Check-in and check-out are just two moments in a much longer journey. The problem appears when a hotel treats them as if they were the entire journey.
According to Medallia, 61% of consumers are willing to pay more for a personalised experience, and companies that excel at personalisation generate 40% more revenue than the average (McKinsey). Yet only 23% of hotel guests feel their last stay was truly personalised.
This article is a preview of what you will find in our new guide: "From check-out to the next check-in".
We will cover the following topics:
- How to write a good booking confirmation message
- How to improve the guest experience during the stay
- What to send a guest after check-out
- Whether automating messages eliminates personalisation
Let's get into it:
1. How to Write a Good Booking Confirmation Message?
More than two out of three travellers place personalisation among their top two priorities when choosing who to book with (KPMG). The booking confirmation is the first real opportunity to offer it: it is the first message the guest reads after deciding to come, when they are most receptive. Most hotels waste it with a purely logistical message.
- Generic: "Your booking has been confirmed. Double room. Check-in: Friday, 2:00 PM. Booking number: 48213."
- With intention: "Hi Maria, your sea-view room is waiting for you on Friday. There is a local market 5 minutes from the hotel that day: if you arrive before 2pm, don't miss it."
It is the same information: date, room, arrival time. But the second version gives the guest a reason to arrive with enthusiasm, not just with the time noted down.
In our guide you will find a ready-made template to generate this message with AI in seconds.
2. How to Improve the Guest Experience During the Stay?
According to the same Medallia study, the stay itself is the phase that guests rate as the least personalised of the entire journey. It is literally where the difference between a hotel that just hosts and one that also accompanies is most visible.
- Generic: "Here is the city map and the list of recommended restaurants."
- With intention: "On Tuesdays there is a market in the village next door. I recommend going before 10am."
A hand-drawn neighbourhood map, with your team's real recommendations, costs nothing. It is not generic information from a guidebook, it is someone from your hotel telling the guest where they would go themselves.
In our guide you have the exact template to put together the content for this map in two minutes.
3. What to Send a Guest After Check-out?
Most hotels send nothing after check-out. And the few that do almost always send a generic template the guest themselves doesn't even remember receiving. It is the phase with the least competition of the three: almost any real effort stands out.
- Generic: "Thank you for your stay. We hope to see you again soon."
- With intention: "Did you get home safely? It was a pleasure having you. If you come back before September, there's a 10% discount waiting for you."
An email like this, sent 24 hours after check-out, closes the experience with warmth and leaves a concrete reason to book directly next time, rather than going back to look elsewhere.
We also include in the guide a ready-made template for this follow-up email.
4. Does Automating Hotel Messages Eliminate Personalisation?
Here is the nuance that almost nobody considers: thinking that personalising means writing every message by hand, every time. That is not the case. It means relying on tools that maintain your personal touch even as the number of guests grows, for example letting a well-thought-out template, with a real detail, send itself at the right moment.
- It is not the budget that makes the difference, it is the intention behind every touchpoint
- An independent hotel can treat every guest as a person, not a booking, something a chain will never be able to replicate at that scale
Final Thoughts on Guest Experience
Of the three moments (before, during and after), the most neglected is the last: once the guest leaves, most hotels simply stop communicating. And that is precisely where there is the least competition and the most room to stand out with little effort.
There is no need to redo all three at once. Choose the one you have been most neglecting right now and start there this week.
Download the free guide "From check-out to the next check-in"
