Five goals – one solution: Opportunities with digital guest directory

In this, the first part in a new series of blog posts, you'll find out about what guest directories can offer, why digital communication is essential, and how hotels reach their guests using digital media.

Part 1: Enhancing digital communication

A hotel room without a guest directory? It’s unthinkable! Not only are guest directories one of the most effective means of advertizing additional services, they also give guests the opportunity to leave feedback. Printed versions come in all shapes and sizes, from numerous pages of glossy paper in ring binders to newspaper-style brochures with special pullouts on local monthly highlights. Even though they might not seem it at first glance, digital guest directories are extremely varied and can be specifically tailored to the needs of each individual hotel. Although digital guest directories across different hotels might take the form of identical in-room tablets, their content differs significantly from one hotel to the next. In fact, these directories often present content with striking individuality, with the strengths and unique features of each hotel perfectly reflected in its digital guest directory.

This blog post is the first in a very special series in which we will present the wide-ranging opportunities that digital guest directories have to offer, as well as introducing a handful of real-world use cases to illustrate how we have helped our clients achieve their goals. After briefly outlining the goals to be discussed in subsequent posts, we will explore the topic of digital communication in hotels in more depth.

What goals can digital guest directories help you achieve?

Enhancing digital communication
Increasing sales through upselling
Boosting brand recognition & brand communication
Optimizing and automating processes
Reducing costs

Goal #1: Enhanced digital communication

Do you sometimes get the feeling that modern guests are no longer interested in engaging with hoteliers or hotel staff, do not value personal communication, and instead choose to confine themselves to their rooms? While you aren’t alone, that assessment is not entirely fair. In fact, the younger generation of guests – known as millennials – value hotel-guest communication just as much as baby boomers and Generation Xers. What has changed, however, is how they communicate and the channels they use to do so.

Do you personally write a letter to a hotel after your visit with feedback on your stay? Maybe you drive to your favorite local Italian restaurant when you want to put in an order for dinner? In all likelihood, you don’t do either of these things – because you too have embraced the world of digital communication. The latter has utterly transformed almost every part of our daily lives. We get our news online, shop online, exchange money online, provide feedback online, and most of us now manage our money using online banking.

But what exactly does digitalization mean for the hotel industry? A study in the Harvard Business Review has shown that the hotel industry is one of the least-digitalized areas of the economy after the agricultural and construction industries. In fact, digital communication in hotels, which primarily takes place in the pre-stay and post-stay phases, mostly involves third parties. Guests reserve rooms on Booking.com and leave reviews on TripAdvisor, thereby never actually communicating directly with the hotel. During their stay, guests often use ‘classic’ means of communication – and, of course, such communication must not be undervalued. Yet the new generations of guests, the guests of today and tomorrow, are accustomed to communicating and interacting by digital means.

Click here, order there: Modern communication requires clarity and simplicity

Nowadays, digital solutions are essential if hotels are to prevent third parties from taking over the hotel-guest relationship completely and if they want to restore direct lines of communication with their guests. Apps and smart TVs are a good start – but choosing a medium that is easy to use is just as important if this communication is to be successful. It must enable you, as a hotelier, to react quickly to the latest trends and developments. Guests, on the other hand, must feel they can share their feedback and wishes with the hotel with almost no effort at all.

A tablet is particularly well suited as a digital guest directory in hotel rooms, offering flexible content and facilitating digital communication. It is not too late to establish communication when guests arrive and pick up their tablets – in fact, it offers the perfect opportunity to establish a connection.

Digital guest directory success: Dorint Hotel Frankfurt/Oberursel

Offering rooms with digital, contemporary furnishings has been a top priority ever since the Dorint Hotel opened in Frankfurt/Oberursel. Particular emphasis has been placed on providing modern entertainment and digital communication channels to offer guests added-value services.

Guests are encouraged to communicate with the hotel and, in turn, to highlight hotel-specific services that generate additional revenue, as well as topics at the core of the Dorint chain.

How SuitePad helps the hotel achieve its goals

Working together with the hotel and Dorint head office, we created an individual solution with an attractive design that encourages guests to make additional purchases and communicate more with the hotel. The digital guest directory at the Dorint Hotel Frankfurt/Oberursel presents specific aspects of the hotel itself, such as its Villa Gans restaurant, along with focus topics defined by the head office, such as the Dorint Card program. The digital guest directory has also made it possible to introduce other options, such as the Green Option. With a single click, guests can digitally communicate that they would like to forgo daily room cleaning services for the sake of the environment.

Installation from the SuitePad Customer Dorint.

The results

By opening up new ways to communicate, the digital guest directory represents a genuine added-value service for guests at the Dorint Hotel Frankfurt/Oberursel. The hotel also benefits from an average of 86 hours of guest communication per month. Digital communication via their SuitePad installation makes it possible for the hotel to establish a closer connection with guests and offer them a unique experience during their vacation.

You can read more about this and other success stories here.