Contactless Check-in for Hotels

The hospitality industry is one of the biggest sectors that was hit hardest by the Covid-19 pandemic. The government is forced to impose lockdown and travel restrictions, putting the hotel industry in the toughest situation. 

Nevertheless, many hotel businesses are now trying to fight and find solutions so that they can operate the business as usual with the new safety measures and adapt to the new normal so that the guests feel comfortable and safe during their stay.

The limitations to human contact and social distancing are now changing the way hotels check in their guests. Many hotels started to stop the traditional check-in and implement a contactless check-in service instead. 

What is a contactless check-in?

Before I explain to you about a contactless check-in, let's talk about a traditional check-in. A traditional check-in at the hotel is when the guest comes into the hotel, queues at the hotel lobby, waiting for their turn to collect the room key, fill up their details with pen and paper, and hands over their identity card or passport to the receptionist to scan it, then after a few process only they will receive the room key to check-in. 

This whole process involves a few touchpoints and contact. Imagine this happens during the peak season and many of the guests are queueing, waiting for their turn, this will leads to a bad customer experience at the first impression. The process is supposed to be easier but turns out to be a frustrating experience. 

While the traditional check-in has a lengthy process, a contactless check-in has the key to driving a safe journey experience and providing a seamless check-in process for your guests. Contactless check-in allows your guests to bypass the hotel front desk, do a self-check-in with the technology provided by the hotel, and access their room easily with no human contact. 

Hotel Self-Check-In Kiosks

We did some research and here is the summary of:

Type of contactless check-in used by the hotels 

Mobile app

Allow guests to self-check in through their own smartphone by using a mobile app installed on it. Guests will have the convenience to check in from anywhere by confirming their reservation number and providing the details and documents needed by the hotels and they will be able to access their rooms with a mobile key. 

150936668_l

Hotel Kiosk 

The check-in process by using a hotel kiosk will take place normally at the hotel lobby or check-in points, where the kiosk has been placed properly. A kiosk is proven to be an effective way of check-in nowadays especially post Covid-19. It allows guests to check-in at their own convenience 24/7. There are many types of hotel kiosks available in the market. Different types of kiosks will give different kinds of experiences. Some of them come with revenue opportunities like a vending machine while streamlining the check-in process. 
Kiosk check-in machine (12)

How does contactless check-in works? 

Contactless check-in eliminates most of the manual work and process with no human contact. Besides providing a safe journey experience to the guests, there are a lot more benefits of using contactless check-in that you should know. 

To make a contactless check-in hotel works, your hotel needs to have a Property Management System first to make it synchronized with the reservation, room status, and availability. All of this will be done automatically by using the hotel check-in software. This time, I will cover how contactless check-in using hotel kiosk works:

Imagine the guest makes a booking through the Booking.com platform. Guest arrive at the hotel lobby, search for his booking number through hotel kiosk. If the payment has not been made yet, that guest will be able to make a payment through the hotel kiosk, provided if that kiosk accepts payment, then the kiosk machine will dispense the room key directly. Hotel Kiosk will not only serve the booking that has been made in advance, but it also serves a walk-in guest and allow anyone to make a booking on the spot if there is any available room. 

Behind the above process, there are integration processes that take place between hotel kiosk software and hotel PMS to automate it. While guests make a booking, the reservation details will sync automatically from Booking.com to hotel PMS via Channel Manager. The moment guests check-in through the hotel kiosk, the kiosk will track the room status and cleaning progress. Then, the kiosk tracks the payment status and requests the payment from the guest if needed. Finally, the room key card will be dispensed out from the machine for the guest to collect it. Everything is convenient at your fingertips. 

Below is an example of how a guest can do a self-check-in at the hotel lobby by using a hotel kiosk that includes a vending machine.


After looking at the video, are you ready to upgrade your hotel services and provide a convenient check-in to your guests? Let's talk with us. 

You're reading a blog compiled by Softinn. We're a hotel-technology company with the mission to make hotelier work easier. Do subscribe if you enjoy reading our blog or you may interact with us on our Facebook Page.

Products that make it easier to run a hotel

Get Monthly Updates

We won't spam your inbox. We promise to send a curated list of posts to your inbox once a month, nothing more.

Subscribe Now

COMMENTS