There are so many shiny tech toys for hoteliers to play with these days. It’s just a shame the abundance of hospitality technology is both a blessing and a curse.

Too much of the wrong technology and you’ll not only spend most of your budget on stuff you don’t need, you’ll also create a complex hotel operation that slows down staff and creates a dreadful guest experience. Pick the right mix of tech, however, and you’ll delight both staff and customers.

Here’s five things hotels regularly get wrong when upgrading their technology.

1. Forgetting what the guest wants

Every piece of technology you implement at your hotel should impact the guest experience positively – either directly or indirectly. Granted, a new CCTV system isn’t going to make its presence felt immediately when a guest checks in, but it will enable you to promote how secure your hotel is and the fact you have guest security in the foremost of your mind.

It’s easy to implement a new central reservation system or piece of software simply because you experienced it yourself at another hotel, or because a staff member used it three years ago at their last job. But what about the modern guest? Look at your reviews and try to identify the missing pieces of the jigsaw before investing (if you need to at all).

2. Only considering price

Let’s say you need to implement new hospitality software. If there are four contenders on the table and you opt for the cheapest, can you be sure that it’ll deliver the value you require?

Every piece of technology you invest in needs to offer some form of return either in real, monetary value, time saved or a vastly improved guest experience. Opt solely for price, and you’ll nearly always get what you pay for.

3. Not considering the future

You don’t need us to tell you how quickly technology moves – we all know that software and hardware solutions evolve at a rapid pace. Despite this, it always pays to go for vendors who have a keen eye on the horizon. Investing in a system that proves cumbersome to upgrade in the future will cost you dearly in time wasted and the expense associated with eventually replacing it.

With this in mind, try and focus your technology purchases on systems that are light on their feet (think: web-based) and built by companies who talk readily about their future plans.

4. Ignoring staff opinion

Your hotel couldn’t operate without its team, and members of your team might have some very useful ideas on where you can spend your technology budget. From experience at previous jobs to those of being hotel guests themselves, staff opinion on your choice of PMS, door locking system and email client are definitely worth listening to.

As previously noted, just ensure you combine their opinion with that of your own and guidance from elsewhere; one person’s favourite EPOS system might be another’s biggest nightmare.

5. Forgetting the importance of integration

Modern hotels need systems that talk nicely together, so when you need to buy a new piece of hardware or implement new software, take a look at how it can link up with the stuff you already have in place.

Integrations should save you time and improve the guest experience, so speak to vendors and ask how they already or intend to work with partners that might also benefit you.

Wrapping up

Buying new technology for your hotel shouldn’t be a chore or nightmarish process; it should be fun, productive and ultimately result in something that continues to set your business apart from the competition. Just make sure you avoid the common mistakes above!

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CMS Hospitality holds over 30 years of experience in delivering hospitality software solutions. GuestCentrix offers the most complete solution in hotel property management software, whether you’re running a hotel, a resort or a hostel. Our highly experienced support and installations team holds a unique understanding of the hospitality industry and will aim to provide software that suits your property’s needs.

Call us today at (+61) 2 9440 9711, or email us at sales@cmshospitality.com. We will be happy to guide you to the GuestCentrix solution that’s right for you.