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Improved guest experience is one of the pillars that support the hotel business. Especially in the era of the COVID-19 pandemic, hotel service providers grapple with fast-changing guest behaviors, preferences, and expectations. Hotels that can deliver impressive guest experience are more likely to experience repeat business, positive reviews on social media, as well as word-of-mouth referrals.
Technology is one way through which hotels can improve their guest experience. If you’re in the hospitality industry and looking for ways to revamp your guest experience, here are prime technological advancements to consider.
Mobile Integration
Mobile integration is one of the latest technologies that hoteliers can use to improve their guest experience. This technology allows guests to access most of their hotel services through their mobile phones. Key mobile applications in hotels offer various features, which include:
●Check-ins and checkouts
●Reservations
●Room service
●Room temperature control
●Internet portal registration
Mobile check-in has become a prominent feature that utilizes this technology, especially in this time of the pandemic. The concept minimizes crowding at the lobby in line with the COVID-19 protocols. Some hotels have launched mobile key room technology, which allows guests to tag in and access their rooms using their smartphones.
The mobile room key concept boosts the security of the key and gives power and control to the guests. Guests can equally use the integrated apps to access news, promotions, and information services from the facilities.
Smart Technology
Smart technology is used in the real estate, healthcare, and banking sectors among others. The hospitality industry is not left behind. Various hotels are already using smart technology to improve their guest experience and make their stay easier and more convenient.
This concept utilizes voice commands and smart controls on various everyday devices. Guests can use this technology to set their rooms according to their liking. It also enables them to conveniently access virtual room service and respond to the needs of the hotel as fast as possible. Specifically, this concept deals with the air conditioning and lighting infrastructure of hotel rooms.
Smart Room Service
This technology complements the mobile room key concept. As guests access rooms using their smartphones, they can also use their smartphones to receive menu notifications in the comfort of their rooms. The notifications even come with personalized suggestions informed by past orders.
Many home food-delivery apps already use the concept by sending push notifications to their frequent customers on their preferred days and ordering times. In hotels, it makes things easier, as everything is coordinated via the guest’s smartphone.
Smart Reserved Parking
The smart reserved parking concept is also penetrating the hospitality industry. In this concept, hoteliers use smart sensors and hotel apps to allow their guests to reserve parking spots before their actual visit.
On arrival, the guests just have their spaces assigned to them immediately. It’s a convenient way of making things easy for the guest while saving the facility labor costs of managing the parking inventory.
Remote check-in/checkout
This technology is part of the mobile integration concept. It enables hotel guests to check-in remotely through their mobile devices. On one hand, it helps hotel owners manage their staffing needs and save money on labor costs. It also alerts hotel staff when their guests arrive, thereby spending less time on the welcoming process.
On the other hand, guests can enjoy a seamless check-in or checkout process. At the end of their stay, visitors can easily arrange for their preferred transportation to their next destination. They can call for a taxi, airport shuttle, or Uber in the comfort of their rooms and avoid the last-minute rush.
Guest Internet Solutions
We are in the era of the internet. Improving the internet in guest rooms is one way to redefine guests’ experience by giving them reliable, fast internet connectivity. Any hotel today considers internet connectivity a prerequisite of its operation, as all guests demand its availability.
Business travelers, for instance, demand high-speed internet to help them acquire, store, and pass the information on time. For that reason, hotel service providers need to implement sound network design and network security to ensure that their guests’ data and devices are safe.
Automatic Concierge
This technology is poised to be the future of the hotel industry. It involves the application of robots or automatic concierges, which serve either guests or staff. Robots are used mainly to help guests with check-in, checkout, travel, and tour booking.
Guests can also use them to receive news and offers, browse local attractions, and many more. In the end, automatic concierges are a reliable technology that improves both guest and staff satisfaction. Used for check-in, they save guests the hassle of manually processing things up when they are tired.
On the other hand, automatic concierges can help staff with attendance checking, time-in, and time-out marking. They can deliver guest services, synchronize data, and deliver timely information.
Improved Cybersecurity
Improving guest experience through technology calls for increased security infrastructure in hotels to deal with rising cases of cyber theft and hacks. People with ulterior motives infiltrate and attack hotel IT systems, which is why hotels need to implement tight security systems to counter the threats.
Thanks to technological advancements on the cybersecurity front, hotels can implement a wide range of security protocols to ensure their technology frameworks are safe. For instance, sound threat protection and detection systems can help identify threats and eradicate them in real-time before they can get out of hand.
Similarly, firewall technology could help secure networks to prevent any dangerous infiltration. All tech-savvy hotel guests want a secure and strengthened network. Hotels have various touch points that require this technology including POS systems, room keys, camera systems, e-mail servers, and Wi-Fi networks.
Final Thoughts
Hotel service providers need to understand that the hospitality industry practically operates around guests—and the guest experience. With this in mind, it is time to shift focus to offering a better hotel guest experience. Currently, you may be offering a “decent” guest experience.
However, guests remember something “extraordinary.” They remember personalized experiences that appeal to their individual needs. When it comes to technology, the concepts mentioned here can help hoteliers improve their guest experience.
