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How Pre-Arrival Engagement Shapes Memorable Hotel Stays

For hotels & resorts, the first impression often defines the entire guest experience. As hotels and resorts continue to evolve in an increasingly competitive landscape, the pre-arrival phase emerges as a critical touchpoint for shaping guests' perceptions and expectations. Engaging with customers before their arrival not only sets the tone for a memorable stay but also presents a significant opportunity for generating additional revenue. Let's dive into the importance of this phase and explore how GoTab’s innovative Hotel & Resort POS solutions can empower hotels and resorts to elevate their pre-arrival guest experience.

For hotels & resorts, the first impression often defines the entire guest experience. As hotels and resorts continue to evolve in an increasingly competitive landscape, the pre-arrival phase emerges as a critical touchpoint for shaping guests' perceptions and expectations. Engaging with customers before their arrival not only sets the tone for a memorable stay but also presents a significant opportunity for generating additional revenue. Let's dive into the importance of this phase and explore how GoTab’s innovative Hotel & Resort POS solutions can empower hotels and resorts to elevate their pre-arrival guest experience.

‍The Significance of Pre-Arrival Engagement

The pre-arrival phase offers hotels and resorts a golden opportunity to showcase their commitment to exceptional service and personalized experiences. By proactively engaging with guests through tailored communications, thoughtful gestures, and timely information, establishments can create a positive first impression, setting the stage for a memorable stay. Whether it's offering room upgrades, personalized amenities, or exclusive packages, the pre-arrival experience allows hotels to anticipate guests' needs and exceed their expectations, thereby fostering loyalty and positive reviews that leave your guests feeling loyal to your brand and excited to return.

Building on this foundation of personalized engagement, hotels have the unique ability to transform pre-arrival preparations into "surprise and delight" moments upon guests' arrival. Imagine the impact of greeting guests with a chilled bottle of champagne in their room, a handwritten note expressing your appreciation, or a thoughtful gesture tailored for young travelers. These personalized touches not only elevate the guest experience but also serve as catalysts for enhancing brand perception and social media engagement.

As guests experience these memorable moments, they are naturally inclined to share their experiences across social media platforms, generating organic content that amplifies your establishment's visibility and credibility. This organic engagement—be it social followings, shared posts, or heartfelt shoutouts—authentically showcases your attention to detail and commitment to unparalleled hospitality.

‍Driving Revenue Opportunities

Beyond shaping perceptions, the pre-arrival phase presents hotels and resorts with various revenue-generating opportunities. By promoting special offers, packages, and upselling amenities such as spa treatments, dining experiences, or recreational activities, establishments can maximize revenue before guests even set foot on the property. Moreover, by leveraging guest data and preferences, hotels can tailor targeted offers and incentives, encouraging guests to enhance their stay with value-added services, thereby increasing overall spend and revenue per available room (RevPAR). 

‍Pre-Ordering Excellence, Anticipate and Delight

One of the hallmarks of exceptional service is the ability to anticipate guest needs. GoTab facilitates this by enabling hotels and resorts to create beautifully branded online menus where guests can pre-order food items, beverages, and make special requests ahead of their arrival. Picture this: a guest pre-orders a bottle of their favorite wine, a perfectly timed dessert, or a morning coffee ritual—all set to greet them upon entering their room. This level of personalization ensures that your establishment is not just meeting but exceeding guest expectations, right from the moment of arrival.

Moreover, GoTab's mobile ordering capabilities extend throughout the guest's stay, offering a seamless experience that allows them to bill to their room, share tabs with family, and continue ordering from anywhere on your property—all at their fingertips.

‍Booking Experiences 

Booking experiences should be as seamless as they are memorable. GoTab's innovative approach allows hotels and resorts to offer curated packages that combine various guest benefits, enhancing the overall value proposition. Whether it's spa offerings, dining credits, merchandise, or a combination thereof, GoTab ensures that guests have access to a diverse array of choices designed to suit their preferences.

What sets GoTab apart is the flexibility it offers in package redemptions. Whether you're catering to individuals, groups, specific revenue centers, products, dates, or times, GoTab's platform provides granular control, ensuring that each guest's experience is tailored precisely to their needs.

