Repeat guests form the backbone of your customer base, providing reliable revenue year after year—it costs five to seven times less to retain an existing customer than to cultivate a new one. Because they contribute so much to your business, these loyal visitors deserve VIP treatment. Here’s how to offer exceptional, personalized experiences that keep guests coming back.
Excellent Customer Service
Every hotel—whether a five-star resort or roadside inn—has the opportunity to deliver exceptional customer service, and doing so is essential to guest retention. Forty-three percent of consumers are likely to abandon a brand after just one negative interaction.
Excellent customer service begins with hiring staff with strong emotional intelligence and equipping them with the training and tools they need to perform their best. Training should be continuous, not a one-time exercise. Use the off-season to practice role-playing scenarios that reinforce service standards. Your whole team should be fluent in upsells, local recommendations, and service-recovery protocols. Even when a staff member cannot immediately resolve an issue, acknowledging the concern and offering appropriate compensation when warranted strengthens trust and loyalty. Empathy will never be obsolete.
However, a warm welcome and service with a smile becomes far more challenging when staff experience burnout. Prioritize meaningful break times that allow employees to recharge and reduce as many friction points as possible throughout their workday.
The right technology makes this significantly easier. Routine tasks and communications can be automated, saving time and decreasing errors, which leads to smoother operations, happier staff and, ultimately, more satisfied guests. It is critical to evaluate the usability of any proposed system. An intuitive, accessible platform streamlines workflows, while a cumbersome or overly complex solution creates additional stress and undermines efficiency.
Personalization
Leveraging guest data enhances front desk interactions, enabling staff to address guests by name, recognize loyalty status and special occasions, and deliver tailored recommendations.
This crucial data is collected by and stored in key hospitality systems, including your booking engine, property management system (PMS), and customer relationship management system (CRM). When integrated with your PMS, a CRM enhances reservation and profile data by tracking website and social media interactions, campaign performance, feedback, past communications, and other valuable insights for a complete view of each guest.
Collecting the right data with the right systems empowers you to personalize service and offers for every guest. Upsells can be targeted at the appropriate segment so that they appear as an opportunity rather than a hard sell. For example, packages for honeymoon couples and business travelers will be very different—honeymooners don’t typically need a conference room! Guests are far more likely to engage when communications align with their preferences and travel behavior.
WebRezPro PMS makes personalizing offers and communications easy. Guests can customize their stay by selecting targeted upsells (based on room and rate selections) directly during the online booking process. And communications throughout the guest journey are automatically personalized and triggered based on reservation data.
Loyalty Programs and VIP Status
While loyalty programs have become increasingly common—with over 90 percent of customers enrolled in at least one—there are still ways to differentiate yours. Ease of use is paramount. Guests should be able to quickly understand benefits and access rewards. Whenever possible, offer rewards without blackout dates or restrictive conditions to enhance their value.
Beyond traditional rewards such as complimentary nights and room upgrades, consider smaller, easily redeemable perks. These immediate benefits add convenience and appeal to guests’ desire for instant gratification. They’re earned through actions such as booking directly, submitting a review (regardless of sentiment), or engaging with on-property amenities like dining or spa services. Strategically designed, they also drive ancillary revenue. What if in return for eating at your restaurant, guests received a 10 percent coupon at your spa?
To extend the reach and appeal of your loyalty strategy, join a larger program with shared benefits across multiple independent hotels, such as Stash Hotel Rewards. This is especially useful if you’re managing rewards across multiple properties.
With WebRezPro’s rewards feature, you can automatically track guests’ points and redeem them for reservations. You can also assign guests color-coded VIP status so that staff know at a glance who deserves extra special treatment—not that your other guests aren’t special!
Standout Hotel Tech
Behind exceptional customer experiences that bring guests back is exceptional hotel technology—and it begins with your PMS, the digital command center of your operation. To effectively support every facet of your business, it must be robust, flexible, and user friendly.
A modern, cloud-based PMS allows staff to access real-time data anytime, anywhere while automating workflows and supporting self-service options to align with evolving guest expectations. Seventy-three percent of guests now prefer to use their own mobile device to manage their stay.
Beyond its own functionality, your PMS should integrate seamlessly with your other core systems such as payment gateways, revenue management tools, and guest engagement platforms to streamline cross-system processes and unlock opportunities for innovation. A well-integrated tech stack boosts efficiency and effectiveness to benefit both staff and guests.
Small Gifts
Provide small gifts to surprise and delight your guests as they settle in for their stay. Chocolates on the pillow are a classic touch for a reason!
Elevate this gesture even further by selecting gifts that reflect your unique destination or brand while accommodating preferences and dietary requirements captured in guest profiles. Guests with celiac disease will appreciate that the pillow chocolate is gluten free.
Focus on popular items that genuinely enhance the stay experience while preserving revenue. Ideally, gifts should serve as an introduction to a premium product or service, such as providing a sample of your spa’s signature face scrub (not every amenity needs to be edible). WebRezPro’s products/services report helps identify top-performing ancillary offerings and refine strategy.
A Good Last Impression
While a strong first impression attracts guests, your last impression determines how they remember you and can sour their positive feelings if managed poorly. This is why a seamless checkout process is essential. Self check-out supported by intuitive, user-friendly technology reduces front desk congestion and ensures a smooth departure. So do check-out services such as wake-up calls, airport shuttles, late check-out, and luggage storage.
When guests check out in person, thank them for their stay and ask if there is anything further you can assist with. A small farewell amenity also leaves a lasting positive impression and reinforces brand affinity. What about a cookie for the road?
Staying Top of Mind
Guest engagement extends beyond the stay itself. Maintaining thoughtful, ongoing communication through digital channels keeps your brand top of mind and positions your property as the natural choice when guests plan their next trip.
A post-stay survey or feedback request thanking the guest again for staying is the next touchpoint along the customer journey. Beyond gathering valuable insights, this communication provides a final chance to resolve any concerns privately before they are shared publicly. Demonstrating attentiveness and commitment to continuous improvement not only protects your reputation but also encourages repeat visits.
Follow this outreach with targeted promotional emails aligned with each guest’s interests. For example, a guest who booked a couples massage may be receptive to a Valentine’s Day package. Holidays and local events also present timely opportunities to reconnect, as your destination plays a key role in your unique selling proposition. Guests are more likely to return if you invite them!
Social media provides another powerful channel for staying in touch. Compelling offers, carefully curated imagery that reminds guests what they’re missing, and glimpses behind the scenes all capture attention in crowded feeds. Apply the 80-20 rule. While promotions matter, at least 80 percent of your content should focus on storytelling rather than direct selling. By aligning with the native style of each platform and positioning your property as a trusted expert, you build engagement, credibility, and long-term brand affinity.
For paid advertising efforts, Facebook allows you to upload your guest email list directly into Ads Manager. This enables you to create ads specifically aimed at previous guests, provided they have active Facebook accounts.
Guest retention is just as critical as acquisition for a healthy, sustainable bottom line. By delivering a warm welcome and thoughtfully curated experience supported by robust, modern technology, you foster lasting relationships and inspire guests to return time and again.
