Employing an ID solution and using a secure payment gateway are two ways to protect your hotel guests data outside of your security system

As hoteliers, providing a superior guest experience is of the utmost importance. But part of providing a positive experience for guests is also keeping them safe — and not just with the use of your hotel security system. Guest safety goes above and beyond CCTVs to also include protecting personal hotel guests data against potential cybersecurity breaches.

According to a report by PricewaterhouseCoopers, the hospitality industry has the second highest number of cybersecurity breaches with nearly all of the major hotel brands having fallen victim at one time or another to an online security breach. Hyatt, IHG, and Hilton have all seen security breaches in recent years, and despite being smaller in size, boutique hotels are not immune from having their systems hacked and customer data stolen. So, what are some steps you can take to protect your guests and their data? Here are a few actions to consider.

Control Access & Authentication with an ID Solution

An ID solution for hoteliers allows properties that offer guests mobile check-in, mobile check-out, and mobile key functionality to provide a biometric verification — usually in the form of facial recognition — to match the guest to their official identity documents. This allows the guest to bypass the front desk and head straight to their room upon arrival while knowing that their data, and the access to their guestroom, is safe and secured.

Ensure Data Is Tokenized

When searching for a secure platform service provider, considering one that offers data tokenization is crucial. Many platform service providers don’t store any PCI information, but instead, tokenize a guest’s sensitive information and send it directly to the property’s payment gateway. This makes sure that anything that’s compliant is stored in the hotel’s PMS system.

Always Hit ‘Update’

It might sound simple but performing regular security updates to ensure all software is up-to-date as possible is key to combating against a security breach. Make sure to also operate a continuous training program in cybersecurity to maintain a well-trained workforce.

Conduct Assessments & Vulnerability Testing

By conducting tests against your own hotel’s cybersecurity defenses, you’ll be able to see where there may be holes in your system. During the test, employ a staffer to mirror the behavior of an actual hacker to ensure your systems are secure.

Remember to Log Out

Remind employees to always log out of a system any time they walk away from a computer. Posting a note next to computers can act as a friendly reminder. In addition, remember to change passwords often and ensure they’re changed any time a staff member leaves the company to avoid any future breaches.

 

Guest safety goes beyond CCTVs and hotel security systems. For more information on how to keep your hotel guests data safe and how to select a secure platform service provider, request a demo today.

Wondering how to personalize the guest experience at your property? The answer lies in hotel technology.

When it comes to retail marketing, personalization is king. The ability to tailor a customer’s shopping experience increases their satisfaction, leading to customer loyalty. The same goes for hotels. When a guest checks into a hotel, they crave a personalized experience that makes them as comfortable as they are at home. Addressing guests by their first name and replacing frequently used items in their room are a few ways to make them feel acknowledged. But what if you could take it one step further?

If you’re wondering how to personalize the guest experience further, the answer lies in hotel technology. Here are a few ways tech can help customize your guests’ stay.

Their Stay, On Their Time

With technology and mobile devices permeating nearly every aspect of our daily lives, it’s no surprise that a rising number of guests have come to expect a digital experience during their hotel stay, as well. Branded hotel mobile apps are one recommendation of how to personalize the guest experience. Apps offer tech-savvy guests the ability to check-in and check-out all from the convenience of their mobile device. Apps with mobile key capabilities allow guests to bypass the front desk altogether and head right to their rooms upon arrival. Integration with key lock providers offer guests a secure way to enter their rooms, while also never needing to worry about misplacing a plastic key card again.

Another benefit? After a long day of work meetings or sightseeing, guests can view menus that have been updated in real-time, place their dining request and track their order’s progress all from their app — just like they would their favorite food delivery app.

The Tap of a Tablet

Hotel guest room technology, such as bedside smart-room tablets, are one more way guests can get what they want, when they want it. With similar features as a mobile app, smart-room tablets let guests place dining orders and track them in real-time. They also allow guests to request additional toiletries that they may have forgotten, such as toothpaste or dental floss. For guests who prefer a little extra comfort, an additional pillow or two is just a tap of the tablet away.

