Hotel Self Check-in kiosk
For decades the offer of the hotels has been limited to the basic requirements: the reception at the reception to do the formalities, a cozy room and the selection of some additional extras. Today, this is no longer sufficient to separate oneself from others. The hotel industry is forced to change and adapt to the new behavior of the guests, but also to enter into new market conditions. Through OTAs and the alternative accommodation possibilities such as for example, the competition situation changes fundamentally. Some hotels and hotel chains try to offer something special by transforming the traditional processes. They, therefore analyze and re-design their concepts and images. The new needs of the guests to understand and to satisfy are the key to the success. An essential element of this is the “self-service” as an all-purpose feature.
By spreading the self-service in air traffic, as well as in some other areas, the customers are already used to it and profit from the advantages. Today, many customers demand self-service solutions when they are staying at the hotel. Practically all guests use ATMs instead of standing on the bank switch. The same procedure is also found when checking in for scheduled flights – so why not offer a similar service at the hotel? All major conglomerates are currently thinking about a new check-in and check-out solution or experimenting with it. The goal is to let the guest design his / her individual, optimal Guest Journey.
In addition, these solutions provide a better customer satisfaction and an all key feature in the competition. Restructuring of the reception and a new definition of the reception of the guests is an additional saving of staff possible. Depending on the positioning and type of guest, each hotel can, of course, continue to determine the extent to which the service is maintained by staff, even if self-check-in can be done with all the usual registration formalities. Some houses insist on having personal contact with the guest and provide a concierge service. Others leave the guest prefer the independence and leave the room card at the check-in kiosk (Hotelomat) and encode and even open the door via the smartphone (mobile key). Often the guest is invited to the web check-in beforehand.
Reasons why the hotels focus on check-in at the kiosk – - Reduce wait times at the reception and increase guest satisfaction
- Business travelers provide the alternative of an express check-in
- To allow the staff of recurring tasks without added value to focus on customer service. Reduction or retraining of the personnel to other tasks is conceivable.
Thanks to innovative service solutions, the guests' reception is simplified, queues are avoided, and the customer-to-hotel relationship is transformed into a guest-host relationship, which has a positive effect on everyone.