Tips for Improving Guest Experience at Your Hotel

Let’s jog through the hotel booking process. These days travelers are pulling up their smartphones, choosing the specific benefits they want, pining for the best deal, and reading reviews before they even pull the credit card out. What sets a 4-star and 5-star reviewed hotel apart from all of the others? One answer—customer experience. In the hotel business, you are accommodating a variety of travelers with various demands, so how do you make the experience memorable for everyone?

Five Tips for Improving the Experience

When you are developing a strategy to improve your guests’ experiences, remember that the experience begins as soon as travelers begin searching for a hotel and continues right through checkout. Focus on all aspects of their search, stay, and checkout.

Give them what they want

If you are going to embrace the technology model, make sure you provide your guests with the opportunity to do so as well. What do guests want? They want free Wi-Fi and internet access. If you cannot offer something that simple, your hotel will be the first to be deleted off the list. If your hotel does offer access, make sure it is safe, secure, swift, and always accessible.

Keep it clean

Cleanliness can make or break a guest’s experience. We have all seen the undercover footage of shady cleaning practices, if there are any at all. Make sure you are using the correct chemicals and equipment, and ensure everyone who works at the hotel is properly trained and actually sticking to the plan. Technology assists hotels in effectively monitoring employee tasks.

Make sure training reflects your hotel’s image

Staff training and customer service execution must align with the hotel’s brand and image. Your guests should feel they are welcomed, accommodated, and cared for. Encourage your staff to step out of their traditional roles to ensure the hotel guest is cared for and acknowledged every time he/she is on the hotel grounds. A smile, a greeting, and a quick check in to make sure the guest’s needs are being met are easy and effective ways to improve the guest experience. Often, training and workshops are delivered with gusto, but they fall flat when employees leave. Training should be frequent and standards must be enforced. Managers can take the time to get out into the hotel and observe employees tasks and interactions, offering advice and improvement strategies to ensure the hotel is offering the best service and experience possible.

Be consistent

Consistency is a major part of the guest experience. Whether your hotel is a local establishment or international brand, the experience and expectations must be consistent. Online interaction, booking, check-in, the stay, and checkout must all be cohesive, painless, and efficient. Do not let technology blunders and poor guest interactions tarnish your hotel’s image. Your hotel’s level of service must be consistent if you want to attract loyal guests and encourage new travelers.

Embrace technology to improve the experience

Hospitality cloud is an excellent way to save money while improving your guest experience. Hotels that embrace hospitality programs can increase the number of bookings, reduce the amount of energy used by the hotel and its existing infrastructure, gain and maintain PCI compliance, and eliminate costly downtime.