There was a time when digital check-in and out was restricted to the big-guns in the hotel industry. Hilton’s Hilton Digital Check-in, and Marriott’s Bonvoy™ App are great examples of how hotel check-in and out has been successfully digitized, which is not surprising given the funds they have available to them. But what about smaller chains and independent hotels? The industry is now starting to catch up with the big hotel chains by providing high-quality, affordable, and innovative solutions. For this exact purpose, SuitePad recently teamed up with hotelbird, the No. 1 check-in and out solution for the hotel industry, to provide their wonderful services on SuitePad’s digital in-room tablets.
SuitePad and hotelbird
This month, SuitePad announced their partnership with hotelbird to bring world-class digital check-in and out services to hotels around the world at an affordable price. In addition to the check-in and out services, customers will also benefit from all the services provided by SuitePad such as the Digital Guest Directory, SuitePad Phone, SuitePad TV Control, and SuitePad BYOD. By providing this extra service, SuitePad has brought the hotel experience one step further, providing a fully digitalized end-to-end guest experience.
hotelbird provides one of the most user-friendly check-in and out services on the market. In addition, they offer contactless digital room key services, enabling guests to check-in and out without even visiting the front desk. With SuitePad, hotelbird has signaled its intent to expand its services and has highlighted the need for integrations between best-in-breed digital solutions for the hotel industry.
The Need for a Contactless Hotel Service During the Global Pandemic
The global pandemic has catalyzed the need for contactless service in hotels. With so many high-touch points such as room keys, light switches, and door handles, automating the hotel experience is more important than ever before. For this reason, the partnership between SuitePad and hotelbird is integral and comes at the perfect time. Guests can enter the hotel, bypassing the front desk if they wish to by checking-in before they’ve even arrived. Once in their room, they can confirm their check-in on their in-room SuitePad device.
This quick and easy process reduces the risk of virus transmission as guests don’t need to come face to face with hotel service staff. When they check-out, the same process applies—guests can check out via their in-room tablets using the hotelbird tile. They can then bypass the need to talk with a member of staff at the front desk. This service is particularly useful for guests that are worried about virus transmission, have to leave promptly, or when the front desk has limited opening hours.
The Outlook for Digital Check-In and Out
Beyond the pandemic, it is likely that there will be more and more hotels adapting to this new digital service. As the hotel industry digitalizes, so too will the guest experience. Much like in the aviation industry, digital online check-in through apps and other devices will soon be the norm, and those hotels that don’t provide this service will be left in the dust by a new breed of up-to-date, modern, digital hotels.
In the long run, this shift to a more digitalized service will generate increased revenue for early adopters. As guests become more aware of the convenience of digitalization in the hotel industry, they’ll increasingly choose hotels that offer them these additional services. Hotels that digitize early and remain up to date with the latest trends will keep their place at the front of the pack. The question is, where do you want your hotel to be?
Register now for a free SuitePad demo to find out how they can help your hotel enter the digital age, including providing digital check-in and out from hotelbird, a digital guest directory, SuitePad Phone, SuitePad TV Control. This one meeting could change your business’ fortunes.