Hotel activities your guests will love: 15 proven ideas

Key takeaways

• Guest activities differentiate hotels and increase ancillary revenue by encouraging guests to spend more on experiences during their stay.
• Promoting activities across the guest journey, from discovery to post-stay feedback, maximizes participation and guest satisfaction.
• Wellness, culinary and adventure experiences consistently perform well and can be adapted to different property types and guest demographics.
• Successful activity programs require careful planning, including staffing, safety protocols, pricing strategy and return on investment (ROI) tracking.

Hoteliers are often on the lookout for that one standout activity to set their hotel apart from the competition. Becoming known as an activity-driven hotel not only boosts your bottom line through increased ancillary revenue, but it can also enhance the overall guest experience. The secret lies in offering hotel activities that are both in demand and perfectly aligned with your hotel's value proposition.

In this article, we explore why guest activities matter for hotels, how to promote them across the guest journey and 15 proven ideas to boost engagement and ancillary revenue, plus a practical checklist for launching them successfully.

Why are guest activities important at your hotel?

Guest activities are crucial because they set your hotel apart from the competition and enhance guest satisfaction by offering more ways to enjoy their stay. Over time, they also increase the average daily spend by encouraging guests to spend more within the hotel rather than seeking activities elsewhere. It's a win-win for everyone.

How to offer activities across the guest journey

If you're looking to introduce activities at your hotel, a strong marketing strategy is essential. Identify key guest touchpoints and promote activities at different stages of the guest journey to maximize engagement.

Awareness stage

In the awareness stage, it's all about making sure your potential guests know what you have to offer. Highlight your activities in your campaigns and share short, engaging videos that show guests just like them enjoying your services. Incorporate your activities into your SEO strategy by creating high-value content that showcases what you offer. This way, when people are actively searching for hotels in your area, your hotel is more likely to catch their eye.

Consideration stage

During the consideration stage, it's crucial to clearly showcase what you offer so that potential guests understand why they should choose your hotel over the competition.

This is where social media can really shine. You can create tailored campaigns designed to attract guests by showcasing activities that appeal to your ideal target profiles. The offers that will capture a guest's attention will depend largely on their individual interests.

Highlight experiences from different guest profiles across your marketing channels. Word-of-mouth, brand ambassadors and influencers can significantly influence purchasing decisions, so choose to work with influencers who genuinely resonate with each specific target audience.

Purchasing phase

During the purchasing phase, guests must have all the information they need to determine whether your hotel meets their needs. You want to make sure that when they're ready to book their room, they also see the other services and activities you offer. If activities are the entry point for the purchase, be sure to spotlight them front and center.

If guests initially choose your hotel for reasons other than your services and activities, this is the perfect time to upsell. Automating the upselling process can take the pressure off your front desk staff and increase the likelihood that guests will add activities and services during booking, especially if they're offered at a special rate.

During their stay

From the time your guest checks in (if they haven't already booked an activity), it's important that your front desk or your check-in kiosk introduces the activities available. Guests can't book something if they don't know the activity or service exists.

It's also a good idea to have information about your activities in the room, and to send push notifications or in-app messages about activities going on at your hotel throughout the guest's stay.

After check-out

After a guest checks out or even right before, give guests the chance to review their experience. Be sure to specifically ask what activities they enjoyed, how they found out about them and their overall experience. This feedback is not only useful for giving you direction, but it can also be leveraged to convince other guests to book activities.

15 best hotel activity ideas

Now that you're ready to enhance your guest experience with activities in hotels, here are some proven ideas to consider.

1. Health and wellness experiences

Health and wellness attract a clientele who prioritize their well-being and are willing to invest more in experiences that nurture it. Consider offering services such as:

• Massages
• Facials
• Body treatments
• Manicures
• Pedicures

These amenities allow guests to unwind and rejuvenate in a tranquil setting like your hotel spa. Wellness packages combining multiple treatments generate higher per-guest spend than individual services.

