Modern properties must embrace robust technology to elevate and streamline the guest journey. The days of guests arriving by horse and buggy to sign a ledger, paying cash no less, are long behind us. Today, technology is a crucial partner, enabling hoteliers to automate operations, enhance communication, simplify transactions, and optimize housekeeping.
At the heart of a hotel’s tech stack, a strong property management system (PMS) like WebRezPro seamlessly supports every department. Here are three ways a cloud PMS empowers lodging operators to transform the guest experience into one that’s memorable for all the right reasons.
Self-Service Options
In today’s hospitality landscape, staffing resources remain stretched thin in the wake of the pandemic, making self-service technology more valuable than ever. At the same time, these self-service options have risen in popularity as guests seek convenience, so they’re a true win-win. In fact, 73 percent of vacationers prefer hotels that offer this technology, and 38 percent would even choose a full self-service experience. The following components are key to this experience:
- Online reservations — Guests expect to reserve their trips online. Eighty percent of global travelers believe this is essential, so without a user-friendly, commission-free website booking engine, you’re behind the curve. Though you can—and should—accept reservations through online travel agencies (OTAs), relying solely on them puts you at multiple disadvantages. These sites not only cut into revenue through steep commissions but withhold guest information, making it harder to establish a deeper, long-term relationship.
WebRezPro’s brand-customizable online booking engine and My Reservations portal allow guests to easily make and manage reservations without needing to contact staff. Whether updating travel dates or adding extras like champagne and chocolate-covered strawberries, it’s all just a few clicks away, giving guests more control while freeing up your team.
- Check-in — Ideally, check-in should be contactless as well, creating a smooth, efficient experience. First impressions matter, and nothing dampens a guest’s arrival like a long lobby line, especially if it’s not the first line they’ve had to stand in (boarding group F, anyone?). Traditional check-in processes—manually searching reservations, completing registration cards, assigning rooms, and processing payments—often result in delays that leave guests waiting instead of unwinding.
Even streamlining parts of the check-in process in advance can significantly reduce lobby lines and ease staff workload. For example, WebRezPro enables properties to automatically send guest agreements (digital registration cards) via email and securely collect ID and payments before arrival. The system also integrates with keyless entry solutions, allowing guests to bypass the front desk altogether for a completely contactless self check-in experience.
Data-Driven Personalization
Personalization is key to winning guest loyalty, with 80 percent of customers more inclined to do business with companies that deliver personalized experiences. To achieve this, properties need to collect guest data at every touchpoint, from reservations and email/SMS campaigns to on-site interactions:
- Guest profiles — A PMS like WebRezPro automatically tracks reservation data and creates guest profiles whenever a new guest makes a booking. Use WebRezPro’s custom guest profile fields to gather the data that matters to your unique property during the booking process. Profiles can be updated manually too, to add personal notes, for example.
- Add-ons and upsells — With WebRezPro’s online booking engine, you can automatically personalize the booking experience with add-on offers (such as breakfast choices or adventure activities) that are based on the room and/or rate type booked to ensure relevance. You can even showcase images alongside each option, sparking anticipation. Seeing a picture of that French toast helps guests imagine the taste…
- My Reservations (online guest portal) — If a guest needs to modify their upcoming booking or make another one, they can log in to the My Reservations portal to access their booking history and profile information.
- Guest communications — In WebRezPro, all email templates (from booking confirmations to post-stay emails) can be automatically personalized and triggered, and attached to specific room and rate types to ensure relevance and target offers effectively. Use your PMS to schedule personalized upsell emails at strategic intervals to continue building your guest’s excitement and drive ancillary revenue. For properties seeking more advanced campaigns, the system also integrates with leading email, SMS, and customer relationship management (CRM) software.
Streamlined Operations
Consolidating data across departments, your PMS enables you to streamline operations property-wide and enhance the guest experience. When everything runs smoothly, guests notice. Whether it’s a fresh set of towels delivered promptly or a quick and convenient check-in, it all contributes to that five-star review. Here are some of the important ways your PMS offers that convenience:
- Anywhere access — With a strong, cloud-based PMS like WebRezPro, staff can access the system anytime, from any device—including mobile. This empowers your team to stay connected on the go so that requests are handled in real time. Housekeeping can bring those towels the moment they’re needed!
- Housekeeping — Housekeeping is a cornerstone of guest satisfaction and one of the most critical areas for your property to excel. As of 2021, 25.5 percent of reviews specifically referenced the words “cleanliness,” “clean,” or “cleaned.” Guests don’t want to think about, let alone see evidence of, who else has been in their room.
WebRezPro includes intuitive step-by-step housekeeping checklists to help your team maintain consistent, high standards of cleanliness throughout your property. The housekeeping report provides real-time oversight, ensuring nothing falls through the cracks. It can be viewed in either row or tile format, offering flexibility for different devices. Tile format is optimized for mobile so that housekeepers can update and access information as they move through daily tasks. Notes and alarms enable staff to flag any maintenance issues.
- Payment processing — Automated payment processing is especially vital; you can’t accept payments and keep your business running without a way to transfer information from the guest’s credit card to your system. An integration between your PMS and payment gateway allows you to process payments (both online and onsite) directly through your PMS, providing enhanced convenience and security for both guests and staff. PCI-compliant payment gateway integrations utilize tokenization, replacing sensitive credit card details with placeholders to protect data in the event of a system breach.
Your PMS automates other day-to-day functions too, such as channel management, guest communication, reporting, etc. It eliminates manual double entry and thereby reduces overbookings and other errors.
But while your PMS lays the foundation for your property’s success, other software integrations also have an important role to play, expanding functionality to enrich the guest experience. From online travel agencies (OTAs) and point-of-sale (POS) systems to customer relationship management (CRM) tools and beyond, the right integrations create a unified ecosystem that works smarter, not harder. Identify your operational needs and select the integrations that deliver the greatest impact for your business and guests.
As your tech stack’s cornerstone, your PMS ensures smooth operations while capturing the data you need to deliver personalized, memorable guest experiences. When guests feel genuinely cared for, they return—and recommend your property to their friends.
