Does Automating Guest Requests with Text Messaging Improve Guest Experience?

Here’s a small stat for you. An increase of over 25% has been seen in guest experience over the years when guest requests were automated.

When you work in the hospitality industry, having someone tell you they like you can affect your business in a fantastic way. According to TripAdvisor, 83% of travelers trust reviews when choosing a hotel, and a study by Harvard Business School found that a 1-star increase in reviews equals a 59% increase in sales. With reviews playing such a key role in the life of your hotel, it’s only natural that you think about ways to offer your guests the best possible experience to ensure they leave the best of reviews.

As you’re already aware, the expectations of the guests are always high and good reviews aren’t that easy to get. Guests expect high-quality service from hotels, which often equates to fast processes and easy ways to get to their desired needs.

Let’s talk about numbers more! 68% of guests want to use their smartphones to speed up the check-in process. When guests have to reach room service through their room phone or by physically visiting customer service at the front desk, hotels are truly only serving guests.
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The way they want it, not the way guests want to be served. Fortunately, technology can offer hotels a solution. By integrating tools to implement streamlined processes, hotels can better serve their guests throughout their stay, whether they are in their room or not. , or at all in the hotel.

Hotels are not the ultimate destination for guests. They are there to enjoy some of the amenities like the pool or restaurants or to sightsee and visit. Delivering customer service to guests, no matter where they are, is a key factor in improving guest satisfaction, and an easy way to do it? Text messages!
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For the staff of the hotels, enabling guest service through text messaging and automation frees them from a desk phone, speeds up processes and empowers them to serve guests quickly and successfully throughout their journey.

Let’s take a look at some of the ways hotel service teams can automate guest requests via SMS to provide a more enjoyable stay -

1. During Check-in —

Who doesn’t love to skip a long line? Allow your guests to check in via SMS and help them settle into their room even quicker so they can kickstart their vacation. By integrating text messaging into their check-in system, hotels can automatically notify guests when their room is ready. Some hotels even offer a mobile room key that guests can use to enter their room over the phone. intelligently.

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2. Room service/housekeeping —

Take your guests’ experience to the next level by allowing them to text you for fresh towels or room service. This process can be easily simplified by integrating an SMS software into the hotel’s ticketing system. For example, once a guest sends a text request for those fries, the message can be automatically sent to the kitchen without the need for manual forwarding.

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3. Concierge Services —

Assist your guests in touring the city they’re visiting by providing local recommendations, arranging pickup wherever they are, and offering suggestions while making real-time decisions. Knowing your guests’ interests is the perfect time to serve, give guests some recommendations via SMS, and book them on a tour or activity.

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4. Feedback and Reviews —

We live busy and often chaotic lives, and the last thing we want to do is take the extra time to provide feedback. Because of this, traditional feedback survey response rates are around 2%. offers an easier and more efficient way to get information on how to improve your guests’ experience.

Some business text messaging providers offer direct integration with TripAdvisor to allow guests to leave a review after providing positive feedback. If the feedback is negative, hotel staff will be notified immediately so they can resolve the issue before it reaches a public review site.