobs, while offering guests a contactless experience, is through mobile in-room dining. Just like a food delivery app, guests can browse menus that have been updated up-to-the-minute, place an order, and track the order’s progress. A mobile app lets guests order at their own convenience instead of waiting on hold with a hotel staff member. Digital ordering creates a ticket that goes straight to the kitchen, removing the need for staff to have to answer phones and manually input the order, thus also reducing the chances of human error.

Contactless Shopping

Another way contactless technology in hospitality can be used to streamline a guest’s stay and create a convenient experience is by allowing them to interact with your gift shop through a mobile app or in-room tablet. By listing all the available items in your gift shop on a digital store, it makes it easy for guests to browse offerings while relaxing in their room. From branded property merchandise to in-room luxury items, a digital store gives guests the opportunity to purchase what they love most at your property through a hotel mobile app or in-room tablet. They can place their order like they would any online store and either pick it up at the front desk, have it delivered to their room, or have it shipped to their home for the ultimate contactless experience.

Contactless Post-Stay

Contactless technology in hospitality can be deployed to improve the check-out and post-stay experience. Similar to the check-in process, at the end of a guest’s stay, a simple tap of a mobile app allows them to check out of their hotel room without having to wait in line or return any keycards. A branded mobile app can also house the guest’s folio so they can find all the details they need post-stay.

 

Interested in how contactless technology is the future of hospitality? Want to learn more about the benefits of a hotel branded mobile app? Request a demo today.

The impact of technology in the hospitality industry as demonstrated in 4 rising hospitality technology trends

Generative AI, service robots, and contactless assistance are just a few of the biggest topics in technology today. They’re changing the way we conduct business, streamline our daily lives, and plan our travel. While hotels have been traditionally slow to respond to technological changes in the market, there have been a few hospitality technology trends that have been impacting the industry in recent years.

Here are a few hospitality technology trends that have had a large impact on not only the travel and tourism industry, but more specifically, the hospitality industry.

Contactless Service

One of the biggest hospitality technology trends to come out of the COVID pandemic was the increase in contactless service. According to a 2022 Stayntouch/NYU Tisch Center of Hospitality Report, the adoption of contactless technology — such as mobile check-in and check-out, mobile room keys, and digital payments — increased by 66% during the pandemic. And this technology has had staying power. An increasing number of hotels are turning to mobile apps to allow guests to check-in remotely and securely access their room key via their mobile device. Additionally, contactless service has reduced the amount of check-ins front desk staff need to process manually — taking a load off of properties that are short staffed and allowing hotel operators to focus on timely guest requests.

Robots Are Here

In addition to adapting to contactless service, more and more hotels have jumped on the robot bandwagon. Yes — that’s right robots. Robots are being used in properties across the world, including Hotel EMC2 in Chicago, the Dream Hollywood Hotel in Los Angeles, and the Henn-Na Hotel in Japan. Robots can serve many useful functions, including welcoming guests as they enter the lobby, checking guests in using facial scan technology, as well as delivering guest-requested items to their room. Similar to hotel apps, robots are able to decrease the workload for hotel employees working at an understaffed property.

Chatbots: The Digital Concierge

Staff still overwhelmed? AI-powered chatbots can basically function as a digital concierge — bringing all of the same services a regular concierge would offer right to a guest’s’ fingertips. Guests can engage 24/7 and receive answers to questions about local attractions and events, as well as fulfill requests for additional items.

IoT Customization

With sustainability front-and-center for many in the hospitality industry, IoT, or Internet of Things, allows hoteliers to create an energy-efficient space, while providing guests with unlimited customization. IoT technology lets guests adjust room settings, such as temperature and lighting controls, to create their ideal environment. IoT technology also saves energy by turning off lights when a guest leaves their hotel room. An added benefit? IoT technology can learn guest behaviors to create the perfect atmosphere for guests automatically before they return.

 

Want to learn more about the impact of technology in the hospitality industry and how hospitality technology trends, such as contactless mobile check-in, check-out, and mobile key can benefit your hotel? Request a demo today.