Hotel Guest App: What Should a Digital Guest Guide Include?

A hotel guest app is a digital guide that brings together in one place the information and requests a guest needs during their stay: restaurant and pool hours, the activity programme, room service, transfers, extra services and communication with reception. Unlike a booking app, it is used while the guest is already at the hotel, and its purpose is to reduce the load on reception and help the guest get more out of the property. This article explains what such a guide should include for hotels and holiday resorts in Antalya, and in which form it should be set up.

The difference between a booking app and a guest app

The two can be combined in the same project, but the problems they solve are different:

For the booking side, our hotel booking app article has a detailed decision checklist.

Start with what guests ask reception most

A good guest guide answers the questions the front office answers dozens of times every day. Before defining the scope, ask the reception team for a week’s list of questions. At most properties the list is similar:

• Restaurant, bar and pool hours; today’s menu
• Animation and activity programme, kids’ club hours
• Wi-Fi details, in-room usage information
• Airport transfer, taxi, car rental
• Spa, à la carte restaurant and tour bookings
• Room requests such as late check-out, extra towels, technical faults
• Nearby beaches, shopping and places to visit

The first half of this list is pure information; the second half is requests and sales. In the first version it is healthier to provide the information completely and limit requests to what the team can genuinely follow up.

Requests: who will see them, who will close them?

Having an “extra pillow for my room” request come in through the app is easy; the hard part is the request landing with the right department, someone taking ownership of it and the guest getting a “done” confirmation back. Before setting up a request module, clarify the following:

• Which department will each request type go to (housekeeping, technical service, reception)?
• Where will the department see the request: on a screen, on a tablet, as a message?
• What will the response time be at peak hours, and what will the guest be told?
• Who will follow up requests on the night shift?

A request module opened without this flow in place does nothing more than move the guest’s unanswered requests into a digital environment.

App or web-based guide?

Guests do not always download an app for a one-week holiday. That is why, for many properties, the starting point is a digital guide that runs in the browser and opens from a QR code in the room or at reception:

• Web-based guide: No download required, reaches all guests, goes live quickly. The ability to send notifications is limited.
• Mobile app: Can send notifications; creates value with returning guests and at large properties (many restaurants, activities, bookings). Has app store publishing and maintenance costs.

A holiday resort with a high rate of returning guests and many paid services may benefit from an app; for a boutique hotel a web-based guide is usually enough. We explained the general framework for this decision in our website or mobile app article.

Multilingual content and keeping it current

At properties in Antalya the guest profile is mostly multilingual; the guide needs to be prepared at least in your guests’ native languages. Instead of settling for machine translation, having the texts that rarely change translated professionally once, and keeping the content that changes often (the day’s menu, the activity programme) short and templated, reduces the maintenance load. The details of planning multilingual content are in our multilingual website article.

The most common problem is outdated content: last season’s hours or the menu of a restaurant that has closed quickly damages guest trust. Who will update the guide, how often, and the fact that this can be done from the admin panel without needing a developer must be planned from the start.

Is a front office system (PMS) connection necessary?

It is not essential for the first version. An information guide and simple requests can work without a PMS connection. Features such as greeting the guest by name, logging in by room number or charging spending to the room account do require a PMS connection; this depends on whether the system you use offers an interface to the outside.

Frequently asked questions

Is a guest app necessary for a small hotel?

Most of the time a web-based guide that opens from a QR code is enough instead of an app. An app makes sense at large properties where the notification and returning-guest advantages will genuinely be used.

Does a guest app generate extra revenue?

It can contribute because it makes services such as the spa, à la carte restaurants, transfers and tours visible; but this contribution depends on the services the property offers and on how up to date the guide is kept. To measure the result, record from day one which services came through the guide.

How is guest data protected?

If the guide only provides information, it does not collect personal data. For request and login features, you need to collect only the necessary information, provide a privacy notice under KVKK (Turkey’s data protection law) and limit who can access the data.

Let’s work out the right scope for your property

Share your property type, number of rooms, your guests’ languages and the questions reception receives most; let’s assess together whether you should start with a web-based guide or an app. You can look at our mobile app development and web design services and get in touch — we work in English or Turkish.