Virtual Check-In: Improve Efficiency & Guest Satisfaction

When guests arrive at your hotel, you want to immediately set the tone for a fantastic stay. But in many situations, the front desk becomes a bottleneck that causes long lobby lines and overwhelmed front desk workers. That’s where virtual check-in comes in in.

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By giving guests the option to skip the line and check in from their phone, hotels offer the type of tech-forward arrival process modern travelers are looking for. Virtual check-in reduces wait times, cuts down on paperwork and gives staff more time to focus on hospitality—not logistics. In this post, we’ll explore how virtual check-in works, the benefits it brings to hotels and guests alike, and how properties can modernize operations without losing the human touch.

Here’s how virtual hotel check-in is improving many hotel processes.

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Key takeaways:

• Modern travelers want to use self-service tools when staying at hotels, making virtual check-in a great value add for hoteliers.
• Virtual check-in improves labor efficiency, increases guest satisfaction and drives more ancillary revenue.
• It’s easy to get up and running on a virtual check-in solution if you’ve chosen the right vendor for the job.

What Is Virtual Check-In in Hotels?

Virtual check-in gives guests the option to complete their check-in tasks before arrival. This way, all they have to do when they get to the hotel is pick up their keys and start their trip. Guests use their mobile device to take care of all the routine check-in requirements, including confirming arrival details, submitting identification, providing payment details and signing registration forms. This streamlined approach reduces friction at arrival, enhances convenience and frees up hotel staff to focus on delivering a more personalized experience when guests arrive.

How Do Hotels with Virtual Check-in Systems Work?

When a hotel implements a virtual check-in system, they’re immediately increasing their front desk efficiency and enhancing the guest experience.

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Before arrival, guests are sent a link to complete their check-in process. This is where they input all the necessary information and provide your hotel with their estimated time of arrival so you know when to have things ready.

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Behind the scenes, the check-in solution verifies this data against your hotel’s Property Management System, making sure the data is accurate and the reservation isn’t fraudulent.

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When the guest arrives at the hotel, they simply stop by the front desk, give their name and receive their keys. A process that once took several minutes per guest can now be done instantly!

Traditional Check-In vs Modern Contactless Check-In

Keep reading: Guide to modern hotel check-in procedures 

Why Should Your Hotel Allow Guests to Check In Virtually?

Offering travelers the option to check-in on their own time is beneficial for both the guest experience and staff satisfaction. Here are the top three benefits of using contactless check-in: 

1. Improve Labor Efficiency 

Labor efficiency is key in a hotel. But according to a survey by the American Hotel & Lodging Association, 67% of hotels report staffing shortages.

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Workflows should resemble a well-oiled machine in order to keep guests happy and ensure staff are on top of activities at all times. Unfortunately, a lot of front desk staff operations include spending a large amount of time going through administrative tasks when a guest checks in.

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As a result, reception staff have a limited amount of time to focus on hospitality activities that improve guest stays and create a better and more personalized overall experience.

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Canary Technologies streamlines your hotel operations by sending out a check-in link to guests at least 12 hours before they arrive onsite. This link enables them to take care of all of the administrative tasks involved in checking, such as filling out their contact details and scanning an ID, on their own time. When they arrive at the hotel, all they have to do is grab their room keys.

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Thanks to this streamlined check-in process, Canary customers are able to boost front desk efficiency by 35%.

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Here's a real customer quote from Christian F Ix-Caamal, Sales & Reservations Manager at the Rosas y Xocolate boutique hotel:

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“We saw about a 35% increase in staff efficiency. It’s really nice to have a tool provide the exact value you expected it to, and Canary does just that. And guests love it.”

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Of course, we’re not suggesting that you replace interpersonal interactions with guests entirely — this is still a really important part of running a successful hotel! Instead, virtual check-in works to enhance the guest experienceby streamlining workflows and creating a slicker process for everyone involved. 

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Superior guest service always involves some element of human interaction — after all, humans today still crave connections with other humans. Hotels with virtual check-in simply remove the arduous, boring tasks from the process and let reception staff actually focus on interacting and communicating with guests. 