Binge Away

Gone are the days when guests had to wait to return home to their couches to find how the second season of “White Lotus” ends. Casting gives guests control over their own in-room entertainment. Delivered through Google Chromecast, guests can stream content directly to the room’s television from their own device with no additional login needed.

Comfort Comes First

Hotel guest room technology like smart-room tablets are able to integrate with a hotel room’s temperature control system and lighting system to allow guests to create the exact environment they want. Just like they can at home, guests can reach for the in-room tablet to adjust the room’s heating and cooling, as well as brighten or dim the lights. Now that’s personalization.

Customized, Data-Driven Offers

Using features like banner promotions, in-app messaging and user experience flows, hoteliers can reach guests with personalized offers at any time during their stay. By sharing a few of their preferences when booking, hotels can then create offers based on these stated preferences. Notice a guest is traveling for a specific event due to their rate code? Hoteliers can create special offers and promotions based on that rate code and push them out via the app when guest engagement is at its highest.

 

These are just a few suggestions of how hotel technology can help improve the guest experience. For more on how tech can create a personalized experience for your guests, request a demo today.

The importance of flexibility is key for the guest experience — and hotel technology can help

Today’s traveler is a new breed. Gone are the days when guests traveled strictly for just work or just pleasure. The rise in bleisure and the increase in remote work has created a new kind of hybrid traveler. And, thanks to the continual incorporation of technology into our everyday lives, today’s guests are used to getting what they want, when they want it, and how they want it. So, how can a hotelier keep up with guests who require a variety of different levels of service and provide a quality guest experience for both? Enter hotel technology.

By enacting a flexibility strategy that utilizes hotel technology, hotels can meet their guests where they’re at. Here are a few ways technology can enhance the guest experience.

Going Mobile

Today’s consumer is used to doing just about everything on their mobile device — from ordering dinner to catching a ride to sending cash to their friends. So, why should their hotel stay be any different? Younger, tech-savvy travelers have come to expect a mobile experience. For these guests, a hotel branded mobile app allows them to bypass the front desk and check-in remotely on their mobile device. Mobile key functionality integrates seamlessly with lock providers to provide guests with safe, keyless entry to their hotel rooms using just their smartphone. When it’s time to check out, guests can use their mobile phone to do that as well.

A branded mobile app also lets guests browse the most up-to-date food menus, order in-room dining and then track their orders, just like they would an order from DoorDash. If a guest forgets their toothbrush or needs extra towels, item requests can easily be made on an app.

Just a Tap Away

For those who don’t want to download a hotel’s app onto their mobile device, smart-room tablets provide a great alternative. Similar to branded mobile apps, in-room tablets allow guests to browse the most up-to-date dining menus, place an order and track it all while lounging on their hotel bed.

For guests who prefer brighter lighting or cooler environs, smart-room tablets integrate with the room controls to allow guests to adjust the heating and cooling system, as well as the lighting from the comfort of their bed. Additionally, guests can make purchases from the gift shop, request additional towels or toiletries, and book spa appointments all with just a tap.

Don’t Stop the Binging

Gone are the days when a traveler had to wait to return home to continue binging their favorite Netflix documentary. Now, guests can cast TV shows, movies and music directly to their in-room televisions with no additional login through Google Chromecast-enabled apps. Add benefit: Casting allows hoteliers to cancel expensive cable subscriptions.

At Your Service

Virtual concierge services are the future. And while many guests may still prefer to get the lay of the land by interacting face-to-face with the hotel’s concierge, those who prefer texting can message the front desk and get answers to their questions in real-time. A virtual concierge can suggest activities and services personalized to a guest’s preferences and create an itinerary for each guest, accessible via the hotel’s mobile app or in-room tablet.

 

There are many ways technology can enhance the guest experience. To learn more on this and the importance of flexibility in the guest experience, request a demo today.

Simplifying the room service process is just one of many ways hotel in-room technology can positively impact the guest experience.

