A typical hotel employee is often a jack of all trades. First and foremost, they are responsible for providing excellent guest service, but a big part of their job is administrative in nature. They need to balance books, write reports, register guests, find information, respond to requests, and make sure that they coordinate their work with different departments in the hotel.

When we think of hotel technology, we often focus on products and solutions that enhance the guest experience, but staff apps are just as essential. By streamlining operations, they free up valuable time for more personalised service while improving teamwork, motivation, and support. Investing in staff technology not only boosts efficiency but also elevates the overall guest experience.

Beyond enhancing the guest experience, optimizing internal workflows and promoting greener, paperless operations, AI-driven solutions also help to attract and retain talent by making operations simpler and more accessible through automation. Digital natives are used to having information at their fingertips in their daily lives and expect nothing less from enterprise apps. Having the right information delivered at the right time and freeing up associate time through automation helps them deliver a personalised experience to the guests while making work more exciting and engaging.

Various facets of Artificial Intelligence have suddenly become viable due to the fast pace of technology in that field. Here are five ways in which we have seen apps free up valuable staff time, bring departments together and improve the guest experience.

1. Seamless check-ins

Check-in adds little value for guests or staff, often feeling like an administrative hurdle as opposed to a warm welcome. An AI-powered hotel app transforms the hotel arrival into a seamless, engaging experience. By providing real-time data across departments, it enables staff to efficiently manage arrivals and deliver a highly personalized welcome. From identity verification, payment and access controls, apps can automate all of this and take the mundane parts of the check-in away.

2. Faster and smarter decision making on the go

Finding information within a hotel back-office can be challenging, it often relies on people or systems that are only accessible through a PC on a desk. AI-powered apps untether employees from desks and back offices with access to real-time updates, guest requests, and operational changes on the go. Instead of calling or emailing, the hotel team has all the information they need on their mobile devices, allowing them to spend more time front-of-the-house with guests rather than behind desks. In addition, features such as chat, social channels, and instant messaging streamline communications when another team member is required to fulfill a request.

3. Having a one stop shop for guests and employees

Not all guests or employees speak English, and not all guests use WhatsApp or Messenger. Unfortunately, hotels often rely on a few languages and some specific communications channels, mostly telephone or email. With an AI powered app, it doesn’t matter what language is spoken or what communication channel is used. Using highly evolved translation models the smart app will consolidate everything in one place and one language making it seamless for guests and staff to communicate, almost natively, in any language.

4. Selling more and better

Many hotels use a one-size-fits-all approach when it comes to upselling, which may result in annoyance for guests and doesn’t result in many sales opportunities. AI-driven insights can help hotel staff anticipate guest preferences and personalize recommendations. By leveraging enhanced data and reports, employees can craft highly targeted upsell opportunities—offering personalized room upgrades, exclusive experiences, or tailored amenities. This data-driven approach not only enhances guest satisfaction but also drives additional revenue.

5. Stay in control of the data

Data can be as valuable as gold and should be protected as such. Hotels handle a lot of personal data including credit cards. This data is often subjected to regulation such as GDPR or PCI. Data leaks occur often because of printed documents that get lost or employees that gain access to data that they shouldn’t. With AI powered apps, data access can be managed and monitored in great detail and any regulatory report can be generated instantly.