As a traveler, it’s a great feeling when you visit a hotel’s website or walk into your hotel room and feel as though someone else has thought of and catered to your every desire. The hospitality industry is all about human connection and creating memories that will last a lifetime. While financial value plays a role in whether travelers will choose your property, going the extra mile and offering one-of-a-kind, priceless experiences will ensure guest satisfaction and repeat bookers. These are some of the ways you can make your guests feel special during and beyond their stay.
Room and Facility Tours on Website
Start satisfying your customers’ wants and needs as soon as they visit your website. Travel bookers want to find out as much as possible about the stay experience before they even pack their suitcases and while including good quality photos can achieve this, adding video can take your website to the next level. Many consumers prefer video tours and 360° photos and videos that allow them to view every part of the rooms and hotel facilities. Guests like to know where their room is in relation to other facilities, their room’s bathroom layout, and the view they will have from their windows.
A recent innovation that you can include on your hotel website is allowing guests to view, choose and book individual rooms from a floor plan. This way, guests not only see the type of suite they would like to book, but the exact room and view they will have. This minimizes variances between what a guest expects based on the website and what they receive upon arrival, helping to reduce complaints and boost satisfaction.
Accessibility and Inclusive Service
Accessibility and inclusive service start with a user-friendly website. Consider adding subtitles to all videos and adjustable text size for customers with hearing or visual impairments. Also, clearly communicate on your website all information regarding accessibility so that customers can decide if your property is the right fit for them.
Within your hotel, create an inclusive and thoughtful space with everyone’s unique needs in mind so that no one misses out on any part of your property’s experience. Everybody wants to feel comfortable and safe when away from home and whether or not a hotel is accessible will be the deciding factor for many travel bookers. For example, ensure your property has step-free access (lift, level, or ramped) in all walkways, facilities, and rooms for wheelchair accessibility, and include braille signage for visually impaired guests. For those with hearing impairments, self-check-in and check-out can be more convenient options and, during COVID-19, having a supply of clear face masks for staff allows guests to lip read.
Quality In-Room Coffee and Tea
One thing that unites all guests, whether they are staying for business or pleasure, is a good cup of coffee or tea. A quality, hot beverage conveniently provides a boost of caffeine before a business meeting and a comforting, familiar treat for the vacationer. Offer a wide variety of caffeinated and decaffeinated tea and coffee blends to satiate every palette — bonus points if you can offer specialty blends from a local café — and quality appliances to brew them. Coffee makers such as Nespresso and Keurig allow guests to customize their brew strength and cup size while an electric kettle and a teapot are appropriate for tea drinkers.
Celebrating Special Events
There’s often an emotional reason behind planning a vacation — it could be a birthday, a wedding, an anniversary, a group of friends’ annual trip, or parents’ first getaway since having a baby. Guests enjoy it when they enter their rooms and see a handwritten “Happy Birthday” or “Happy Anniversary” note, along with complimentary welcome snacks, chocolate, or drinks. Acknowledging these special moments in your guests’ lives is a great way to personalize their experience while strengthening the emotional connection your guests have to your property. Your property now becomes a part of the story of your guests’ lives, and they will remember not only the exceptional, next-level service but the nostalgia of staying with you as well. Take advantage of the guest data gathered by your property management system (PMS) and PMS integrations to note and remember any special occasions for new and repeat guests.
Share Insider Tips
Providing a next-level guest experience goes beyond your property’s doors. Sharing local insider tips gives travelers the authentic, personalized experiences they crave while also cultivating personal, emotional connections between guests and your property and staff. Customers will be motivated to book with you if you have a reputation for providing an exclusive experience with local life and culture. Share your local expertise on your website and in person with guests on your property.
Taking the guest experience to the next level may involve technology and material resources, but at the heart of it all is human connection and personal relationships. By providing unique, individualized services and features to your guests, your property not only offers an elevated, memorable experience, but also becomes a special part of their lives.
