Here are a few ways in which big data can improve the guest experience.

At the Four Seasons, guests choose from one of three mattress toppers, and their choice of firmness is noted and acted upon each subsequent stay.

Hilton and Marriott track the room features guests regularly choose, from connecting rooms to floor location, and automatically book guests in a room as closely aligned with their past stays as possible. Read more…

It can help understand the impact of room assignment – and ensure more happy guests. Read more

Big data improves the ability to recognise and reward a loyal customer.

Well set up data infrastructure will allow hotel employees not only recognise a frequent visitor but also easily highlights preferences, likes and dislikes in real time.

Equally importantly, big data can help recognise the needs of a new customer based on trends. Based on the profile information available from the reservation and extrapolating it with external data points, a front desk team member may be able to identify that the guest may be interested in using the spa or prefers a certain type of cuisine.

Another aspect is the availability of dynamic feedback and inter-active apps that allow guests to provide instant feedback and allows the hotel to fix any issues during stay. Read more. 

Attention to detail has always been the core of great hotel service.

Big data may be able to predict how many guests will have coffees the next day at breakfast and when they are likely to appear. Big data can provide a personal perspective on guests based on external data points including social media.

Beacon technology can enhance the guest experience by analysing beacon-provided data. iBeacon (technology that allows mobile apps to understand their position on a micro-local scale, and deliver contextual content to mobile users based on location). It uses Bluetooth technology and helps achieve micro-fencing.

Beacon technology can help speed and/or automate check-ins.

“Imagine that as soon as you walk into the hotel lobby a beacon alerts the PMS of your arrival, dynamically assigns you a room, and sends a digital key to your smartphone allowing you to bypass the front desk lines and proceed directly to your room—all without the need to check-in 24-hours in advance”. Read more …

Estimote, a developer of beacon sensors, has teamed with GuestDriven, a guest-engagement solutions provider, to deliver beacon technology to hoteliers in North America. Via short-range radio signals broadcast by beacons on a hotel property, it allows you to send your guests a variety of push notifications, like a welcome message upon arrival or a special offer to upgrade to a suite, at the right times. Read more…