Hospitality can have several definitions, but the main theme is always anticipating and catering to a guest’s needs and desires. As technology has become a central fixture in guests’ personal lives, their needs have changed. Hotels that adapt their guest experience to technology the fastest will be better positioned to reap the benefits and see serious ROI in the process.

Here are four ways that hotel in-room technology can change the guest experience — for good.

Think Postmates, For Hotels

A decade ago, no one would have believed they could order their favorite meal from their favorite restaurant and have it delivered to their door in under an hour. Postmates, GrubHub, and DoorDash have changed the dining landscape, especially post-pandemic. As consumers become more accustomed to technology integrating into their everyday lives, they expect hotel room tech to be at the same level. In-room, smart-room tablets help meet this consumer demand. Hungry guests who’ve had a long day and don’t feel like venturing down to the hotel restaurant can order room service directly from their in-room tablet, and, in many instances, track the order similar to how they would a Postmates order.

Does a guest need additional towels? Did they forget their toothpaste? Need more Keurig pods? Guests’ desires outside of in-room dining are just a tap of a tablet away.

Make Yourself at Home

By deploying the latest hotel in-room technology, a property can help guests feel at home even when they are thousands of miles away. By placing a smart hotel technology like an in-room tablet bedside, guests can browse through hotel information, book spa appointments, and adjust the temperature and lighting controls of their room, just as they’re accustomed to doing at home.

Another benefit? Removing language barriers. This may be one of the biggest wins when it comes to guest comfort. No matter where a guest is in the world, a smart-room tablet will give them the ability to automatically change languages in seconds, instantly enabling them to comprehend the menu of service offerings and communicate with the hotel.

Go Green with Technology

Hotels can easily feature their latest events, marketing materials, and announcements on in-room tablets — reducing printing costs and saving trees in the process. According to Skift Research, a whopping 83% of global travelers think sustainable travel is vital. And with many guests thinking about sustainability when booking a hotel, smart hotel technology such as in-room tablets can help properties take a large step in the right direction.

Improved Operations Improve Experience

By combining a staff-facing platform and a guest-facing platform, hoteliers will help their teams become more efficient. When hotels begin to feed in an integrated back-end solution that blends in with the guest-facing solution, those efficiencies clearly result in positive ROI. And in positive guest satisfaction. Human error is reduced, and, through smart hotel technology like in-room tablets, hoteliers can streamline guest requests by automatically routing the request to the correct department.

It’s important to rebuild your operational practices and business models around your guests’ real needs and desires. Guest expectations towards technology — and technology in hotels — has changed over the last decade. Have you?

 

Looking to improve the guest experience using hotel in-room technology? Request a demo today.

With the bleisure travel trend on the rise, hotels have an opportunity to showcase their properties in a new way.

Arguably, one of the biggest trends to come out of the pandemic has been the rise in bleisure travel. Simply defined, bleisure travel is when a traveler blends business and leisure travel by tacking on a personal trip directly before or after a work-related trip, and according to a June 2022 Forbes article, it has been gaining popularity post-pandemic. The article shared that in 2022, 89% of people planned to add personal vacation time to their business travel. And that number is believed to stay steady in 2023 as more and more people continue to work remotely.

Additionally, many leisure travelers are bringing along friends or family members, positioning hotels to reap many bleisure travel benefits — from longer stays to an increase in spending on the property. Here are five ways hotels can better accommodate and attract bleisure travelers in 2023.

Improve the #WFH (Work-From-Hotel) Experience

Guests who are staying at a property for work require plenty of in-room workspace, complimentary WiFi and a reliable, stable internet connection. A stable connection is key for bleisure travelers who need to upload or download large files or hop on a Zoom call. Hotels looking to attract bleisure travelers should consider installing reliable WiFi connections across their property, and, at the minimum, offer complimentary internet access in shared spaces.

Increase Workspaces

For the business traveler who might need additional work space outside of their in-room desk, or for those who require meeting spaces, hotels should consider converting empty or unused meeting rooms into rentable meeting spaces and/or free workspaces for bleisure travelers. Adding small conveniences in these areas, such as free coffee and complimentary WiFi, will keep guests — and their dollars — on the hotel property.

