Published May 17, 2022

#Future of Hospitality #Guest Experience #Hospitality Automation #Operational efficiency #Top resources

Transforming Hospitality: A guide to hotel automation

James Cook

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The hospitality industry is notorious for the number of time-consuming and tedious tasks that must be completed every single day. From checking in guests and room service to hotel upkeep and room turnover, many hotels still perform a lot of manual tasks.

Oftentimes, these tasks overpower hotels’ ability to invest in proper guest communication, marketing activities, and guest experiences, which significantly impacts room occupancy, RevPAR, and property profitability

Add on top of that more complex distribution environments, changing guest expectations, and sustained labor shortages. To deal with these complexities, hotels must leverage hotel automation.

In this article, we explore the basics of hotel automation and actionable ways that it can streamline hotel operations in 2024 and beyond.

What is hotel automation

Hotel automation is the use of computers and robots to conduct tasks typically performed manually by employees to increase productivity and reduce operating costs. While automation has been used in hotels in some form or another for decades – think of washing machines, dishwashers, and even elevators – the next frontier in hotel automation is now available through AI, robots, and smart computer systems. These technologies can significantly augment a hotel’s ability to turnover rooms, serve guests, and focus on revenue-generating activities.

From technology laggard, to innovator

The hospitality industry has been slow to innovate. Up until a few years ago, hotels had been hesitant to adopt emerging technologies built to automate and streamline operations. When the pandemic hit in 2020, property owners were forced to adopt technology to meet traveler demand for contactless services and offset staffing shortages. In fact, at the International Hospitality Investment Forum in Berlin, the hotel industry was lauded for turning from “technology laggard to innovator.”

Over the years, technology providers have introduced a wide range of functionality to help hotels automate all aspects of operations. While savvy operators are moving to solutions built with automation capabilities in mind, some are still hesitant to adopt new technology. Those operators who lag in adopting automation will soon face the competitive pressures of their innovator counterparts, which can translate into competitors offering faster service, increased personalization to the guest experience, and higher RevPAR.

5 benefits of hotel automation through robotics

Enhanced Efficiency: Introducing service robots in hotels streamlines operations, reducing manual labor and freeing up staff to focus on personalized guest interactions.

Improved Service Quality: With robots handling repetitive tasks like room service deliveries and housekeeping, personnel can spend more time personalizing every touchpoint of the guest experience, not only ensuring consistent service standards round the clock, but enhancing overall guest satisfaction.

Customer Loyalty: As human personnel have more time to spend with guests, they become brand ambassadors that can spend time focusing on building loyalty with the property and the brand. This leads to more upselling, repeat business, and higher customer ratings.

Time To Service: Robots can improve a hotel’s ability to deliver fast and high-quality hospitality by augmenting the speed at which the hotel can turnover rooms, clean, and deliver services to guests’ rooms. Speed of service often ranks as the #1 reason guests would return to a property, making automation with robotics a clear competitive advantage to attract and retain customers.

Automation and hospitality

One question that is often top of mind is, how can hotels embrace automation without losing the human touch? The answer depends on the type of property you operate and your guests’ expectations. Many short-term rentals and apartment hotels are already fully automated. Guests can make a reservation online using a booking engine, check-in, pay the bill, and check out without ever seeing the property’s host.

While guests of luxury hotels may expect more direct contact with hotel staff, automation doesn’t necessarily mean less human interaction. Robotics empowers hoteliers to reallocate staffing resources to develop more unique, personalized experiences. Less time spent on repetitive tasks like vacuuming, food running, bussing, and room delivery opens up a world of opportunity – from property tours to personalized itineraries. This reallocation of time can help hoteliers focus on elevating their guest experience.