8 Ways Technology Can Improve Your Guests' Experience

By Nathan Gawlik
Nathan Gawlik's experience includes being a General Manager of a Hampton Inn and other front line roles such as a Banquet Captain, Front Desk Agent, Housekeeper, Catering Event Manager, and Director of Sales.

Technology and customer experience often go hand in hand in the hotel industry. Having the latest technology can give you an edge over your competitors and can help improve customer satisfaction. Check out our top 10 list on using technology to improve customer experience.

What technologies can help improve a guest's stay?

1. Mobile phone room keys

One great inconvenience both owners and guests experience alike is when the guest has locked themselves out of their room. Typically, this is in the middle of the night, and you may even have to get out of bed and drive over to the property to rescue the upset customer.

With mobile phones serving as room keys, though, this problem wouldn't be an issue. Customers could just pull out their phone and unlock the door.

Another way to make opening a room easy for guests is to have a WiFi door lock. So long as a property has a solid WiFi connection, guests can easily open their room door by entering in the last four digits of their cell phone number.

2. Free WiFi

Many guests are travelling business people, with projects and papers they need to work on as they hop from hotel to hotel. Or they simply want a good WiFi connection so they can reach out to their family while they're away without using too much cellular data. Thus, having WiFi available can make a huge impact on customer satisfaction.

To further drive the point, a survey conducted by the Pew Research Center in 2020 found that "53% of Americans say the Internet has been essential during the COVID-19 outbreak." Another survey conducted by Hotels.com in 2015 found that "49 percent of business travelers consider free Wi-Fi a deciding factor."

3. Online booking

Rather than having your guests call each time they want to make a reservation, they could be booking online at a time that works best for them. This frees up your time, keeps reservations organized just so long as you select a software that helps prevent double bookings.

4. Apps

Having your own personal phone application with your hotel branding can help with touchless payments and seamless check-ins. An app can also help create trust between you and your guests because they will appreciate the added convenience and recognize your brand more readily.

If setting up an app seems like a hassle, you could always text your guests updates about their booking and get direct feedback from them.

Properties that still put an emphasis on experiences will prosper in 2021

Regardless of the features - the quality of the service has always - and will continue to remain paramount to the guest experience. Delivering this while not jeopardizing trust, health and safety is a tall order for many managers that are now asked to do more with less staff.

5. Tech Lounge

A tech lounge is similar to what many libraries have today: an area where a group of public computers or tablets are available for anyone to use at any time. Having a tech lounge can help customers relax as they work on important projects or talk with coworkers.

Additionally, a tech lounge can allow you to provide free WiFi without having to pay for routers to be used throughout the whole building.

6. VR Tour

Because of COVID-19, getting an in-person tour of a potential place to stay can be difficult and risky. Thanks to virtual reality tours, though, guests can get an in-person look at what your property looks like without ever having to step outside their front door. If they're using VR headsets, they can even get a feel of how big each room actually is.

7. Voice-Activated devices like Google Home/Amazon Echo/Siri

Voice-activated devices make it easy for users to listen to music, get updates on the weather, know the time, create reminders and more. These types of devices usually have a wide listening range, making it easy to use from anywhere in a guest's room.

According to the American Foundation for the Blind, voice-activated devices like Google Home, Amazon Echo or Siri help "improve how people with vision loss live, work, and play." So having devices like these in your hotel can phenomenally help those who have vision loss or are visually impaired to have the best guest experience possible.

8. Free streaming services like Netflix, Hulu, etc.

After a tiring day of touring the city or going to business meetings, guests need easy access to something that will help them wind down — in this case, that something could be a smart TV with access to a variety of free streaming services.

A 2017 Pew Research Center survey found that "about six-in-ten of those ages 18 to 29 (61%) say the primary way they watch television now is with streaming services on the internet." So if your target audience is within that age range, having streaming services can make a huge impact on whether or not they want to stay at your hotel.

Drawbacks of Technology

Cost
Implementing technology like the ones mentioned above can be costly. You typically have to buy electronic devices new, unless you're sure the used device is going to last. There may also be a setup fee you have to pay for.

Difficult system integration
Learning how to use new technology can be time consuming and frustrating for your guests and employees. Guests may reach out to you about how to use a type of technology. Installing the software without an expert can also take a lot of time and effort, too.

Ruined atmosphere
If your hotel is meant to convey a vintage atmosphere, having new technology can ruin the historic feel of the location. For example, if your hotel is all about living in the Wild West, having guests use facial recognition software to get into their room rather than a cool, antique key can be off putting.

Unemployment
One of the main drawbacks of cutting your employees in favor of technology is that some customers like having personalized service from an actual person rather than a computer. Computers can be daunting to certain customers, so having a mixture of humans and computers to serve your customers may work better.

High maintenance
Keeping software updated and maintained can be a hassle. If you're unable to fix the problem yourself, you'll have to call a worker, which takes time and money.

The Takeaway

While technology certainly has its perks, be careful with how you choose to implement it. Before trying out new software or technology for customer experience, you should research what type of technology would benefit you and your guests most. You should also get to know your customers' needs and wants to see if added technology is necessary for an improved stay or if something else is driving customers away.

Resources

American Foundation for the Blind

Pew Research Study

Wifi Locks

Forbes | The most important factor in choosing a hotel