Every guest is unique, and every experience is unique. But is there a common thread in providing a great guest experience, regardless of the hotel's specifications?
To answer this question, we asked acclaimed hoteliers to share their secrets. The hospitality professionals we interviewed have all previously won or been shortlisted for respected industry awards, such as the GuestRevu GREAT Awards, which celebrate hotels that provide Guest-Rated Excellence in Accommodation and Travel. The winners are determined entirely by their own guest reviews collected from Google, TripAdvisor and Booking.com.
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We noticed that despite their unique properties, locations, staff, and management styles, all these award-winning hotels share core values at the heart of their guest experience. Based on their insights, we have put together 7 tips on how you can create a memorable experience for your guests.
First impressions matter, and that goes for both digital and in-person encounters. Although we often associate the guest experience with their time on-site, in our increasingly digital world, that first impression often occurs during the pre-check-in stage. If a guest experiences stress and friction during the booking process, it can be difficult to recover from that initial impact.
The check-in experience is just as vital. Whether your guests value pure convenience or a warm, personal welcome, strive to provide exactly what they need. Technology has made comfort and convenience paramount for travellers today.
From booking right up until check-out, you should strive for there to be no friction for the guest, no matter how minor. Processes like filling in forms at the front desk, waiting in queues, or fumbling for a credit card are often detested. By removing these hurdles, you give guests the freedom to choose what works best for them, making them feel as though the hotel is adapting to their needs, rather than the other way around.
Implementing technological solutions such as mobile check-in/check-out, reliable Wi-Fi, and smart room features can significantly enhance a guest's stay. These tools provide guests with greater control over their own experience, and often reduce the friction typically associated with traditional hotel processes, paving the way for a more seamless and modern service.
“We pride ourselves on staying abreast of industry trends, embracing innovation, and adapting to meet evolving guest expectations. This makes it possible to stay ahead in the competitive hospitality sector. When providing services and products, it is essential to know what the trends are and what clients want,” says Marius Botes, MD at Thaba Eco Hotel, which was shortlisted for GREATest 50-99 room hotel in the 2023 GuestRevu GREAT Awards.
To stand out in a crowded market, hotels should provide a gateway to the destination itself, not just a bed. Guests are increasingly seeking out authentic experiences that offer them the opportunity to truly connect with the local culture. Whether through partnerships with local artisans, exclusive access to cultural events, or guided tours that reveal the area's hidden gems, you should be striving to build that narrative of exploration with your guest.
By curating events that reflect the spirit of your location and collaborating with local tour operators, you offer guests an adventure that showcases the things that make your surroundings unique, memorable and worthy of sharing the story with family and friends when they get home.
Eugenia Danilikhina, General Manager of Hotel Indigo St. Petersburg-Tchaikovskogo, and a two-time winner of the Best International Hotel at the Boutique Hotel Guest Experience Awards, emphasises the importance of this connection:
Beyond local discovery, providing unique experiences is also about the heart of service. As Mr John Rogers, General Manager for LUX South Ari Atoll, winner of the GREATest 100+ Rooms category in the 2023 GuestRevu GREAT Awards, reiterates:
“True hospitality comes from the heart. Our team members are passionate about creating memorable moments for our guests. This genuine care and warmth shines through in every interaction, fostering a sense of connection and exceeding expectations of traditional hotel service.”
To truly personalise the guest experience, you must first master the art of collecting the right data and putting it to good use. The goal is to build a comprehensive profile of your guest so you never have to ask for the same information twice.
Beyond simply streamlining administrative tasks (such as confirming contact details or previous service preferences), effective data collection means you can use the data you already have about guests to curate offers and services that are genuinely relevant to their unique interests.
A commitment to avoiding generic service is a hallmark of top-performing hotels. "We understand that guest tastes, preferences and likes are not all the same, and therefore we don’t believe in applying a cookie-cutter approach," explains Marius Botes.
Small gestures can significantly elevate a guest’s perception of your service. While responding to explicit guest requests (for example, when guests indicate they would prefer a hard pillow or an alcohol-free minibar on the pre-stay survey) is a necessary baseline for any hotelier, it is the attention to ‘unspoken’ details that truly sets award-winning hotels apart.
Understanding these individual needs requires a strategic approach to navigating multiple touchpoints to build a complete picture. Make the most of every interaction, physical or digital, at breakfast or at check-out, to uncover new details about your guests.
