What is hotel automation?
Hotel automation is the use of technology to perform routine tasks and manage operations in a hotel with minimal human intervention. This includes automating guest check-ins, housekeeping schedules, inventory management, and communication with guests through automated messaging platforms. Automation helps hotels operate more smoothly and allows staff to focus on high-value tasks, improving both operational efficiency and the guest experience.
How is hotel automation changing the industry?
Hotel automation can make a significant impact on day-to-day operations, providing practical solutions for improving efficiency and guest satisfaction. Here are a few concrete examples of how automation can transform your hotel’s operations:
- Automated check-in and mobile key access: Implementing self-service kiosks or mobile check-in systems allows guests to skip long wait times at the front desk. With mobile key access, guests can unlock their rooms using their smartphones, adding a layer of convenience while freeing up staff to focus on more personalised service.
- Housekeeping automation: Using automated systems to schedule and track housekeeping tasks ensures that rooms are cleaned and ready for new guests without delays. These systems can also alert staff when rooms are vacant, ensuring efficient room turnovers. With real-time updates, housekeeping can adjust their schedules based on occupancy, reducing downtime and improving service quality.
- Dynamic pricing adjustments: Automation can analyse real-time data on occupancy, market demand, and competitor rates, allowing your hotel to adjust pricing dynamically. This ensures that your property remains competitive, optimising revenue without manual intervention.
- Guest messaging platforms: Automated messaging systems allow hotels to communicate with guests in real time. For example, sending welcome messages, room upgrade offers, or notifications about hotel services through SMS or email can be automated, ensuring a seamless guest experience while reducing the need for direct staff involvement.
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Why is hotel automation the next big thing in hospitality?
Hotel automation is rapidly becoming essential because it addresses the evolving needs of both guests and hotel operators.
Guests: In today’s world, guests expect seamless, on-demand service that enhances their overall experience. Automation allows hotels to meet these expectations by streamlining processes such as check-in/check-out, room service, and communication through digital platforms. This not only improves the guest experience but also frees up staff to focus on more meaningful, personalised interactions.
Staff: From an operational standpoint, hotel automation helps reduce costs by minimising manual tasks, eliminating errors, and optimising resource allocation. For example, automating room availability updates, housekeeping schedules, and maintenance requests ensures efficiency, leading to better staff management and faster service. Hotels that leverage automation can also scale more easily and adjust to fluctuating demand, making them more adaptable to market trends.
Management: Beyond efficiency, automation empowers hotels with data-driven insights, allowing owners to make smarter decisions on pricing, occupancy, and guest preferences. By integrating automated systems with property management software (PMS), hotels can track guest behaviour, personalise offers, and ultimately increase revenue by targeting the right services at the right time.
Bottom line: Automation makes life easier for everyone involved, from the staff providing the experience and the guest having that experience.
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What are the benefits of hotel automation?
Automation is all about efficiency, ease, and providing the best experience – but it’s also about boosting revenue, supporting long-term growth, and gaining/retaining competitive advantage. Here’s how:
Hotel automation solutions improve revenue and upselling opportunities
Automation provides hotels with tools to boost revenue through intelligent upselling and pricing strategies. Automated systems can suggest upgrades, additional services, or package deals to guests at the right moments during their stay. For instance, offering a room upgrade during check-in or promoting spa services through automated messaging increases guest spending without the need for extra staff.
Hotel automation software supports long-term growth and sustainability for hotels
Automation helps hotels optimise operations while keeping costs under control, contributing to sustainable growth. Automated property management systems (PMS) centralise operations, making it easier to manage resources and reduce waste. Long-term, this leads to better resource allocation, cost savings, and scalability as the hotel business expands.
Hotel automation technology help medium-sized hotels compete with larger chains
Medium-sized hotels can leverage automation technology to level the playing field against larger hotel chains. By using advanced booking engines, automated guest communications, and dynamic pricing tools, smaller hotels can offer the same level of convenience, speed, and personalisation as larger brands, enhancing their competitive edge in the market.
How to implement automation in hotels’ most important areas
So you’re sold on automation for your hotel. How do you make it happen? Automation makes things faster, but getting started can feel slow. Here are a few key areas to focus on first.
Sales and revenue management
Automated revenue management systems use real-time data to adjust room rates based on demand, market trends, and competitor pricing. This dynamic pricing model ensures that your hotel maximises revenue potential without manually updating rates. Implementing automated upselling during booking or check-in can further increase your average revenue per guest.
Hotel operations and management
Property management systems (PMS) that integrate hotel automation streamline daily operations such as housekeeping, maintenance, and staff scheduling. By automating these tasks, hotels can ensure rooms are ready for new guests faster, and any maintenance issues are addressed promptly, improving overall operational efficiency.
Reception and front desk administration
Self-service kiosks, mobile check-in options, and automated key distribution are becoming popular tools in automating front desk operations. By implementing these systems, hotels can reduce check-in times, increase guest satisfaction, and alleviate the workload on front desk staff.
Tini Diekmann,
Sales and Revenue Manager
Hotel Oderberger Berlin
Key factors to consider when implementing hotel automation strategies
Let’s get down to brass tacks. Now that you’ve narrowed down your automation journey to a few key areas, there’s a few fundamental steps you must follow for a successful integration.
Step 1: Assess your current operational needs
Before implementing any automation tools, evaluate which areas of your hotel would benefit the most from automation. Identify pain points in daily operations, such as front desk bottlenecks, labour-intensive housekeeping tasks, or inefficiencies in guest communication.
Pro-tip: automation is rarely a one-and-done deal. Repeat this step during yearly planning to see what the next step for your automation journey could be.
Step 2: Choose the right automation tools
Select automation tools that align with your hotel’s size, budget, and operational needs. For instance, small to medium-sized hotels might prioritise automating front desk operations and booking management, while larger properties may look at revenue management systems and dynamic pricing software.
Pro-tip: Plan for the future before you pick! While you may have a specific idea in mind for automating your hotel and only feel like you need a single solution, remember that automation must integrate with your wider operations – and having lots of different tools stuck together can create problems rather than solve them. Work with a platform that can solve multiple automation issues and/or integrate with third party tools as well.
Step 3: Plan for integration and training
Ensure that your chosen automation tools can seamlessly integrate with your existing hotel management systems. Provide comprehensive training for staff to ensure they are comfortable with the new technology and can manage any guest interactions with ease.
Prop-tip: Training is paramount. No matter how advanced your hotel automation, humans will nearly always be involved at some point – and that means the chance for human error. Train staff – and retrain them regularly on new features – to keep the gears turning smoothly.
