August 20th, 2024
When your guests book a room in your hotel or hospitality establishment, they’re not just booking a place to rest. The fact is that they are booking an experience. It goes without saying that they need a place to sleep, wash up, change clothes, and perhaps even use your hotel casting system to watch their favorite shows on the television.
They also need a space to relax, reenergize, and practice recreation during their stay. If you’ve been wondering how to improve the overall experience and increase the fun in your rooms, here's a list of ways to elevate your in-room entertainment experience. Learn how to elevate your guest's overall satisfaction and make staying at your establishment more fun.
FYI, if you are looking for some supplemental information on how to increase your hotel guest reservations check out this quick guide with steps to maximize your hotels potential.
Guests expect more from their room’s television set than a few local channels. In fact, they want what they have back at home on their commercial TVs. Most modern TVs provide access to dozens, if not hundreds, of channels. What’s more, your average hotel TV can’t compete with the multiple options offered by their phones, tablets, and laptops.
Fortunately, there are ways to elevate a room’s electronic devices and use them as tools for fostering a unique, unforgettable stay. First, make your TV sets a gateway between you and your guests. Hospitality TV systems can display personalized greetings, photos, and videos to guests when they press the power button.
As the saying goes, you never get a second chance to make a first impression.
The start screen can provide necessary info, such as itemized charges to their bill, weather reports, info on guest benefits and amenities, and more. You can even provide gaming consoles, casting systems (as mentioned in the intro), and the like to offer a great range of entertainment options.
Find out what brings your guests to your hotel. They may be visiting for a special family vacation, an anniversary trip, a birthday celebration, or something else. Acknowledge the event or reason by providing something special. Have a treat sent to the room (after determining dietary restrictions). Offer a special gift to the birthday person. Recognize the day through a message on the TV or in-room signage. Make special days extra special for your guests wherever you can.
If you have an on-site kitchen or restaurant, you probably already provide room service for meals. But what if you don’t? Reach out to local restaurants and discuss an agreement where you direct guests their way for dining in, picking up, or ordering delivery. Most restaurants already offer pickup and delivery services, but setting it up in advance can save time for everyone. You can also offer to send staff out to pick up food for your guests, creating your own on-site delivery service. Make sure they have access to menus and a means to pay for the food through their bill. Be sure to also provide accessible vending machines filled with snacks, drinks, and more.
Speaking of local businesses, you should think about providing guests with baskets, boxes, or other collections of goods from local merchants. If it’s within your budget, buy toiletries, snacks, hygienic products, and other items guests will find fun or useful from other local businesses. Reach out to these merchants to see if they can provide free samples for your guests in exchange for ad space through business cards, fliers, ads, and stickers.
Food for thought: you can offer coupons for discounts and free samples to your guests.
These are big sellers, and will make guests feel more welcome in your hotel and the community. It’s good for the local economy, and guests will return home with positive reviews of your establishment and town.
When guests settle in for the evening, they might feel just sitting back and watching TV is a bit bland. Suggest a movie night or provide the materials for one. Create a gift basket of microwavable popcorn, candy, drinks, and possibly a coupon for pizza or a similar movie night dinner/snack.
Provide recommendations for movies to watch and their scheduled times through the hotel TV system. Be sure to include business cards promoting the evening, along with your hotel’s information.
If your hotel doesn’t offer free Wi-Fi, get ready for the grumbles. Some of your guests visit on business and need to be able to access their organization’s computer systems to work. Guests will also want to access entertainment options that you can’t offer through their phones, tablets, and computers. Make sure they can play, stream, post, and share to their heart’s content.
FYI, here are some other in-room tech amenities to consider for your hospitality establishment.
Very few people fail to start their day without a cup of coffee (or tea, if they prefer). Hopefully, you’re already setting them up with a coffee maker or hot water dispenser and a few coffee and tea pods for good measure. While you can get a good deal on no-name coffees and teas through hotel suppliers, it’s beneficial to spring for a brand-name, gourmet-quality coffee or tea. Even guests who don’t think of themselves as connoisseurs know the difference when they take the first invigorating sip. It can be the difference between a basic hotel room and a top-of-the-line hotel experience.
Does a good night’s sleep count as entertainment? Yes, it does. Let guests know that you can provide white noise machines, air purifiers, and similar sleep aids that make their stay more restful. Ensuring TV and clock radio volumes can’t reach irritatingly high levels heard in the next room is another subtler way to let guests sleep in. Weighted blankets and aroma devices can also transform a guest’s night experience.
Every room should have a few outlets available for guests’ devices, of course, but a smart hotel provides various chargers for guests who need one and forgot or lost theirs. A night of fun easily turns sour when a visitor realizes they can’t charge their devices. Make sure the room can help both your clients and their devices reenergize!
If you’re feeling creative, add themes to several rooms. These are especially fun for kids if they reflect their favorite films, TV shows, books, and notions. Be careful not to infringe on any copyrights, but otherwise, magic, superheroes, the future, exotic adventures, the great outdoors, and other genres are usually fan favorites.
Those are just a few ideas on how to elevate your hotel in-room entertainment experience. Contact us for more information and a consultation on bringing the fun to your guests’ rooms.
If you are looking for other ways to continue improving your hospitality business and the overall experience for your guests, feel free to reach out to our hotel tech product team directly. We're happy to help point you in the right direction.
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