When you request an Uber, a plethora of automation is happening behind the scenes to match you with a driver. There’s no human at the Uber HQ manually searching for the nearest driver, doing safety checks, and charging your credit card. Compare this experience to the standard check-in process at a hotel. A guest walks in the door, stands in line at the front desk, digs their credit card out of their bag to swipe it, receives a plastic keycard and a confusing paper map of the property, and is sent off to find their way to their room. The guest certainly faces more friction on this check-in journey than on their Uber ride to get to the hotel.

Bowcott told HotelTechReport, “Forcing guests to adhere to a traditional check-in or mandating the use of an app both result in suboptimal guest experiences. A superior stay is achieved when technology is harnessed to enhance, not replace, human interactions. By striking this balance, Goki enables hotels to provide memorable experiences that cater to modern travelers' changing needs and expectations.”

So how can you create a smoother check-in process? Automation is a key component of the solution. By automating or finding tech-forward replacements for the repetitive processes that add friction, like cutting physical keycards and wayfinding, you can give guests a warmer welcome to your hotel. A truly automated check-in process lets guests self-serve: in an app or digital interface, a guest can complete a registration card and “check in,” then they can access a mobile room key and open their guestroom door using Bluetooth technology or WiFi on their smartphone. Along the way, they might take advantage of an upsell offer, browse information about your hotel, and even book a dinner reservation. Out of hotels that use Goki’s SmartLock technology, which allows guests to use their smartphones as their room keys, over 80% of guests use the mobile key functionality, showing that it’s a valued option for the vast majority of guests. This frictionless process also fosters better communication with guests and maximizes ancillary revenue opportunities.

If you had asked hoteliers five years ago whether they planned to offer contactless check-in options, many of them would have said it’s in the plans for the future, but not any time soon. Hoteliers were often concerned that switching to contactless methods would dilute their brand equity or diminish the personal experience they were known for. However, the pandemic changed everybody’s plans, and contactless check-in quickly became a necessity. Hoteliers realized that contactless options not only made guests and employees safer, but these tech-forward options could actually enhance their brand identity.

“Hotels have discovered that providing a contactless guest experience does not compromise their unique identity. On the contrary, leveraging technology to improve operational efficiency has proven to elevate the overall guest experience and bolster customer sentiment. This would explain how something that seemed like a fad [contactless solutions] has impacted how we stay at hotels and will continue to do so,” says Bowcott.

In fact, when technology, like Goki’s mobile key solution, handles the more cumbersome aspects of check-in, your staff can focus more time and energy on building more meaningful connections with guests. Even as we shift into the post-pandemic world, contactless options remain a way to deliver better guest experiences.

It might seem counterintuitive to think that automation can lead to better interpersonal relationships between guests and staff, but hotels who embrace automation can free up their employees’ time for more impactful tasks. Automation won’t replace employees, but rather shift mindless tasks off their plates, like running credit cards and sending templated emails. Since guest preferences have evolved, and today’s travelers expect a convenient and efficient experience, hotels that don’t automate at least some pieces of their check-in process will fall behind their competitors who do.

However, automating every step in the guest journey goes too far to the extreme. Hotels should seek to find a balance between technology and human interaction that allows guests to get the best of both worlds. A vendor like Goki can help your hotel implement technology that enhances the interactions between guests and staff, but doesn’t replace them.

Like with any technology, there will be a small set of users who either prefer not to use the technology or encounter challenges while using it. For hotels that use digital room keys, the most likely mishaps are guests who don’t want to use the digital room key option or guests who cannot access their phone. The common fallback option is to cut a plastic keycard for these guests which they can use instead of the digital room key, but this experience is short of fantastic. Wanting every guest to have a stellar experience, Goki took a more innovative approach with their SmartKey solution.

“Our solution provides each guest with a SmartKey through our web app and a unique 4-digit code as a backup in case they cannot access their phone. The beauty of this system is that guests can use this 4-digit code for subsequent stays at participating hotels - making it a more effective backup.  By implementing this system, hotels can eliminate plastic from their operations and empower guests to bypass the reception desk, regardless of the time. This level of convenience ultimately enhances the guest experience without sacrificing security or personal interaction. This approach is key to revolutionizing the guest journey and distinguishes Goki as a pioneer in fully automating hotel experiences rather than merely providing an auxiliary service,” says Bowcott.

Goki provides every guest with a unique 4-digit code, instead of a keycard, to use as a backup to their mobile room key. Not only does this option mean a guest doesn’t need to request a keycard and remember to bring it with them. But the benefits of this backup option aren’t just for guests; hotels can eliminate keycards entirely, and front desk agents won’t have to worry about cutting keys anymore.

How does the “Uber-like” guest journey look in real life? We can look to two hotels that utilize Goki, Capsule Hotel and Ostello Bello, for inspiration.

Capsule Hotel, located at Zurich Airport in Switzerland, uses Goki and property management system Mews to deliver a seamless guest journey, which is especially important to transiting passengers who don’t want to be held up by inefficient processes. Capsule Hotel is known for its pod-style capsules and easy check-in process. Numerous reviews mention how simple and straightforward the check-in process is, which is exactly what a guest wants to may have been traveling all day or about to embark on a long trip.

Another Goki client, the hostel group Ostello Bello, has implemented Goki technology in several functions throughout their properties. For example, guests can pay for breakfast by scanning a QR code, making the payment process easy and eliminating the need for an employee to manually handle breakfast bills. Ostello Bello’s hostels also use Goki’s software to facilitate trivia games at their lounges. Ostello Bello has been able to achieve a 100% Goki adoption rate which speaks to their younger, tech-savvy guests.

It’s clear that automation can unlock many benefits for hoteliers and guests. By looking to apps like Uber for examples of seamless guest journeys, hoteliers can work toward frictionless check-in experiences and improved guest satisfaction. Partnering with a technology solution like Goki can help you achieve not only better guest review scores, but also higher ancillary revenue and more efficient operations.

This article was created collaboratively by Goki and HotelTechReport.com.