Transforming Guest Experiences: 10 Ways to Use Automated Messaging in Your Hotel

Imagine this: From the moment a guest books their stay until their final farewell, you can offer personalized communication that leaves a lasting impression. In today's fast-paced world, SMS automation is revolutionizing how hotels interact with their guests, ensuring every interaction is seamless, timely, and meaningful.

Believe it or not, meaningful and memorable interactions with your guests do not have to be in person. In fact, with the development of SMS automation, the hospitality industry is discovering innovative ways to engage with guests, ensuring their needs are met promptly and efficiently. This shift not only enhances the guest experience but also brings many operational benefits to hotels.

The most challenging part of creating a conversational message with a guest is knowing where to start. Here, we’ll discuss how the automated messaging system in Alice by Actabl is transforming hotel operations and guest services, from room status automation to individual messages. You’ll gain tangible ways to leverage text automation, including 10 key examples you can implement immediately!

Text Message Automation

Staying connected with your guests has never been easier. With Alice by Actabl, teams can schedule automated messages based on guest reservation status and arrival or departure date. As providing a personalized experience is of utmost importance, scheduled messages from templates that your team has built pull information from your guests' reservations (guest name, guest prefix/title, and room number).

What do the templates look like in action?

• When a guest's reservation is updated to “Checked In,” they will receive an automated text message welcoming them to the hotel with additional hotel information.
• 48 hours before a guest's arrival date, they receive an automated text message asking them for their arrival time and a link to the in-house amenities, encouraging them to make reservations.

Room Status Automation

One of the more common requests a front desk team receives is, “Can we get an early check-in?.” The queue formed after this request can sometimes feel unmanageable for front desk attendants. Even when a room is ready, reaching out to each guest individually is time-consuming.

Room Status Automation allows teams to provide housekeeping-related updates to their guests through messaging templates that have been automated based on room statuses. This allows teams to identify which guests want to be notified when their assigned room is ready. Once the housekeeping team has marked the room as inspected, the templated message will be sent, notifying the guest that it’s time to check in!

“The new Room Status trigger allows us to contact guests who have indicated “do not disturb” with an automated text, letting them know they can reach out to us if they need anything. In the three months we have been utilizing this feature we’ve seen a time savings of 2 hours a day! Automating these messages means that my staff can return to doing what matters: taking care of our guests.” - Cassandra Castillo, Hotel Technology Manager, The Omni Grove Park Inn

If you’ve ever returned to your hotel room to find that your do-not-disturb sign had not been removed and that housekeeping had not stopped by your room, you are not alone! This is a common occurrence, typically resulting in an evening housekeeping service request or a dissatisfied guest.

The Do Not Disturb functionality in Room Status Automation minimizes this frustration. Room Status Automation allows rooms marked as “DND” in the Alice App to send a templated text message to the guest verifying if they would like service and reminding them of the DND sign on their door. This fills gaps of communication across multiple channels and allows your team to proactively meet your guests' needs.

Individual Automated Messages

Whether a guest has asked for a reminder at a particular time or if team members would like to follow up after a dining reservation, Alice users can schedule individualized messages directly from the messaging tab. Messages can be scheduled for a specific time and date, and the scheduled message will be visible among all Alice users in the messaging tab.

Top 10 Ways to Use Automated Messaging with Your Guests

1. Room Ready Notification: Room Status Automation allows teams to provide housekeeping-related updates to guests. Guests don’t need to bombard the front desk asking if their room is ready or if they can check in early. With messaging templates that have been automated based on room statuses, guests will receive a text when their accommodation is ready.

2. DND Reminder: Often, guests forget they have a DND sign on their door and miss out on their housekeeping service. The Room Status Automation allows rooms marked as “DND” in the Alice App to send a templated text message to the guest verifying if they would like service and a reminder of the DND sign on their door, ensuring all guest needs are met!

3. Welcome Message: When a guest's reservation status reaches Checked-In, an automated message can be sent to welcome the guest to your property. This is also a great way to communicate that they can reach you anytime by texting this number!

4. How was everything with your dinner?: Typically, the front desk assists in different activity bookings or recommendations throughout a guest's stay. Let’s say you’ve helped Mr. & Mrs. Smith book a dining reservation for this evening, and you’re eager to hear if they enjoyed it, especially since it was for their anniversary! Before you leave at the end of your shift, you can schedule an automated text to the number on file wishing them a Happy Anniversary and asking how everything with their reservation was. This allows an extra level of service for your guests, even if you won’t be on the clock to send the message.

5. Reminders: Occasionally, guests will ask for a reminder, whether it’s a package pick-up, a scheduled transportation service, or even an upcoming spa appointment. Scheduling these messages allows you to stay on top of requests and provide a seamless experience for your guests.

6. How was everything with your stay?: Message templates can be automated to ask a guest about their stay 24 hours after the departure date or even once their reservation has been updated to “Checked-Out.” This is a great way to gather feedback from your guests or even provide the option to leave a public review by linking one of your preferred platforms.

7. Pre-Arrival: Start perfecting your guests’ stay even before they arrive! Interacting with your guests pre-arrival allows you to inform them of amenity options or services they are able to book in advance. You can also gather their ETA to better inform your Housekeeping Boards of their arrival date and time.

8. Departure Date: All good things come to a close! Day of Departure automated messages allow teams to remind their guests of check-out times and anticipate any late check-out requests to better arm the housekeeping team.

9. Turndown Service: You don’t want to catch your guests as they prepare to head out for the evening. A pre-evening message lets you gather preferred turndown times, ensuring a better experience for both the guest and your housekeeping team!

10. Is there anything that would make your stay better?: Check in with your guest during their stay to ensure they are comfortable and have everything they need. From an extra comforter to a dinner recommendation, staying in touch with your guests personalizes their stay and lets your team promptly meet all needs.

SMS automation is a game-changer in the hospitality industry, offering hotels a dynamic way to enhance guest interactions with personalized, timely messages from pre-arrival to post-departure. By leveraging Alice by Actabl's innovative features, hotels can streamline operations, save valuable time, and focus on providing exceptional, memorable guest experiences. This technology not only simplifies communication but also enriches the guest journey, making it an indispensable tool for modern hotels committed to outstanding service and operational excellence.