2. Gastronomic workshops and culinary tours

Whether it's a cooking class, a food tour, a wine tour, a beer tour, interactive workshops, tasting menus or wine tastings, guests are often driven to make purchasing decisions based on their senses. There is no better sensorial activity than through the taste buds.

Partner with local chefs or sommeliers to create exclusive experiences. These hotel activity ideas appeal to food enthusiasts seeking authentic regional flavors.

3. Bike rentals and eco-tours

For guests who love the outdoors, bike rentals and guided tours are a fantastic option. From exploring the city on a bike to venturing into nearby natural landscapes, bike tourism is both engaging and environmentally friendly.

Providing bike rentals for self-guided adventures enhances the overall guest experience. Consider electric bike options for guests who want less strenuous exploration.

4. Fitness classes

As a part of your health and wellness offering, why not offer fitness classes? Yoga, body pump, spinning and step workouts are all led by certified trainers who ensure your guests’ well-being is a top priority.

5. Live entertainment nights

Bring a touch of culture to your hotel by organizing live entertainment. Hosting live music, comedy nights and trivia quizzes in your rooftop, restaurant or bar areas gives guests plenty of enjoyable choices.

Guests appreciate not needing to leave the hotel after a day of sightseeing. Schedule regular entertainment nights to build anticipation and create repeat attendance patterns.

6. Al fresco and pop-up dining

Enhance your dining offerings by providing al fresco options and rotating pop-up experiences. Create picnic packages that guests can take on their explorations or offer outdoor dining experiences on your lawn or rooftop.

Gourmet to-go lunches and open-air dining increase average daily spend and boost food and beverage sales. Seasonal pop-up concepts also keep the dining experience fresh for repeat guests.

7. Adventure and water sports

Nothing says the holidays like adventure activities. The hotel activities you offer will depend on where your hotel is located, but could range from scuba diving to kayaking, snorkeling, sunset cruises, mountain biking, hot air balloon rides, rock climbing or canyoning.

Partner with certified local operators to ensure safety standards. These high-value experiences command premium pricing while creating memorable guest moments.

8. Sunrise rooftop breakfast

You can transform your rooftop space into an exclusive sunrise breakfast venue. Guests pay a premium for early-morning access to fresh pastries, locally-sourced breakfast items and panoramic views as the city awakens.

As a positive, this activity requires minimal staffing while delivering a unique experience that guests enjoy. By using a pre-booking system, you can manage capacity and reduce food waste.

9. Private stargazing nights

Partner with local astronomers to offer guided stargazing sessions on your rooftop or terrace. Your hotel (or the astronomer) provides telescopes, constellation guides and comfortable seating for an educational yet romantic evening activity.

These sessions work particularly well for couples and families. Consider offering seasonal themes tied to meteor showers or planetary alignments.

10. Artist residency workshops

Host local artists for week-long or month-long residencies where they conduct workshops for guests. Pottery classes, painting sessions, photography walks or jewelry-making tutorials create interactive cultural experiences for guests.

Guests take home handmade souvenirs while supporting local artists. The rotating residency model keeps offerings fresh for repeat visitors and adds variety to the hotel's interactive services.

11. Garden harvest dining

If your property has garden space, create farm-to-table dinners where guests harvest ingredients before the chef prepares their meal. This hands-on experience connects guests with food sources and the local area.

Look for ways to add educational components about sustainable agriculture to add depth and value. These experiences align with the growing interest in local, organic dining.

12. Silent disco pool parties

Combine your pool area with wireless headphone technology for silent disco events. During this activity, guests control their music channel while dancing, creating a unique social atmosphere without disturbing neighboring rooms.

Silent disco pool parties work particularly well for hotels that attract younger demographics. Since evening pool parties bring people out of their rooms at night, these types of events generate bar revenue and create shareable social media moments.

