Personalizing Services for Guests

Recently, Hospitality Net asked their Digital Marketing in Hospitality panel how hotels could use AI to shift bookings from OTAs to their direct channels. You might find this answer interesting: In the near term, the biggest opportunities AI provides for driving direct revenue revolve around creating richer, more personalized experiences at each stage of the guest journey. Hotel marketers can use AI to better segment potential guests based on behaviors and deliver content and offers — at scale — that match those segments’ intent. Increasingly, you can let the AI select and orchestrate campaign messages, images, and offers that align with the needs of potential guests, and drive conversion. Similarly, these tools can provide intelligent rate displays and offer attractive upsell opportunities to guests to improve the revenue you achieve during each stay. Real-time guest service during the booking process, including chat, can help improve that experience and increase conversion rate.  Of course, the guest journey doesn’t end at time of booking. Again, savvy hotel commercial teams are beginning to put AI to work to upsell and cross-sell on-property experiences during the pre-arrival and on-property stages of the guest journey to drive greater share of wallet. And, of course, intelligent, automated post-stay campaigns are beginning to produce results in driving repeat bookings from past guests.  In the longer term, we’ve not yet seen how universal access to AI assistants will shape guest behavior. These tools are likely to shift the way guests interact with information and experiences every bit as much as the internet, mobile, and social media have. We should expect to see new marketing and distribution channels that make it easy for us to reach guests directly — and new gatekeepers who seek to insert themselves into that process. Every silver lining comes wrapped in its own cloud.  Regardless, these benefits come with a cost. Hoteliers must take a serious look at their existing tech stack and team skills to ensure they’re ready to put these tools to work. Take a look at the partners you work with. Do they make it easy to connect with new sales and marketing partners? Do they have a well-articulated vision for how they’ll incorporate AI into their products? Have they begun to deliver on that vision? If so, you’re in great shape. If not, it may be time to start looking at alternatives.  And, finally, don’t ignore your people. Does your team have the skills, the resources, and the vision needed to adapt to a changing customer and technology landscape? You will want to give them the support they need to quickly adjust as guest behaviors — and those of your competitors — evolve. The hoteliers who are able to learn the fastest, and put those learnings to use, are the ones most likely to succeed at driving more direct business as AI becomes more common. And there’s nothing artificial about that. #AI #hospitalitymarketing

How to prepare your hotel for the Agentic AI upheaval? I believe priority #1 for independent hoteliers, midsize and smaller hotel brands is to create true two-way APIs among three crucial technology pieces: PMS-CRS-CRM. This is the only way to prepare the property for the agentic AI, expected to take over hotel bookings, guest relationships and personalization over the next years. Where do hoteliers start? Implement a CRM technology to aggregate all of the property’s first-party and zero-party data, which is then cleansed, de-duped, enriched and appended. If you already have CRM in place, consider upgrading to a CDP to empower property operations and deliver above-and-beyond customer service and personalization. First-party data is the customer data (past customers & guests, website users, opt-in email subscribers, lists of corporate travel managers, meeting planners, wedding and event planners, SMERF group leaders the property has been doing business with or at least in communications with, etc.) that comes from the PMS, CRS, WBE, from the property's website, opt-in email sign-ups, even customer lists sitting on laptops of sales and marketing personnel. The CRM (and CDP for more complex independents, midsize and smaller brands) provides “a single source of truth” for guest data and creates 360-degree guest profiles, augments these with preferences, social media ambassadorship, customer engagement data, etc., which enables ALL hotel departments to do their job more efficiently and effectively. The more you know about your guests, their preferences, their likes and dislikes, their past stay history, and their RFM value (Recency, Frequency, and Monetary), the better you can deliver value, recognition, and personalized service. AI can make this process a thousand times more efficient and effective. Ex. Operations can now anticipate guest requests and preferences, and personalize customer experiences; Marketing can finally embark on one-to-one marketing and can significantly increase customer engagements via similar audiences marketing. First-party and zero-party guest data have become more precious than gold today due to government privacy regulations as well as browsers and search engines own privacy protections. The moral of the story? Before jumping into futuristic AI connectivity projects with Model Context Protocol (MCP) or Agent-to-Agent (A2A), take care of the fundamentals to prepare for the upcoming Agentic AI upheaval that will, inevitably, take over hotel bookings, guest relationships and personalization over the next years.

