Guest messaging in hotels isn’t just improving the check-in process—it’s also streamlining housekeeping. With the ability to communicate internally, sign off on room cleanliness quickly, and fulfill guest requests within minutes, digital messaging is transforming this key aspect of the hospitality industry for the better.

How COVID-19 changed housekeeping

When the world first shut down, the first industry affected was hospitality. As doors slowly opened again, cleanliness was the biggest and most crucial factor. Now, while still an important factor, hotels are battling with understaffed teams paired with the need to stick to precautions like social distancing. 

No longer needing to clean rooms daily for multiple-day stays, housekeeping teams can communicate with guests on when they want their rooms cleaned and keep a record of it for future reference. How? With guest messaging: through top digital messaging platforms, guests can request when they want their rooms cleaned at the touch of a button.

“With COVID-19, we don’t do daily service [anymore],” said Megan Newman, Director of Sales at Byrd Enterprises. “Guests will text us if they want service that day,” she said of the platform that her teams also use for maintenance requests at all four of their properties in the Phoenix metro area.

Not only is skipping daily room cleaning more environmentally friendly—insert stat here—but more convenient for guests. Gone are the days of having to vacate the room every day of their stay for housekeeping; instead, they can just ask for towels, new linens, or an extra toothbrush via text.

More efficient processes

Another way guest messaging is streamlining the housekeeping process at hotels worldwide is room sign-offs. At properties where managers go through and double check rooms after housekeeping has cleaned them, it can be time-consuming to call each room number into the front desk, or go back and forth between floors.

With platforms that allow digital messaging between teams, managers can text room numbers down to the front desk to let them know the room is ready to flip. This saves time and allows for quicker turnover with less manpower. 

Top messaging platforms, like Kipsu, make this possible by integrating with common hotel work order systems like HotSOS, Quore, and Royal Service.

Express check-out is another perk of utilizing guest messaging for housekeeping. Instead of waiting to hear back from a guest when they’ve left, or having to check-out in person, teams can communicate via text with guests when they’ve left the room—allowing for housekeeping to clean the room faster and overall a quicker turnover of the room.

Contactless hospitality 

Keeping up with guest expectations is perhaps the most important, and exhausting, component of hospitality. Guests not only expect the same full-service treatment, but also for it to happen in a new way: without contact.

With digital messaging, guests can send housekeeping requests via text, and hotel teams can send that request directly to the housekeeping system. Top guest messaging vendors make this internal communication possible via features like “Dispatch.”

“Guests often text us their request for housekeeping items to be delivered, or to schedule their daily cleaning service,” said Avery Dixon, Central Services Supervisor at Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge. 

The property Dixon works at also runs a “Green Choice” program, which allows guests to opt out of daily cleaning services in exchange for a food and beverage credit. Using top messaging platforms, texts can be sent to all in-house guests to explain the program, offer the credit, and track responses. 

An additional contactless perk is that guests can be notified of housekeeping items being delivered to their room. “We can text the guest to let them know their requested items have been left hanging on the door,” Dixon explained. “This is less disruptive than calling the room and the guest is made aware that their request has been fulfilled.”

Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge is just one of many properties using guest messaging to make the housekeeping process easier than ever in this new normal. From letting guests request items via text to providing contactless service, digital messaging is making the process more efficient overall—and loved at every property it’s used at.

‍Learn more about how Kipsu is elevating the guest experience through digital messaging by scheduling a conversation today.