Digital signage at hotel reception: a smarter way to welcome guests

In a hotel, everything starts at the front desk. Before even seeing their room, guests form an impression of the property within minutes: how clear the information is, how long they wait at reception, how easy it is to find the restaurant or the spa. The hotel welcome remains the moment that weighs most on guest satisfaction, and therefore on the reviews left after the stay. Used to finding everything on their phones, travellers now expect the same ease in the lobby. This is where digital signage in hotels changes the game for the guest experience: connected screens, managed remotely, that share information in real time without adding to the front-office team’s workload.

Digitalising the lobby to guide guests better

The first job of a screen in the lobby is simple: answer questions before they are asked. Where are the lifts, what time does breakfast end, which room is hosting today’s seminar? Well-placed digital wayfinding spares guests from queuing for a simple piece of information and eases the stress of arrival, especially after a long journey.

Well-designed digital signage for hotels can also display the day’s weather, outing ideas suited to the conditions, or an important message that interrupts the usual playlist. It also handles mandatory notices: French regulations require clear information on the prices of nights and services (order of 18 December 2015), and a screen linked to the day’s rates keeps the legal price display at reception legible and up to date at all times.

Key information to display at reception:

• directions to guest rooms, lifts, meeting rooms and the car park;
• opening hours for breakfast, room service, the spa and the bar;
• the day’s seminar and event schedule;
• the weather and local events;
• the day’s rates, for transparent, legally compliant price display.

Effortless content management for reception

Many hoteliers dread the complexity of updates. Understanding how digital signage works is enough to dispel that fear: everything is managed remotely from a simple web browser. With a SIGNAO solution, the team builds its playlists in an online interface, then a small media player connected to the screen via HDMI, or the screen itself if it runs on Windows or Android, retrieves and plays them. The broadcast schedule adapts to the time of day: breakfast in the morning, the bar in the late afternoon, the restaurant in the evening.

The time saved at reception is immediate. No more boards rewritten by hand or posters reprinted every time opening hours change. The SIGNAO solution can also connect to hotel management software, the PMS: the day’s rates and key information update automatically, with no double entry and no risk of pricing errors. Information stays accurate and current, and the front desk keeps its time for guests.

Promoting services and ancillary sales

A screen at reception is also a sales tool. It showcases ancillary services at the very moment guests have time to discover them: waiting for a key, returning from an outing, walking to the lift. A breakfast package, a free slot at the spa, the bar menu or dinner at the hotel restaurant fit naturally into the playlist.

Last-minute upgrade offers are particularly well suited. A suite available tonight, spa access included for a supplement: upselling becomes a visual suggestion rather than a sales pitch at the desk, and revenue per guest can grow with no extra effort from the teams.

Keeping the welcome human and elegant

One common fear remains: that of dehumanising the guest relationship. The opposite happens. By handling repetitive questions, the screen frees up time for listening and personalised advice, the heart of the front-office team’s job. As for visual integration, it no longer resembles a billboard: today’s screens are built into the lobby furniture, and content can be customised with the property’s colours and typography to extend its brand image.

In short, digital signage in hotels serves four goals:

• guiding and reassuring guests from the moment they enter the lobby;
• ensuring real-time information, with content scheduled by time of day;
• saving the front desk time through remote management and PMS integration;
• growing ancillary sales and upgrades.

Published in partnership with SIGNAO.