No one wants to stay in a hotel with fewer amenities or older technology than they have at home, and this is never more true than with their in-room TV. The challenge for the hotel industry is that home entertainment options have become increasingly affordable in recent years, and many people have sophisticated televisions back at home. This makes it hard to impress guests when they first check in. To increase your hotel’s wow factor, consider upgrading to smart hospitality televisions, which integrate interactive features and apps to help meet your guests’ high expectations.
Traveling Businesspeople Expect Mobile Connectivity
Your guests are now bringing more than just clothes and toothpaste when they walk through your front doors. Most bring their own mobile devices with content they would like to watch during their stay, while business people may need to deliver a presentation or briefing while in the room. But viewing a movie or slide deck on a tablet can be hard on the eyes, and sharing with more than two people can be difficult. Smart televisions enable easy wireless mirroring of content from guests’ mobile devices, eliminating the need for expensive docking stations or cables. Business guests can leave the laptops at home, saving valuable bag space for the essentials. Best of all, a hotel TV has far better image quality than a portable projector, so your teammates or clients can view presentations in high definition.
Tired Guests Expect to Find Their Shows Fast
At the end of a long day, flipping through hundreds of channels is the last thing your guests want to do. They want to know what’s on television at that moment and what channel it’s on. Many guestrooms have printed guides that show channel listings, but they don’t help you find specific programs. In many cases, too, on-screen guides can be challenging to navigate. Smart hospitality televisions allow hotels to provide interactive program guides similar to those from residential cable or satellite providers. Guests can even access detailed program information like cast lists and summaries, and they’ll never have to take their eyes off the current show thanks to picture-in-picture viewing.
Movie Lovers Expect Current Premium Content
Premium content is becoming an essential part of the guestroom television experience. During vacation downtime or off hours, guests want to watch the latest movie releases on demand, and some hotels even offer films before they go to DVD. However, content management can be time consuming; visiting individual guestrooms to upgrade set-top boxes is highly inefficient. When you upgrade to smart hospitality televisions, you can use a central content management system that allows you to control all of the hotel’s offerings from a single location.
Smart Shoppers Expect Customized Messaging
While hotels have offered information channels for decades, the content was not easily changeable and was the same for each guest. Smart hospitality TVs allow you to push customized messages to guests in real time. Content can be personalized based on guest preferences, itinerary or visit history at your hotel. For example, if you’re playing a family friendly movie in the lobby downstairs, you can send a message specifically to guests with children. Similarly, you can promote your in-hotel restaurant by advertising date-night dinner specials directly to couples.
Busy Guests Expect Digitized Services
In-hotel telephone calls are time-consuming for all parties. When ordering services, guests have to either read about their options or spend time listening to a full menu. Receptionists have to direct calls, take notes and appease customers when their choices aren’t available. Mistakes can be especially costly, too. Instead of having guests pick up the phone for room service, laundry pickup, airport shuttles or dinner reservations, smart televisions display services directly on the screen. Orders are accurate because guests can see their choices and departments receive automatic notifications when they’re needed. Smart hotel TVs also tailor options for your guests’ specific needs or your hotel’s availability, which increases revenue and customer service at the same time. If a service is completely engaged, closed or otherwise unavailable, the television can eliminate it from the options list.
Check out our hospitality solutions page for more ideas on how to use the latest technology to surpass your guests’ expectations.