A hotel is just a box. Some boxes are bigger than others. Some are shinier. Some are filled with marble, glass, and chandeliers. Some are stocked with Michelin-starred chefs, while others have average buffets and a coffee machine that breaks down every week. Some boxes have staff who are robotic, others have staff who make you feel like family. But at the end of the day, strip it all down, it is still just a box. The box does not define the experience. The people inside it do. The culture you create inside it does, and this is where too many in hospitality get it wrong. They invest millions into building the box, but they put little thought into the soul of it. Here is the hard truth: travelers today are NOT loyal to your box. They are loyal to how your box makes them feel. They are loyal to the story you tell, to the way your staff treats them, to the sense of belonging you create. They can find a nice box anywhere. But they cannot find the same emotional connection everywhere. That is what creates loyalty. So what does this mean for leaders? It means stop obsessing over the thread count of the sheets and start obsessing over the training of your staff. Stop spending all your time with the architects and start spending time with the culture builders. Stop talking about occupancy rates like they are the only KPI that matters and start talking about repeat guests and guest referrals as the true north. Tactical advice for those running hotels: 1. Train for emotional intelligence, not just technical skills. Anyone can learn how to carry a tray or make a bed. Not everyone knows how to read a guest’s mood and respond accordingly. Make that the priority. 2. Build rituals of connection. Daily huddles where staff share a moment of kindness they created. Weekly recognition for employees who go beyond the script. Give your team reasons to feel proud and engaged. 3. Make leadership visible. If the GM is only seen during investor calls, you are doing it wrong. Walk the lobby, talk to guests, jump into service when needed. Show your people that you lead from the front. 4. Invest in storytelling. The box is your stage. Your team are the performers. Your brand story is the script. If you are not actively shaping that story on social media, in marketing, and in every guest touchpoint, someone else is telling it for you. 5. Use data to personalize. Not just in-room preferences, but in emotional triggers. Who likes to be greeted by name, who values privacy, who celebrates anniversaries. Technology should empower staff to connect more deeply, not to automate humanity out of the process. If you want to future-proof your hotel, remember this: The box is just the container. Your people, your culture, and your story are what make it unforgettable. Otherwise, you are just another expensive box that will be forgotten the second the guest checks out. --- If you like the way I look at the world of hospitality, let’s chat: scott@mrscotteddy.com

Here’s a common myth about personalization: All you need is a customer’s name to make it effective. True personalization goes much deeper, it’s about understanding behaviors, preferences, and needs to create meaningful experiences. Collecting the right data isn’t just about volume, it’s about relevance. You can’t offer genuine personalization without truly knowing your audience. Here’s how I’ve approached it: ➜ Identify key data points. Don’t collect data just for the sake of it. Focus on what will actually help you understand your customers better, things like purchase history, browsing behavior, and engagement patterns. ➜ Leverage tools wisely. Using the right tools is crucial. We’ve integrated platforms (like HubSpot) to ensure we’re gathering and utilizing data that matters, not just creating noise. ➜ Respect privacy. Personalization should never come at the cost of privacy. Being transparent with your audience about what data you collect and how you use it builds trust. ➜ Test and refine. Data isn’t static, and neither should your approach to personalization be. Continuously test what works and refine your strategy to meet your customers' evolving needs. ↳ By focusing on relevant data, not just more data, we’ve been able to create personalized experiences that resonate, leading to stronger customer relationships and better results. What’s been your biggest challenge in collecting data for personalization? How are you overcoming it? #data #personalization #hubspot