2. Improve Guest Satisfaction 

Maintaining high levels of guest satisfaction is crucial for hotels. Fully satisfied guests are more likely to come back and stay again, recommend the hotel to their friends and family, and leave positive reviews in prominent places. And most guests today want a virtual check-in option.

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Think about it. Guests might have been traveling for hours. All they want to do is take a shower and chill out with some room service. Making them queue for half an hour to deal with admin items like providing payment info and filling out a reg card isn’t a good way to welcome them. 

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In fact, it can start their stay off on the wrong foot. And if that were to happen, you’d have to try that much harder to get things back on an even keel. Research also shows that the majority of guests prefer to use self-service solutions as part of their stay, which is supported by check-in and checkout satisfaction rates that are higher with guests that check in virtually. 

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And as stated before, guests who have a good experience are more likely to leave a review on Google, TripAdvisor, or Yelp. In fact, research shows that a one-star increase in a hotel’s review profile allows them to increase their rates by 11%. ‍

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When you look at it this way, virtual check-ins can work as inadvertent but powerful marketing vessels without too much effort on your part. And when paired with a contactless checkout solution that enables the happiest guests to easily leave reviews, you can boost 5-star reviews by up to 350%.

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3. Drive More Revenue 

Virtual digital check-in can have an incredibly positive effect on revenue (not least because guests are more likely to book hotels that offer it). 

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In fact, there are plenty of ways mobile check-in can play into other marketing activities and workflows to squeeze out more revenue from each and every customer. 

How Virtual Check-In Hotels Boost Revenue 

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Firstly, virtual check-in can capture guest data and contact information (e.g., emails and phone numbers) to help hotels grow their email lists. And this even applies to guests who booked through hotel OTAs! 

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These email lists of happy guests can then be used to send promotional and hotel loyalty program offers in the future. This keeps your hotel fresh in traveler’s minds and rewards loyal patrons with exclusive offers. 

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Feeling like part of a community like this increases guest loyalty too, which in turn drives more bookings and revenue.

The check-in process is also the perfect time to expose guests to any upsell packages and add-ons your property might offer. This might include activities like booking a: 

• Table for dinner, where they might have gone out to grab a bite to eat
• Massage that they otherwise wouldn't have known you offered 
• Early check-in and late checkout 

The only limit to what a hotel can upsell is the imagination of its management team.

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Learn more: 15 hotel upselling ideas

How to Use Virtual Check-In To Drive Revenue 

Canary's hotel upselling solution, offering Dynamic Upsells, enables guests to browse your add-on services and book upsells right as they're virtually checking in. This captures their attention while they’re thinking about their stay and presents enticing offers at a moment of key buying intent.

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Each additional activity booked or amenity that’s requested results in an increase in revenue and allows guests to create their own unique stay—which, in turn, increases guests satisfaction and loyalty. 

How to Set Up Virtual Check-In for Your Hotel

Ready to get your hotel up and running on Mobile Check-In? Here’s how to get started:

1. Select a vendor
   To find the right Mobile Check-In solution for your property, researching vendors will be the first step. As you do this, you’ll want to look for a solution that integrates with your current systems, is easy to implement and grows with your hotel.
2. Book a demo
   A free demo lets you see a product in action to determine if it has the features your hotel needs. This also lets you ask questions and get clarity on how the product will work for you.
3. Implement the solution
   This should be approximately a 10-minute process where the vendor helps you get set up and ready to begin checking in guests.
4. Enjoy the ease of use
   Once that’s done, you’re all set! You can now begin checking in guests before they arrive at your hotel.

Implement Hotel Virtual Check-In Process with Canary

Canary Technologies’ contactless check-in solution lets you seamlessly check in guests without exchanging credit cards, IDs or registration forms. You can get started in 10 minutes and start checking in guests right away. 

How Contactless Check-In Works

1. Automatically send check-in links via email or text message to all guests who are due to 
2. Guests submit their credit card information, upload their ID, and sign the hotel’s registration card all in one place before they arrive
3. Canary verifies the information and enables the hotel to check the guest in

Simplify Your Guest’s Stay with Canary

Hotel virtual check-in is easy with Canary’s guest experience platform. It’s quick to set up and easy to use! And a range of integrations with leading property management systems, payment providers, and digital key solutions ensures it ties in seamlessly with the rest of your technology stack.