13. Historical story walks

You can develop guided walking tours that share your property's history and local neighborhood stories. By using former staff members or local historians to lead these intimate group experiences, story walks can help differentiate your property while educating guests about the destination. These low-cost activities build emotional connections between guests and your hotel.

14. Pet-friendly socials

If your hotel is pet-friendly, add dedicated pet social hours, so traveling guests with pets can socialize in designated outdoor spaces. Your hotel then provides pet amenities, treats and a casual atmosphere for pet owners to connect. Consider also partnering with local pet brands for sponsorship opportunities.

15. Digital detox weekends

During these weekends, guests surrender devices to hotel-provided lockboxes and then engage in structured alternative entertainment. Common activities include board games, nature walks, journaling workshops or conversation circles. By appealing to wellness-focused travelers seeking disconnection, your hotel can differentiate itself and attract new guests.

Activities in hotels vs. resorts: what works where

Urban hotels and destination resorts require different activity strategies based on guest expectations, available space and competitive positioning.

Understanding your property type helps prioritize which hotel activity ideas generate the strongest returns. Urban properties typically emphasize convenience and local culture, while resorts focus on immersive, longer-duration experiences.

Your location also determines activity viability. For example, rooftop stargazing requires dark skies, while culinary tours need nearby restaurant partners. When determining new activities, start by assessing your property's physical assets and local partnerships.

Implementation checklist: staffing, safety and ROI

Launching new hotel activities requires careful planning across operational, safety and financial dimensions. Use this framework to evaluate readiness before rollout.

Staffing requirements

• Determine if activities need dedicated staff or cross-trained existing team members.
• Calculate staff-to-guest ratios for supervised activities.
• Identify certification requirements for specialized activities like fitness or water sports.
• Plan scheduling to avoid conflicts with core hotel operations.

Safety protocols

• Conduct risk assessments for each activity type.
• Secure appropriate liability insurance coverage.
• Document safety procedures and emergency response plans.
• Verify all equipment meets safety standards and maintenance schedules.

ROI tracking metrics

• Participation rates per activity type
• Revenue per participant and profit margins
• Guest satisfaction scores specific to activities
• Cross-sell impact on other hotel services

Pricing strategies

• Research competitor pricing for similar activities
• Calculate break-even points, including labor and materials
• Test tiered pricing with premium add-ons
• Consider package deals bundling multiple activities

Most properties see positive ROI within six months when activities align with guest demographics. Consider starting with lower-investment options like story walks or rooftop events before expanding to equipment-intensive offerings.

Manage, sell and scale hotel activities effortlessly with Mews

The right technology platform transforms how you deliver hotel activities to guests. The Mews hospitality operating system provides tools that simplify activity management while maximizing revenue opportunities.

Mews helps you streamline activity operations through:

• Integrated upselling: Offer activities during booking with automated recommendations based on guest profiles and preferences
• Guest communication platform: Send targeted messages about activities through the guest app before arrival and during the stay
• Unified payment processing: Manage activity bookings and payments alongside room charges for seamless financial tracking
• Real-time availability management: Sync activity capacity with bookings to prevent overbooking and optimize resources
• Performance analytics: Identify which activities generate the most revenue and guest engagement
• Multi-property coordination: Manage activities across locations from one centralized dashboard

Mews also connects activity management with your broader hotel services strategy. When guests book spa treatments, fitness classes or dining experiences, all activity data flows into one system.

This integration reduces manual coordination between departments. The front desk can view upcoming activities at check-in, housekeeping can plan for latecheck-outswhen guests attend morning sessions and finance can track activity revenue alongside room revenue.

Automation further reduces operational workload while improving the guest experience. Confirmation emails, reminders and post-activity surveys are sent automatically, giving staff more time for meaningful guest interactions.

Discover how Mews creates operational efficiency while boosting ancillary revenue across every guest touchpoint – book a demo.

To learn more about evolving guest expectations and how hotels can adapt their services and experiences, explore our in-depth industry research.

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