I’ve been having a lot of conversations with clients that need help with creating VIP experiences on tighter budgets. Sound familiar? I’m going to share some strategies for “smart luxury” so you can create more of those win-win premium experiences while keeping you on-budget and driving the results you want! But first…I love this quote: “Luxury means just giving more; hospitality means being more thoughtful”. Powerful, huh? But what does that mean? Example #1: Rather than spending $100 more on caviar for every attendee, investing in an “event concierge” who will sending a personalized email to every attendee before a special dinner to ask them if they have any special requests, share with them who they can expect to meet, the format, how much you’re looking forward to making personalized intros to them...  Why does this work? If you take the time to invest in getting to know your attendees and showing you’re invested in their personal experience, they are more likely to show up, be engaged, remember to take the action you want them to take after the event. Example 2: Rather than providing fancy but generic gifts, do a little time “researching” guests and personalize a welcome amenity to set the tone for the event. I once bought-out a hotel for an event, and they sent up a “blind tasting” wine experience to my room when I arrived since I had recently passed the Court Master Sommelier exam. They had researched that about me. It was so fun to have a playful moment where I got to taste wine and guess what they had selected for me (it was a Robert Sinsky pinot gris and yes, I still remember 10 years later because it was so personalized and unique!) Why does this work? That bottle of wine cost them roughly $30, but the thoughtfulness that they put into covering the bottle, printing out a blind tasting test from the Court master sommelier site, and delivering it with some nuts/olives and a fun note made such an impact on me, I’ve shared this story so many times! They could have instead sent up a $150 bottle of champagne, but I probably wouldn’t have opened it and also probably wouldn’t have remembered it from all the other bottles of champagne I’ve received. Fancier isn’t always better and thoughtfulness counts! Example 3: Listen and respond. I was once managing a Google Executive event and I noticed in our event app’s chat one attendee was complaining that he was really craving his afternoon Diet Coke fix. So I went to the nearest vending machine, and bought one to hand deliver to him. That Google client was so surprised/delighted that we had delivered what he was craving in the moment, that he booked a meeting with our SVP afterwards, and we closed a major deal! Hospitality is about making your guests comfortable, anticipating their needs, and then delivering a personalized and delightful experience. It can involve luxurious treats, but doesn’t need to. All it takes is time, intentionality and good old fashioned hospitality.

Oh the irony.....AI might be the best way to bring humanity back to hospitality. I know, that sounds backwards. But think about it. Most hotels are drowning in data they can’t use. Fifteen different systems, each hoarding a piece of the guest story. So when a loyal guest walks in for the fifth time, they’re still asked: “Is this your first stay with us?” That’s not hospitality. That’s a missed opportunity. That's a disappointed guest. Here’s the twist: AI can fix this. Not by replacing people, but by giving them what they’ve been missing: context. Imagine a simple dashboard that tells the front desk: ✔️This guest prefers a cold room and two extra pillows. ✔️ They celebrated an anniversary here last year. ✔️ They had an issue with the Wi-Fi on their last stay. Now your staff isn’t starting from zero. They’re starting from recognition. From connection. From humanity. The catch? AI can only help if your data is in order. If your data is accessible. So here’s a bit of advice: if your systems are fragmented or hard to use, getting them unified and data is actionable is step one. At Hapi, we exist to help with exactly that... making it easier for your team to turn insights into genuinely personal guest experiences. Giving your team the ability to make a human connection. The winners in this industry will be the brands that stop treating AI as a gadget and start using it as a tool for their teams to be more… well, human. https://lnkd.in/dyRdnxMy

Service vs. Hospitality: What’s the Difference? As a Hotel Director onboard a cruise ship, I’ve had the privilege of witnessing thousands of guest interactions, each one a chance to either deliver a task or create a memory. Over the years, one lesson has become crystal clear to me: there’s a profound difference between service and hospitality. Service gets the job done. Hospitality leaves a mark. And understanding the distinction between the two is what separates good experiences from unforgettable ones. Recently, I came across an article that really stuck with me, it was about the difference between service and hospitality. I was so impressed by how clearly and simply it explained the two concepts. The distinction was made in such an elegant and straightforward way that it really resonated with me. Here are five key truths I’ve learned that continue to guide my leadership and our onboard culture: 1. Service is transactional. Hospitality is personal. Service is checking in a guest efficiently and professionally. Hospitality is recognizing that same guest from their last voyage, calling them by name, and welcoming them like an old friend. It’s not just about process—it’s about presence. 2. Service is following steps. Hospitality is anticipating needs. Yes, a guest should receive their meal on time. But what if we could offer their favorite wine before they even mention it? Hospitality is about going beyond the checklist—it’s about reading the moment and showing we care enough to notice. 3. Service is reactive. Hospitality is proactive. Service responds to a complaint with a solution. Hospitality works behind the scenes to ensure that complaint never happens in the first place. By understanding guest expectations and staying one step ahead, we create peace of mind before issues arise. 4. Service is standardized. Hospitality is emotional. Service ensures the room is spotless. Hospitality adds a handwritten note or arranges a guest’s favorite flowers. The former is expected. The latter touches the heart. 5. Service is an expectation. Hospitality is what makes a brand unforgettable. Any hotel—or ship—can offer service. But it’s the feeling of genuine hospitality that guests carry with them, long after they disembark. It’s what makes them return. It’s what they tell their friends about. Why It Matters In the world of luxury travel, speed and efficiency are no longer enough. Guests crave authenticity. They seek connection. And that’s where hospitality shines. When we, as hoteliers and service professionals, embrace hospitality as a mindset, not just a department, we elevate every interaction. We create not just satisfaction, but loyalty. Not just moments, but memories. As someone who lives and leads in a floating hotel, I’ve come to see that hospitality isn’t a skill, it’s a choice. One we make every day. One that turns service into something so much greater. And that’s what makes all the difference. Celebrity Cruises

