What is Guest Experience? 

A great hotel guest experience is an essential part of running a successful and profitable hotel. It’s not enough to just provide a comfortable room, friendly staff, and good amenities; the overall experience of staying in your hotel is what sets it apart from its competition. This means taking into account all aspects of the guest experience, from arrival to departure.

In this article, we’ll look at why guest experience matters and four things hoteliers can do to foster an outstanding guest experience.

Why Guest Experience Matters

Happy customers are repeat customers. The better your hotel’s customer experience, the more likely people will come back — and provide referrals. Not only does this mean more bookings, but it also increases the chance they’ll leave great reviews that lead to higher confidence in other travelers. 

Many potential customers browse nearby hotels and seek locations with high stars and glowing reviews. The happier you can keep your current customers, the more likely they are to leave that positive feedback and encourage others to enjoy the same experience. 

The better the guest experience, the more revenue your hotel can see.

4 Methods for Outstanding Guest Experience

An outstanding guest experience is crucial for any business in the hospitality industry. It’s not just about creating a pleasant atmosphere at the hotel itself. It’s about taking action to ensure a quality experience at each stage of the guest’s journey.

Revamp Your Booking Website

A great guest experience starts with the booking. It needs to be as simple as possible. Revamping your booking website to streamline the booking process can go a long way.

Fortunately, you can use revenue reporting to understand your customer’s needs around booking. With market segmentation, you can discover where your bookings are coming from and what method of booking works best for each segment. Insights from the data help provide actionable steps you can take to funnel the revenue better.

Leverage Your Unique Advantages

Think about what you already have as unique value. Spend some time reading guest reviews to learn more about what they loved and didn’t care for. Pay attention to common threads in both guest satisfaction and guest expectations, so you can make adjustments as needed to suit guest preferences better.

Perhaps you find that those who didn’t use your valet service complained about finding a place to park, while those who did use the valet service had no issue. In that case, maybe offering a valet package would be a win-win solution.

Maybe you find that many customers had a great in-person experience at the front desk, but others would prefer a contactless check-in option. Adding the contactless option allows your guests to choose what works best for them based on their circumstances.

A traveler checking in late at night is likely tired and ready to go straight to their room instead of guest services. Opting for contactless check-in through a smartphone mobile app would speed up the process and improve customer satisfaction.

Consider offering upgrade or add-on packages that include free room service breakfast the morning of checkout or include the cost of wi-fi, if it’s not already free with the guest’s stay. Leverage what’s already working to keep guests happy and grow profit. 

Respond to Client Feedback

Client feedback comes in many forms, such as comment cards, phone calls, social media comments, or online reviews from major platforms like TripAdvisor and other online travel agencies (OTAs). This feedback directly reflects how well your hotel is performing in the public eye. While it may be nerve-wracking to respond to negative feedback, it’s important to follow up on it all.

It not only shows guests you care about their experience, but it grows confidence in potential guests, which leads to more revenue. And it encourages more feedback from guests, fueling confidence to create a positive cycle that builds customer loyalty.

Educate team members on how to respond to guest feedback responsibly and professionally so that even unsatisfied guests walk away from the experience willing to give you another chance.

Thank guests who took time out of their day to leave you a positive review and invite them to stay again. Apologize for less-than-stellar experiences and let them know you’ll reach out off-platform to come to a resolution.

Invest in Revenue Management Services

Revenue management services, if you’re not using them already, can give you a competitive edge you need in the hotel industry.

Having these revenue management services can save you time. You’re no longer chasing after competitor pricing or spending a lot of time building out and executing revenue management strategies.

Prosper Hotels can assist you with this, so you can get back to what’s really important — the guests in front of you.

Improve Your Guest Experience with Prosper Hotels

As a hotelier, your number one priority should be providing a quality guest experience. By revamping your booking process, finding new ways to leverage amenities that already make your hotel great, responding to all feedback, and investing in revenue management services, you can improve your service experience.

Prosper Hotels’ revenue management services save you time, allowing you to focus more on the guest experience. When you’re no longer chasing competitive data or stressing over occupancy rates and pricing, you can redirect effort to initiatives and new technology to improve your guest experience management.

At Prosper Hotels, our team of industry experts can develop and implement revenue management strategies for your hotel, specific to your market needs and budget requirements. Contact us today to learn more about how we can help.