What is hotel check-in automation?
Hotel check-in automation is about using technology to enable guests to get around the conventional check-in procedure, avoiding long lines at the front desk and expediting the entire process to increase guest satisfaction. Whether guests use a Check-in kiosk or any other kind of digital system that allows guests to access their rooms like digital keys sent via email or your hotel’s app, the goal of automation is agility.
What are the benefits for your hotel of hotel check-in automation?
There are many benefits of hotel check-in automation for your hotel like increased guest satisfaction, improved operations, boosted revenue, cutting back on costs, increased productivity, and reduced human error. Let’s look one by one.
Increased guest satisfaction
After a long trip, there is nothing worse than having to wait in a long line at the front desk. Automation cuts back on wait time and makes it so check-in can be available 24/7. With a check-in kiosk, guests can simply check themselves in from the kiosk, even cut their own keys and get right to their room.
Giving guests the ability to take the hotel journey into their own hands, arriving at their own convenience and being able to get to their rooms the fastest possible is key to increasing guest satisfaction and the likelihood of repeat business. Discover more benefits of a self-service kiosk for hotels.
Improved operations
When you rely on automation it means you do not have to depend on your staff to do repetitive tasks like check-ins. That way they can put their efforts into ensuring streamlined operations, removing potential friction from manual operations, and focusing their efforts on the overall guest experience rather than menial daily tasks. Not only does it do wonders for facilitating smooth operations, but it also helps boost staff satisfaction by giving them a sense of purpose.
Find out other tips to improving the front desk operations.
Boost in revenue
Putting the check-in process into the guests’ hands also helps drive revenue. It is a lot easier for a machine to propose upgrades and upselling opportunities tailored to the guest profile. And it can be integrated into the whole check-in journey, increasing ancillary revenue potential. Below we will talk about this point in more detail.
Decreased reliance on trained staff
The service industry has taken a hit, and post-pandemic it’s becoming harder and harder to find qualified staff. By automating one of the key operational tasks, you can reduce your reliance on trained staff. Since exceptional employees are sometimes hard to come by, and especially now, you can dedicate these valuable resources to more guest-focused tasks.
Cut back on costs
While the human touch can never fully be replaced by technology, implementing automated check-in is a great way to cut back on costs because you need less workforce to take care of the entire process. This allows you to invest money in improving operations and in staff that can tend to the needs of guests instead of handling menial tasks like checking guests in and out of the hotel. After all, money invested in improving service is a win-win.
Increased productivity and reduced human error
One of the ways automated check-ins can increase productivity is by streamlining communication between staff and guests. When a guest arrives, it is automatically uploaded in the system so staff can keep better tabs on how many guests are still left to check in and if staff is behind on cleaning the rooms, they can more easily distribute guests between the rooms that are ready.
Since everything is automatically synchronized in the system, you can have all the extra charges, upgrades, and room service automatically uploaded into the guest profile meaning that you don’t have to waste time settling bills when it’s time to check out, the system will take care of it automatically. Plus, you can say goodbye to disputes about whether a guest has arrived or not because it is automatically updated in the system.
Enhanced security
Self-service kiosks can easily integrate with security systems to verify guest’s identity, which helps prevent fraud and ensure safety. Since guests are the ones that input their data to check in, you reduce the chance of sensitive information ending up in the wrong hands, and your staff does not have to have access to information like credit cards and IDs. Find out how to protect your property against data breaches.
Why Mews check-in automation makes your hotel more profitable?
Mews’ check-in automation gives your hotel a chance to be more profitable by driving ancillary revenue. You can integrate upselling into the check-in process, offering upgrades, extra services, and products into the guest journey starting from check-in at your branded kiosk. For example, you can offer an upgraded room that might be ready when the room they booked is not quite ready, late check out, and other services that guests are more likely to book when it is integrated into the check-in process.
Within the self-service kiosk you can feature different upgrades tailored to a guest’s preferences so that you will be more likely to increase the average daily spend and thus increase your hotel’s bottom line. These automated check-in systems can also collect data on guest preferences and behaviors to improve marketing efforts, ensuring that you are spending your marketing budget on the right kind of target audience and increasing the likelihood of attracting that target audience and therefore stimulating profitability.
Conclusion
We’ve looked at how an automated hotel check in process can make your hotel profitable, driving guest satisfaction, improving operations, and cutting back on costs. Automation is what helps deliver seamless operations, freeing up space for employees to focus on what really matters: the guests. By automating check-in, you are one step in the right direction to a guest-centric operation.
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