I’ve noticed that most hotels struggle with upselling… not because guests won’t spend more, but because they’re being offered things they don’t actually want. Guests don’t want random upgrades thrown at them. They want experiences that feel personal, relevant, and add real value to their stay. The problem? Most upselling strategies feel like a sales pitch, not a service. Here’s what the best hotels do differently: ✅ They listen first. Instead of pushing generic offers, they ask the right questions to uncover what matters most to each guest. ✅ They use data wisely. AI and guest history help predict what a guest is likely to value—whether it’s a private cabana, late checkout, or a chef’s tasting menu. ✅ They make it seamless. The best upsells don’t feel like an extra charge they feel like an enhancement to an already great stay. Hotels that stop guessing and start personalizing see higher guest satisfaction AND increased revenue. It’s not about selling more, it’s about offering better. What’s one upsell you’ve said yes to at a hotel that felt like a no-brainer? #hospitality #hotels #guestexperience #revenuegrowth

Soft touches. 𝗛𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗰𝘁. One of my best experiences as a guest? I remember my stay at Chileno Bay Golf & Beach Club in Los Cabos (Auberge Resorts Collection and Discovery Land Company). One evening, after dinner at their sister property Esperanza, I was impressed by a local cigar roller crafting perfect cigars right in the lobby. I enjoyed what turned out to be the best cigar of my life. So much so that I wanted to take some home, but I hadn't enjoyed it until we got back to our hotel. Knowing we were leaving the next day, I reached out to the concierge via WhatsApp. Without hesitation, they arranged for someone to purchase several cigars (12 to be exact) with petty cash and delivered them to me just before my flight. A small gesture of going the extra mile. But one that left a lasting impression. It wasn’t just this instance. Every day, whether lounging by the pool or walking the gardens, each staff member seemed to strive to make our stay as memorable as possible. From impromptu treats like jello shots delivered right to your float, to a spontaneous golf cart tour for the kids, they made every moment count. It’s not always about the grand gestures. Sometimes, it's those minor, thoughtful acts that transform a good stay into a great one. That turns first-time guests into lifelong customers. And here’s where technology comes in... Many of the tools and systems that enable such personalized service are the very ones we review at HotelTechReport. The right technology empowers hotel teams to deliver attentive, personalized service that creates memorable experiences, just like the one I enjoyed. I’d love to hear from you. What has been 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 most memorable hotel experience and why? What were the little details that made it so special? #HospitalityIndustry #CustomerExperience #LuxuryTravel HotelTechReport.com | The Leading Authority on Hotel Technology Follow me for more hotel software and technology insights.

The language of hospitality speaks volumes. The warmth of a “welcome back,” or a “happy birthday” makes guests feel seen and known. There’s a common misconception that this feeling is erased by tech, sterilized by AI, and unachievable in the digital space. I disagree. Thoughtful technology doesn't replace hospitality—it extends it. When designed intentionally for restaurants, digital touchpoints can create moments of recognition that echo the best in-person experiences, empowering brands to deliver personalized hospitality at scale. A small shift in word choice can make a big impact. Consider "Our Signature Dishes" versus "For You." One centers the brand; the other centers the guest. AI-powered recommendations can make this shift a reality. This subtle reframing transforms the dining journey from 'what we're known for' to 'what you might love'—creating a digital hospitality experience that feels personally curated rather than generally promoted. This principle extends to introducing guests to new favorites. The math is simple: if a guest has twice as much to crave, they're likely to come back twice as often. More favorites mean more reasons to return. Olo Smart-Cross Sells feature uses AI to recommend dishes based on order history, location, time of day, and current basket selections. It's not just about recommendations; it's about retention. The right words, at the right time, with the right tech, turn one-time diners into regulars.