By gathering insights, you can anticipate a guest's needs — such as specific restaurant reservations, spa preferences, or even directions — and offer solutions before they have to ask. With the right technology and by adopting proactive policies, you can ensure your team has a wealth of actionable guest data at their fingertips, ready to be used at a moment’s notice.
"Guests have become increasingly more savvy and sophisticated in terms of what the difference between an average and an outstanding stay is. Prioritising guest experience and satisfaction by offering personalised services, anticipating needs, and providing tailored amenities to enhance their stay is essential in exceeding guest expectations," notes Marius Botes.
In the hustle and bustle of a busy hotel, these small details are often overlooked, yet for the individual guest, it is the combination of these thoughtfully curated, personal details that turns a standard stay into a bespoke experience.
Building a world-class guest experience begins with your team. Finding, training, and retaining talented individuals while fostering a culture of teamwork and professionalism is the foundation of excellence. However, to truly elevate service from good to award-winning, you must go beyond standard management and actively empower your staff.
“We carefully select our team members, since we believe that only people who love what they do can do their work thoroughly and make others happy,” says Eugenia Danilikhina. This philosophy of hiring for passion ensures that staff are naturally inclined to care for guests, but they also need to understand how their specific roles contribute to the hotel's broader vision.
True empowerment means every team member feels a personal responsibility for the guest's well-being. To support this, management must provide the autonomy necessary to make in-the-moment decisions. When staff have the freedom to act without constant supervision, they can pivot quickly to meet unique guest needs.
A critical component of this empowerment is a relentless attention to detail. Often, the difference between the ordinary and the extraordinary lies in the "unspoken" needs that staff are trained to anticipate. By focusing training on these soft skills and the "devil in the details," hotels can create a seamless environment where guests feel consistently cared for, even if they cannot point to one specific reason why.
As the team at Belmore Court & Motel understands, it is the combination of these small, thoughtful actions that makes a stay memorable. Owner Terry B. McCartney emphasises this approach: “We're all about making guests feel like they're coming to a home away from home. That means we nail the personal touches, obsess over the little things, and always have a smile ready when they walk through the door.”
To maintain these high standards, staff training must be an ongoing priority rather than a one-time event. Terry notes that “Consistency in guest service excellence hinges on comprehensive training, clear standards, and ongoing monitoring. Staff receive regular feedback, fostering a culture that prioritises guest satisfaction.”
Comprehensive training programmes, including onboarding for new staff and continuous skill development for longstanding team members, ensure that when the time comes for autonomous decision-making, staff are fully equipped. Mr John Rogers explains their commitment:
“We invest heavily in training our team members… our team members are empowered to make independent decisions to enhance the guest experience. We foster a culture of ownership and recognition, celebrating successes and encouraging initiative.”
Proactive communication during a guest's stay is one of the most powerful tools for service recovery. Instead of waiting for a post-stay review to discover a problem, award-winning hotels engage with guests throughout their stays, providing an immediate opportunity to address concerns and turn a potentially negative experience into a positive one before the guest checks out.
This level of responsiveness requires both accessibility and coordination. First, hotels must make it effortless for guests to reach out—whether through face-to-face interactions or digital channels like QR or NFC accessible surveys, in-room tablets and automated messaging—so they can provide feedback at their convenience.
Second, these insights are only valuable if they reach the right people instantly. Seamless internal communication between departments ensures that when a guest reports an issue, the relevant team can act quickly to resolve it, demonstrating to the guest that their comfort is a top priority.
By staying connected through open communication, hotels can increase guest engagement and often prompt longer stays or repeat bookings. Effective service recovery ensures that by the time an automated post-stay feedback survey is sent or a guest writes a public online review, the team has already managed to restore a positive relationship and exceed the guest's expectations.
While delivering exceptional moments during a guest's stay is vital, the journey doesn’t end at check-out. Encouraging honest feedback post-stay is the critical final step in a cycle of continuous improvement. By consistently analysing this data, hotels can stay in tune with evolving guest expectations and refine their service standards.
Top-tier hoteliers make reviewing feedback a daily habit and the very foundation of their operations. John Rogers explains:
"Guest feedback is the cornerstone of our continuous improvement process. We analyse all feedback channels, including surveys, reviews, and direct interactions with team members. This allows us to identify trends, understand guest expectations, and implement changes to refine our service standards."