Highlight Relaxation

Thanks to bleisure travel, hotels traditionally associated with business travelers — such as those located near a business park or convention center — now have the opportunity to show off their leisure offerings to guests. From spa appointments or in-room massages to poolside drinks, hotels can showcase their best relaxation offerings so those combining both business and leisure travel can reside at one property for both portions of their trip. Plus, a property’s leisure offerings provide travel companions with something to do while the bleisure traveler is busy working.

Showcase Your Locale

Another bleisure travel benefit? Guests’ interest in experiencing the destination and their willingness to spend money on dining, entertainment and tours because their company paid for their flights. But, ease of booking is critical. By partnering with local tour and entertainment companies, hotels can offer bleisure guests and their travel companions opportunities to book local attractions all in one place. Hotel technology, such as smart-room tablets and branded hotel mobile apps, can highlight these offerings in a seamless way and allow travelers to book excursions from the comfort of their hotel rooms.

Incorporate Technology

The last thing a busy business traveler wants to do when they arrive to their hotel is stand in a long lobby line. Offering hotel technology, such as a branded mobile app with mobile check-in, check-out, and mobile key, allows the guest to bypass the front desk and head straight to their room. Also, by offering tech-minded bleisure travelers in-room technology — such as smart-room tablets — guests are able to seamlessly transition from their work laptops to their leisure smart-room tablets to order room service, adjust in-room lighting, or book spa appointments after a long day of emailing.

 

Wondering how incorporating hotel technology can offer bleisure travel benefits at your property? Request a demo today.

By making little tweaks across a property, hoteliers can improve hotel service quality

When it comes to gaining a customer’s loyalty, positive review or enthusiastic referral, a hotelier must first ensure their hotel quality standards are not only met, but exceeded every single time. When guests know they can expect the same level of service every time they visit a property, hoteliers have achieved effective hotel quality standards.

But how can a property improve hotel service quality? There are many simple ways, and a few of them start by focusing on the small details, such as addressing a customer by name. While this might be a difficult task for larger properties with a higher guest count, acknowledging a guest by name is one of the simplest ways to make them feel seen, recognized and welcome. At the bare minimum, opening doors to guests and welcoming them back to the property when they return at the end of the day are simple steps to make them feel appreciated.

Aside from small, personalized touches, fulfilling service requests in a timely manner, enacting service recovery quickly when something goes wrong, and maintaining a clean and functioning property are three additional factors that lead to satisfied guests. And all three can be easily managed by deploying a staff operations platform.

Service Requests

When a tired traveler gets to their hotel room after a long day, the last thing they want to do is wait on hold while requesting extra towels or placing a room service order. Technology such as hotel branded mobile apps and smart-room tablets allow guests to place these orders from the comfort of their rooms while getting real-time status updates on their request. A staff operations platform can easily allow staff to stay on top of all guest requests, work orders and maintenance tasks, as well as provide guests with real-time updates. Keeping all work orders and service requests in one digital solution also eliminates the likelihood of a request slipping through the cracks.

Service Recovery

When an issue arises, fast service recovery is key. By deploying a staff operations platform, a hotel can improve hotel service quality by capturing and tracking guest complaints, monitoring escalations and common guest grievances, track service recovery steps, and identify the costs and the staff members involved in the service recovery. All these features help to eliminate a similar problem in the future. Additionally, a staff operations platform helps hotel employees easily identify service “hiccups” and correct them on the spot, such as when a guest’s room service order arrives late or when a guest requests extra towels multiple nights in a row.

Preventative Maintenance

In order for hotels to achieve quality service standards, they must be operating a properly maintained property. By deploying a ticketing solution, hotel management can track preventative maintenance to ensure the facility stays in excellent working condition — significantly reducing operational costs by avoiding unexpected repairs. A staff operations platform’s ticketing solution also helps hotels schedule and track all routine maintenance and room inspections and keep a digital record of completed tasks.

 

Looking to improve hotel service quality at your property using hotel technology? Request a demo today.