The Power of Guest Experience in Hospitality – Part 2  

1. Guest profile management

A good guest profile management system is essential in maintaining meaningful relationships with hospitality guests. Not only should it allow businesses to gather and store detailed information about guests, but it would allow them to leverage that data for more curated, personalised experiences in the future. Records of guest data such as their personal preferences, room choices, dining habits, and special requests made before, help brands anticipate guest needs and offer preferred room settings, welcome amenities, and tailored promotions.

Integrated with loyalty programmes, this data can be used to deliver exclusive perks and personalised offers that improve retention and drive revenue. The better a guest is understood, the more likely they are to return.

2. Simplified check-in and check-out

Guests no longer want to wait in queues in busy lobbies and crowded halls. Tools like mobile check-in, QR code scanning, and self-service kiosks can streamline arrivals, reduce wait times, and eliminate pain points during the guest journey. IDS Next’s FX GeM enables this perfectly, allowing guests to upload documents, place digital signatures, and check in instantly through a QR code scan, all without visiting the front desk. Similarly, express check-out with electronic bill settlement is another feature to look out for in a good guest service solution.

3. Communication and guest engagement

Ensuring guests receive timely information about their stay is vital in maintaining effective communications. Guest management systems with automated messaging capabilities, for instance, allow hotels to send booking confirmations, pre-arrival instructions, and check-in reminders via email, WhatsApp notifications or SMS. AI-powered chatbots and virtual assistants integrated into these modules provide instant responses to common queries, such as Wi-Fi access, dining options, or local attractions, enhancing guest engagement without overburdening employees.

This level of convenience ensures faster, uninterrupted assistance to guests, improving the guest impression of a hotel in the long term.

4. Service request management

A guest management system with an integrated service request management feature ensures that room statuses and guest requests are updated in real-time, allowing staff to prioritise urgent tasks. Digital task management improves coordination between teams and employees; it defines the parameters of the service request, directs it to the relevant persons, and alerts them via mobile-app-based notifications.

For instance, IDS Next’s FX Guest Service allows hotels to check the progress of guest requests. This means keeping track of what is completed and not and generating reports to analyse requests, complaints, overdue reports, room status and other guest statistics.

5. Feedback and review management

A comprehensive guest management system facilitates post-stay surveys, allowing hotels to gather insights about the guest experience. Mobile guest management apps can empower guests by allowing them to rate their experience and provide feedback through their own devices.

All this adds to a hassle-free experience for both the hotel and guests, eliminating human contact where necessary, and reducing the extra steps in the feedback collection process—all the while showing the guests that their opinion is valued. Real time review responses and optimised workflows based on feedback help hotels to address guest needs as they evolve, enhance online reputation and drive future bookings.