Digital Concierge Service Going Mainstream

We have mentioned several applications for the hotel and hospitality industry, including some to help you find a last-minute room and some to give you’re a full-service tour of your destination. Apps are starting to take away the spotlight from traditional websites as our go-to choice for information. Apps are also beginning to take shape into full-service concierge services for the hotel industry. Most hotels have a concierge, but a digital concierge is becoming more commonplace and for a good reason. A digital concierge is your full-time worker bee that can perform many tasks and transcend your hotel from the analog and into the digital age.

What is a virtual concierge, and what does it do? Well, a virtual concierge is a digital source for handling all your hotel needs. A digital source can be a Smartphone application, video, or even a monitor in your guest services area. The idea is to be a go-to source for guests and anyone looking for information about the hotel. You do this in a convenient, interactive, and helpful way. You can offer restaurant tips, driving directions, favorite night clubs by locals, and flight arrival and departure times, to name a few. There is no limit, whatever you think your guest and potential guests will like and want them coming back for more.

Hyatt Hotels have been using Twitter as a customer service tool allowing its guests to send request 24 hours a day. Intercontinental Hotels has been using video starring individual hotel concierges that can be viewed on iTunes and YouTube. Marriott International Renaissance Hotels have a program called Navigator, which offers suggestions for drinks, shopping, and sightseeing that can be accessed from the hotel’s webpage and iPhone app. Marriott International Courtyard, which is a mid-tier brand, has a 55-inch touch screen in their lobby called the GoBoard that provides news, weather, and employee picks for restaurants and local attractions.

There are many more hotels that are using digital concierges to help their hotels stand out and take their guest relations to another level. A digital concierge will never replace face to face interaction and is not intended to do so, but having a digital concierge service can be used in conjunction with one. It can help improve customer satisfaction and can lighten your daily workload. If you are in the hospitality business you know, that is always welcomed.