The contact-free hotel: A vision of the new hospitality

As the world begins to open up again and COVID-19 travel restrictions are loosened, the hospitality industry can finally start its recovery. One of the many difficult tasks facing hoteliers is the question of guest safety. More than ever, cleaning and hygiene are the forefront of minds, as is social distancing and other safety measures. In short, in order for guests to stay in your property, they need to trust you and the processes you’ve put in place.

So how do you run a safe hotel, hostel or apartment? It’s not enough to invest in extra housekeeping alone: you need a holistic approach that will make the entire guest experience safer, from pre-arrival to departure, minimizing physical touch points. For this, technology is your ally. 

The steps to becoming a contact-free hotel

As long as you have the right property management system, it’s entirely possible (and actually quite easy) to have a fully contact-free hotel. Eliminating any touch points for guests reduces the chance of spreading Coronavirus and makes for a safer stay – for guests and your staff. Here’s what a contact-free guest experience looks like with Mews.

Pre-arrival

The contact-free experience begins before your guests have even arrived at your property. It’s really important to consider this part of the journey because it lays the foundation for everything that happens once guests arrive. This is where automation begins and helps you to eliminate any unnecessary administration and paperwork during their stay.

Mews Online check-in lets guests check-in from the comfort and safety of their own homes, before they even step out of their door. You’re able to capture important guest details and credit card information, meaning they shouldn’t need to fill in any details once they arrive at reception. 

• Automate and process payments before guests arrive
• Eliminate manual settlements with automated payments throughout the guest’s stay
  

Arrival

Meeting your guests for the first time is crucial. This is where the balancing act between being hospitable and being safe really begins, and we’ve already written about the importance of maintaining the art of hospitality in a post-COVID world. 

Some guests will value a more traditional welcome than others, and if you’re keen to please everyone it’s great to offer a choice of arrival experiences, such as meeting face to face or using a contact-free solution. The latter is the safer option, and can be easily achieved through Mews check-in kiosk.

Mews Kiosks are the best way of ensuring a guest can go almost immediately to the safety of their room. There’s no need to stand in line in order to fill out forms, and guests can even book additional products and services. 

• Allow guests to check in simply by entering their confirmation number and last name
• Reduce queues for a safer reception area
• Integrate with all major key cutters and door lock solutions, eliminating unnecessary touch points

During the stay

Once a guest is checked in, they’re in your care, and it’s vital to show them that you take their safety seriously – the same goes for your staff. 

The Mews virtual concierge lets guests send direct messages to your team, meaning there’s no need for them to walk to reception or use a different phone. It’s a great way to schedule services like food deliveries (which can be left safely outside the guest’s door) while also maintaining safe but personalized interactions.

Mews Operations gives your housekeeping team the technology to work more safely and efficiently. The app enables your staff to work on digitally assigned spaces and provide real-time progress updates via a phone or tablet. This means that teams can communicate their location in order to stay safe, and there’s no need for any paper records that need to be handed over. 

• Provide safe and personal guest and staff communication through two-way messaging
• Eliminate unnecessary touchpoints and stay informed about susceptible guests
• Ensure the even spread of reservations with automated room allocation strategy

Departure

The final step of the contact-free journey is when your guests check out. The last thing you want is to undo all your good work throughout their stay by making guests queue at reception to take care of admin that could be automated and done via their phone.

Mews Online check-out lets guests settle their bill online and choose their time of departure from a link on their phone. The room will be automatically checked out in the system at the selected time, meaning that housekeeping will know when it’s safe to clean the room.

• Eliminate physical touchpoints at reception as all guests need to do is drop off their keys
• Get real-time notifications when guests check out, meaning more efficient housekeeping 
• Send automated ‘thank you’ emails with promo codes for their next stay and ask for reviews to encourage future guests to stay

Go contact-free

The changes to hospitality brought about by the Coronavirus aren’t going to be short-term. It’s likely that enhanced hygiene and safety will become the new normal, and the sooner your property addresses it, the better prepared for the future you’ll be. Download our free guide to going contact-free to discover the simple steps you can take.

With low occupancy and closed properties, now is the best time to change your PMS. Setting up a contact-free hotel isn’t only good for guest and staff safety: it’s easy to do with Mews. If you’d like to know more about our contact-free features, book a demo and we’ll be happy to tell you more.