6 ideas to improve the hotel guest experience

The way guests interact with hotels has undergone drastic changes in a relatively short period. Guest expectations have evolved, shaped by the convenience found in retail stores and quick-service restaurants.

A poor guest experience, full of bottlenecks and friction, has wider implications than just frustrating guests; it drains staff time and erodes brand loyalty.

Hotel guests expect smart, tech-enabled experiences, such as self-check-in kiosks, but they also place a premium on genuine hospitality. The best hotel guest experiences blend automation and human interaction, using technology to handle check-ins and maintenance requests, which frees up staff to deliver personal, high-value moments.

In the UK, large hotel chains such as Premier Inn are leading the way when it comes to improving the guest experience. They’ve invested in digitally enabled touch points that strike a balance between automation and hospitality and reduce wait times, and ensure a more personalised experience.

We’ll be outlining six ways to improve the guest experience in hotels in 2025, using scalable, impactful technology that increases ROI. These strategies are already being used by top hospitality brands, at scale, to delight guests and can be actioned by your hotel today.

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1. Rethink Check-In With Intelligent Kiosks

The check-in process is the first thing a guest does on arrival. Done well, this can set the tone for the rest of their stay.

Today, traditional check-in processes no longer align with the expectations of guests who are used to self-service points in other settings. 

Intelligent self-check-in kiosks are one of the most effective ways to transform this process into one that can be done in just a few taps. Guests can avoid queues, and hotels can be assured they’re making a positive first impression.

Beyond giving a positive hotel guest experience to new arrivals, integrated kiosks enable upselling opportunities to users, such as:

• Purchasing a late check-out
• Booking a table at an adjoining food & beverage outlet
• Upgrading to a premium room or suite

With built-in telemetry and analytics, kiosks’ device health can be monitored, and should fixes need to be made, they can sometimes be handled remotely without the need to add to hotel staff’s workload.

To really improve the hotel guest experience, there needs to be a consideration of design and placement. For those with existing kiosks, legacy systems can be updated to meet current brand aesthetics in a way that feels natural to the hotel’s reception. 

Whereas those refreshing the physical space can install kiosks to anchor the new, updated design of the hotel check-in area.

2. Make Mobile the Centre of Your Pre-Stay Experience

Hotels now have the power to extend the guest experience days and weeks before checking in. Mobile tools such as pre-check-in, booking confirmations, and smart email marketing campaigns have the power to offer guests customisable preferences, empowering them to tailor their stay. 

Proactive mobile communications can be made bespoke to each guest, offering recommendations, reminders, directions to car parks and transport hubs, reducing the pressure on the front desk and freeing them up to add value in other ways.

Clear communication through emails, texts, and other online communication platforms aligns with changing demographics that favour a digital-first approach. Guests arrive with higher expectations, increasing the chances of more favourable feedback.

When mobile tools integrate seamlessly with kiosks, loyalty platforms, and other systems, the hotel’s brand stays visible and consistent across every touchpoint. For hotels, pre-stay data allows for greater segmentation of audiences, giving hotels the opportunity to provide more effective, personalised campaigns.

3. Transform In-Room Tech for Comfort and Control

Once in their rooms, endeavour to give guests as much control over their environment as possible. Small touches like these give customers a sense of empowerment and make them feel at the heart of your service. 

Through in-room tablets or mobile apps, guests can order room service and find answers to common questions. Advanced systems can also allow them to control lighting, heating, air conditioning, and even the entertainment centre. 

These user interfaces not only give guests more choice, but they further reduce pressure on the front desk. Using a central system keeps the front of the house from answering phones about routine queries or room service requests and focusing on face-to-face interactions instead.

Similarly, should issues arise in a room or a guest isn’t satisfied, in-room tablets provide them the option to report it, which can be logged in a central hub where relevant team members can be deployed quickly to fix the issue.

Integrating smart TVs in rooms and equipping them with streaming services allows visitors to log into their accounts quickly and securely, making them feel their room is a home away from home.

As hotels become more conscious about their environmental impact, room controls provide energy and water usage data. They also encourage guests to take part in eco-friendly practices such as opting for fewer towel and sheet changeover.

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4. Optimise Staff Workflows With Integrated Systems

With customer service so high on a hotel’s agenda, giving visitors as many opportunities as possible to raise a concern through apps, kiosks, and in-room displays reduces miscommunication and disgruntled guests.

Beyond improving the hotel guest experience, these interactive platforms capture data over time and help hotels identify behavioural trends and continuously refine their operations. 

For example, hotels can better understand when check-in periods are at their busiest and better allocate team members to help, or invest in self-check-in kiosks to free up staff to provide more value-added services. 

Similarly, if a particular maintenance request is repeatedly made by guests, poor water pressure in the showers, for instance, teams can look to find the root cause of the problem before it manifests further.

Putting live updates and guest preferences in the hands of front-line staff through tablets and dashboards can improve the hotel guest experience by empowering them to deliver a more personal, timely, and proactive service without being tied to the front desk.

5. Use Kiosks and Digital Displays to Upsell and Engage

Kiosks have many functions and benefits beyond just being functional self-check-in tools. When used correctly, they can be valuable marketing tools as well. Marketing collateral can be displayed on these screens to promote other services and offers, including: 

• Displaying food and beverage offers for adjoining restaurants
• Highlight local events and tourist attractions
• Offer upsell opportunities to guests 
• Easily promote loyalty schemes to encourage returning guests

These marketing opportunities can be displayed during a customer's transfer from the check in area to their room.. It’s a subtle window where well-placed offers can capture attention and drive new revenue.

Away from the check in area, digital signage can also be displayed in lift lobbies, the lifts themselves, and dining areas. This dynamic way of marketing can improve the guests' hotel experience by making them aware of events and offers that they may be interested in. 

The versatility of these virtual signs means they can be A/B tested in real time. Hotels can trial different messages at various periods to see which works more effectively. 

Should new guest trends or preferences appear, digital signage can be adjusted quickly to meet them, creating a richer, more personalised experience for the guest without needing to reprint signage.

6. Create a Seamless Post-Stay Journey

Once a guest has left, their journey and experience with you do not end there. The post-stay period is an opportunity to truly impress guests by reinforcing the appreciation you have for them for choosing to stay with you.

Follow-up emails thanking them and asking for feedback about a particular moment or about a staff member, a concierge who was particularly helpful, for example, puts the power in their hands. 

Encouraging word of mouth recommendations in these emails from happy guests still has a place in this online age, too, and shouldn’t be overlooked.

Personalising rebooking offers or creating loyalty schemes for repeat stays can turn now-satisfied guests into regular visitors. Actively following up with guests is a chance to build strong relationships, ensuring they’re in no doubt about who they’ll rebook with because they now feel their hotel experience went above and beyond what they’ve come to expect.

Getting the thoughts of guests post-stay can help to improve future operations, too. Key terms, words, or themes in reviews can be spotted and leveraged to make the next stay even better, in ways the guest may never have even thought of. Regular digital feedback closes the loop between experience and execution.

From Check-In to Check-Out, Every Second Counts

Every moment of friction a guest experiences during their stay is a missed opportunity to impress them. 

Ensuring a memorable time for each person who checks in and out of your hotel goes beyond just delighting them; it ensures your operation is the most efficient and sustainable it can be.

The future of the guest experience is a hybrid one that leverages the automation and data from technology with the warmth and human touch from empowered staff. Be it through mobile-pre-check-in or self-check-in kiosks, hotels should be looking to these technologies to exceed the traditional hotel guest experience without compromising on hospitality.

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