Excerpt from PhocusWire
Pundits have been questioning the future of the hotel front desk for more than a decade. Is a hotel front desk needed any more? If so, how should it be staffed and far can it add guest value in the check in process?
Undeniably, post-pandemic economics has both re-asserted a strong consumer preference for contactless on property solutions, and accelerated the urgency for hoteliers to achieve cost savings by innovating creative deployment of hotel staff and personnel.
For the first time, however, the rapid progress of technology has opened a new world of creative thinking around what the future of guest check in should look like. It turns out to be a more expansive area than one might have supposed. Here are some key trends driving the new thinking.
Hotels of all sizes and in every market are reporting unrelenting pressure to control labor costs and balance the challenge of hiring and retention with the need for seamless service and guest satisfaction.
The American Hotel and Lodging Association reports that staffing shortages at its 32,000 member hotels are accelerating at “alarming rates” and significantly impacting not just profitability but the core guest experience.
A friend and industry colleague reports returning to his five-star hotel in Berlin one night from a late business meeting and not being able to find a bottle of water or a staff member to provide one, anywhere on property. At a five-star hotel!
My friend ended up accessing the fitness center with his room key, filling up paper cups with fresh water from a cooler and bringing then back to his room. It’s not what he expected to be doing at an internationally renowned downtown luxury property. And by no means is it an isolated incident or anecdote.
The lesson is clear: Labor is tight, service levels are declining across the hotel industry and guests are beginning to take notice.
A re-thinking of how staff is deployed to meet guest needs at hotels is more urgent than ever.
Click here to read complete article at PhocusWire.