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The pre-arrival phase represents a crucial opportunity for hotels and resorts to shape guest perceptions, foster loyalty, and drive revenue growth. By leveraging innovative solutions like GoTab POS, hotels & resorts can streamline operations, personalize guest interactions, and maximize revenue potential, ensuring a seamless and memorable experience that resonates with guests long after their departure. Embracing this strategic approach to pre-arrival engagement not only sets the foundation for unparalleled hospitality but also positions hotels and resorts for sustained success in today's competitive hospitality landscape.

Explore our Hotel & Resort POS features and request a demo today!

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Situated “in the heart of it all, yet tranquil enough to make you feel away from it all too,” The Limelight Hotel Snowmass offers 99 hotel rooms and 11 residences, as well as footsteps-to-gondola access in winter and summer — right in the middle of Snowmass Base Village.

The Situation

Especially over the last few years, the Limelight Hotels IT team had witnessed a significant shift to contactless technology in the hospitality industry. After evaluating friction points in the guest journey, aligning with modern technology platforms in their restaurant was determined to be an effective way to offer elevated contactless dining experiences to their guests while also evolving their technology platforms to continue to support long-term company goals. Limelight Hotel partnered with GoTab to provide an enhanced on-demand dining experience on par with the brand’s reputation for exceptional guest service.

The Solution

Reducing Staff Touch Points Without Sacrificing Guest Experience

Guests are now able to begin a tab from their room or the property’s restaurant by scanning a QR code, texting a link to friends or family members on the ski slope to add in their orders, then meeting up together at the patio or lodge to enjoy their meal and après ski festivities without interruption. By streamlining tasks like inputting orders and processing payments, this eliminates friction for hotel staff and allows them to focus on delivering renowned guest service for a memorable experience. Since partnering with GoTab, Limelight Snowmass has consistently seen higher check averages and sales.

“We found the Point of Sale platforms we were looking at offered the guest and staff limited opportunities to further reduce touch points or improve the traditional restaurant experience. The GoTab platform enabled the guest to take an active role over the flow of their experience while simultaneously reducing touch points and further streamlining restaurant operations.”Nick Giglio, Manager of Hotel IT Operations, The Little Nell Hotel Group

According to the Limelight Hotels team, some of the other platforms that were evaluated were either missing some of the pieces they were looking for, had weak customer support models, or had little willingness to develop integrations to existing hotel platforms already in place. To that end, GoTab integrated with cloud-based platform, Infor. Together, GoTab and Infor are providing dynamic solutions to support central, efficient service across hotel amenities and deliver exceptional guest experiences.

“Previously, guests would call down to the restaurant to begin an order from their room or while they were out enjoying the ski slopes. Using GoTab, guests can now place orders from anywhere on the resort, giving them the on-demand service they want without interrupting their day. GoTab empowers us to give control to the guest, reducing touch points and streamlining overall restaurant operations, making Limelight Hotel the resort of choice for Snowmass.”Nick Giglio, Manager of Hotel IT Operations, The Little Nell Hotel Group

Since introducing GoTab, The Limelight Hotel has seen a consistent level of upsells and items sold per check resulting in additional revenue capture. They have been able to maintain service levels in their restaurants during periods when there was reduced staffing available without significantly diminishing the guest experience.

The Benefits

Eliminate Phone Orders – Take Orders from the Slopes. Guests can start a tab from their room or on the mountain without interrupting the flow of their day.

Future-Proofed Technologies – Delivering elevated contactless ordering via integration with the Infor hotel management platform.

Eliminating Friction in the Guest Journey – Maintaining service levels during periods of reduced staff without diminishing the guest experience.

  • Eliminating Friction in the Guest Journey – Maintaining service levels during periods of reduced staff without diminishing the guest experience.
  • Eliminating Friction in the Guest Journey – Maintaining service levels during periods of reduced staff without diminishing the guest experience.
  • Eliminating Friction in the Guest Journey – Maintaining service levels during periods of reduced staff without diminishing the guest experience.
  • Eliminating Friction in the Guest Journey – Maintaining service levels during periods of reduced staff without diminishing the guest experience.
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