9 easy ways to boost hotel guest satisfaction

Imagine a guest arriving at your hotel only to find their room isn’t ready, the restaurant is closed, and there’s nowhere to store their luggage while they wait.

They won’t be too happy, right?

Now imagine a different scenario. Your arriving guests are greeted by name. They head to their upgraded room with a glorious city view and deposit their bags before enjoying a pre-dinner cocktail.

That’s so much better.

Guest satisfaction is a hot topic within the hotel industry. Simply put, it’s a measurement of how happy your guests are with your hotel’s hospitality, service, and amenities. And you can gauge guest satisfaction levels by looking at your hotel’s reviews and ratings.

Let’s take a closer look at why maintaining a high guest satisfaction level matters — plus some tips you can implement to improve it.

What you will see here

• Why guest satisfaction matters
• 9 easy ways to improve guest satisfaction in hotels
• Boost guest satisfaction with the right tech

Why guest satisfaction matters

Guest satisfaction matters because it impacts reviews, which directly affect your bottom line.

The fact is, people trust recommendations from other people more than they trust your hotel advertising. When choosing a hotel destination, 50% of travelers rely on advice from family and friends. And 49% turn to social media.

Moreover, a mere 1-point increase (on a 5-point scale) in a property’s review scores can support an 11% higher daily room rate.

When your property delivers memorable guest experiences, you’re rewarded with repeat business and loyal brand advocates who share their great experiences far and wide. This ultimately drives your future growth.

9 easy ways to improve guest satisfaction in hotels

Now that you know the what and the why behind the importance of high guest satisfaction, let’s look at the how. To improve hotel guest satisfaction — and quickly — consider these 9 proven strategies.

Find out how the right email marketing solution helps you provide personalized communications with guests at every stage. Book a demo to see what’s possible. 

1. Simplify the booking process

You can improve your relationship with guests by making it fast and easy for them to complete a reservation. Start by recognizing that 30% to 40% of online travel sales happen on mobile devices. So, make certain your website design is mobile first.

In addition, your guests get inspired by images and posts on places like Instagram and Facebook. Use a platform that makes it easy to monitor and connect with guests over social media. And reduce steps by linking your social media accounts directly to your booking engine.

One final tip: Include a prominent click-to-call (CTA) button for seamless access to your call center.

2. Use guests’ preferred communication channels

Your guests may initially contact you through email, move to text or live chat, and then finish up with a phone call. Throughout it all, 86% of them expect it to be a seamless conversation across channels.

To keep your guests happy, you need a flexible marketing solution that works on all channels your guests like to use. It should also collect and organize guest data into one place that’s easily accessible by all guest-facing team members.

Interested in a guest feedback solution that lets you manage reviews and feedback all in one place? Schedule a demo to see how it works. 

3. Create personalized experiences

Your guests want to feel unique and known by name, with nearly 9 out of 10 travelers looking for personalized experiences during their stays.

Luckily, advanced technology can give hotel staff instant access to rich guest profiles that allow them to tailor guest experiences. For instance, if you know a couple is celebrating an anniversary, you can surprise and delight them by offering to have chilled champagne and chocolate-covered strawberries waiting when they arrive.

4. Anticipate guest needs to boost guest satisfaction

Create even more valuable experiences when you take personalization a step further — into the realm of “predictive personalization.” Using a feature like Revinate Marketing’s Guest Preferences, you can capture guest preference data from past visits and use it to anticipate future needs.

For example, you can delight your art-loving guests by letting them know about the new exhibit at the local museum. Or, thrill the tired family that just trudged through your front door by letting them know the baby crib they were going to request is already set up in their room.

5. Address concerns 24/7

Delays in responding to guest issues or complaints can be detrimental to your guest satisfaction level. On the flip side, resolving problems quickly can be quite beneficial.

According to a Deloitte survey, hotel guests are 40% more likely to promote a positive experience at your hotel when their issue is fixed in a timely manner. An AI-powered text messaging solution, such as Revinate Ivy, can take care of routine guest questions no matter what time of day or night they occur.

6. Collect and act on feedback

Another great way to ensure your guests are happy is to simply ask them. With reputation management software, you can send guests mid-stay and post-stay surveys. The feedback you receive lets you see exactly what you’re doing right and where you can improve.

The right solution helps you quickly correct any issues, preventing negative reviews before they occur. It also makes it easy for guests to turn positive feedback into positive reviews. Consider that customers who use Revinate’s survey feature see a 51% increase in review volume.

7. Respond to reviews

According to a Tripadvisor study, 4 out of 5 travelers (81%) read reviews before booking their hotel. This is easier when you leverage a solution that consolidates them all in one place and makes it easy for you to respond quickly.

And your personalized, polite, and fast response is important for maintaining high guest satisfaction, particularly for negative reviews. It turns out that promptly and courteously responding to negative reviews matters to travelers.

8. Stay in touch

The guest experience doesn’t end when your guests check out. The right technology lets you send regular email newsletters and promotions to further build those relationships.

The best email marketing tools automate this process and allow for segmentation. This is crucial, with research from Hubspot showing that subscriber segmentation is the most effective strategy for email marketing campaigns.

With segmentation, you can customize offers and news based on guest data. For instance, you can send information and promotions about kid-friendly activities to your guests that travel with their families.

9. Reward loyal guests

According to Kalibri Labs, Ioyalty-related bookings account for more than half of total hotel bookings in the US. With the right technology platform, you can easily see which of your guests visit most often and/or spend the most on property.

You can build greater customer loyalty by recognizing and rewarding these high-value guests with special perks that speak to their preferences. As a result, they’ll feel valued and are more likely to become brand evangelists, spreading the word and further boosting guest satisfaction.

Boost guest satisfaction with the right tech

Hoteliers are not in the room-filling business. They’re in the people business. Your guests love it when you show you know them, appreciate them, and want to connect with them. Having the right technology in place is a vital tool for accomplishing these goals.

The right solutions automate time-consuming processes that directly impact your guest satisfaction levels, especially if you’re able to leverage personalized upsells that truly appeal to your guests.

To learn more about how to drive incremental revenue and delight guests with personalized offers, download our guide, “The ultimate guide to upselling techniques for hotels.”