We explore the potential of technology to elevate your hotel with the property management system experts at Mews.
Smart hotel tech isn’t just designed to be clever and optimise revenue – it can save time for while making operations more scalable and reliable. It also comes with open connectivity that allows hoteliers to use best-in-class solutions for their business. Most importantly, smart tech empowers hotel staff to connect with guests in more meaningful ways by replacing screen time with face time.
Six ways hotels use tech to gain a competitive advantage
We asked successful city centre hotels how smart tech has helped them thrive, so get a pen and take notes from these inspiring business, boutique and hybrid properties.
Meet the needs of modern guests
Not only do we talk a lot about the new standard of hospitality – we even dedicated a whole event to it called Mews Unfold. Guests excited about the emerging hybrid hospitality models form a big part of this new standard, spelling trouble for hotels that still hesitate to embrace modern tech. A great hospitality cloud is built to enhance guest experiences and make guest-related processes run seamlessly. Why make anyone wait in a queue if they prefer to check in online or use a kiosk? Instead of making guests call reception to discuss pillow options and dinner plans, enabling digital communication for housekeeping and room order requests would be much smarter.
In The Maj Hotel, guests pay using a Mews Terminal, a fully automated card reader that doesn’t require any staff present and allows a contactless check-in experience. Switching to 100% paperless communication also supports the hotel’s sustainability efforts.
Connect and build
Don’t reach for the hammer just yet – we’re talking about building the best tech stack. If you’re considering switching PMS, look for open APIs and access to a hospitality marketplace with zero connection fees.
For Mercure Hotel MOA Berlin, connectivity was a top priority. After integrating various business and event functions into their hospitality cloud, they saw a 16% ADR increase.
As a modern hotelier, you need a cloud-based solution that’s easy to use for your team and willing to innovate with you as you scale. Prioritise security, connectivity and good customer service.
Use automation to reduce operational costs
Rising hotel operating costs can significantly affect your bottom line. Automation to the rescue. In just a few clicks, you can automate boring tasks, ditch night audits and eliminate manual errors. Curious hoteliers can even use automation to monitor their competitors.
A cloud-based PMS can trim your costs significantly by centralising services. It lets you seamlessly sync all hotel operations while providing advanced security, unlike a physical server, which unauthorised people can break into.
Payment automation can help you reduce operational costs and remove any risk of manual errors. By automatically processing card payments, Postillion Hotels saves eight hours per day while ensuring that any fraudulent bookings are noticed.
Retain great hotel staff
Good hotel software can help you mitigate staff turnover and provide superior service.
Do you still fear that embracing technology will result in a lack of human touch? Modern tech actually does the opposite: it replaces screen time with quality guest time.
A well-designed hospitality cloud takes away tedious tasks from guests and staff, who have better things to do with their time than staring at a screen or punching in credit card numbers.
UDS saw zero staff turnover in the first year of their newly opened Mews properties and widened their hiring pool by 100%, attracting people better suited to providing engaging hospitality across multiple spaces.
Drive direct bookings and personalise offers
Are you already investing in marketing, including website, advertising and data tracking? Bravo, you’re doing an excellent job. Now let’s take it to the next level with data analytics in real-time. We’re talking about enhanced targeting ahead of the guest’s arrival and during their stay.
With smart tech, you can build a smooth guest journey that drives direct bookings on your website and opens multiple upsell opportunities. The most successful hotels use guest profiles to anticipate the needs of their guests and tailor packages specifically for each person.
Diversify revenue through mixed use spaces
There are plenty of options to diversify your revenue: hybrid workspaces, events, hotels turned into homes and offices – and smart tech can empower you to turn gyms, parking spots and meeting spaces into real revenue earners.
It’s time to move on from RevPAR as a core metric and accept metrics like RevPAG and LTV.
We’ve put together a guide on our website featuring top city centre hotels. Learn how they use tech and automation to maximise staff satisfaction, improve operations, resource management and create remarkable guest experiences.
Written by Anuška Linc, Mews. www.mews.com
