Technology is changing the hospitality industry and hotels must embrace the widespread shift or risk being left with empty rooms. The demand for these types of enhancements is booming, meaning opportunity abounds to offer the ultimate options in comfort and convenience. Consider these tech upgrades to offer five-star customer service.

Mobile Automation
Mobile phones are meant for so much more than making calls these days – people have become accustomed to doing everything on them, including banking, checking in for flights, catching up on social media, streaming a favorite show….the list goes on and on, and it definitely doesn’t stop when a guest enters your property.

Checking in and out. Tired travelers welcome the opportunity to bypass the front desk and head straight to their room. Mobile check-in provides convenience for guests while also promoting operational efficiencies. Payment is collected pre-arrival and personnel time spent checking guests in and out is greatly reduced, allowing interactions with staff to be more in-line with that of a concierge rather than as a financial transaction touchpoint.

Room keys. While a physical key may be preferred by those nostalgic for skeleton keys, today’s guests want the option of using a digital key card. Mobile devices are typically very accessible for travelers, and being able to access a key on one means one less thing to dig around for.

A digital hub. The nuisance of walking in the dark in an unfamiliar room is done away with when guests’ mobile devices pair with their room’s electronic functions. Before even arriving to the room, lights can be turned on and the temperature adjusted directly from their phone.

There’s an app for that. Every guest wants to feel valued. With mobile apps, exclusive deals, loyalty programs, and other special functionalities are at their fingertips.  Guests in town for a conference can have itineraries delivered to their phone and those with special requests can be notified of any changes. Upsells can be pushed directly to guests, including the option to arrive early or stay late for an additional fee, or notification of any menu specials at hotel dining options.

Bandwidth
Studies show that the single most important amenity a hotel can provide is complimentary Wi-Fi. For business and leisure travelers alike, free Wi-Fi is still considered an absolute must in hotels around the world – and it better be fast. There can be no bigger problem for a hotel than when the internet is slow.  Guests will complain on every social media platform available and likely won’t return, so you must be able to accommodate the potentially 2-, 3- or even 4-to-1 ratio of electronics-to-guest without lag to create a seamless guest experience.

Public Spaces & Meeting Accommodations
Lounge. Hotels should have public places that are set up for guests to use as coworking space, with easily accessible Wi-Fi and plenty of power outlets and charging stations.

Modern meeting spaces. Conferences are no longer booked based on the size of the room or how good the catering is. Business meetings have grown to include multimedia presentations, large conference calls and other tech-heavy necessities. From medium-sized meeting rooms to the largest hotel ball room, you must provide technology on a larger scale to keep these spaces booked.

Social Listening  
Your guests are on social media, and they’re likely talking about their stay and the experiences they had on your property. There is no greater place to gather feedback and to connect with your customers, so investing in the tools to do so will give you a competitive advantage.

Mention combines social monitoring, analytics, and competitor intelligence into one invaluable tool. There is cost for using it, but if you truly utilize it, you’ll get every penny’s worth.

Hootsuite allows you to monitor social media mentions in real time, so you can respond to customers immediately, and also condenses feeds into one handy dashboard.

Sprout Social lets you set up and track keywords, hashtags and locations, as well as bring all of your messages and mentions into one easy-to-manage stream.

Upgrade the guest experience with these technological enhancements.