Family Vacation: Arrival Experience

on

arrival

This is the second post in the last few weeks about family vacation, but it was the one I most wanted to write due to the pivotal nature of the welcome moment. My family drove for about eight hours to reach our destination this year, and if you’ve ever spent that long in a car (with multiple youngsters, no less), you know that the check-in desk was a welcome sight for us.

Our check-in was efficient and friendly, but marred by a fairly long line and a full ten minutes of upselling which was something I have never seen before, thus prompting these five quick tips for a great welcome.

  1. Be rid of the line – by whatever means necessary. If lines seem unavoidable, there’s an app for that.
  2. Smile and listen. A welcoming demeanor is the best show of hospitality.
  3. Let guests know ahead of time what you will expect them to have at check-in, and be sure that the files are already loaded with as much of their information as possible to increase efficiency.
  4. Do not use this time to sell things. I don’t think this is a common practice, but it bears emphasizing that a weary guest would like to get settled as quickly as possible.
  5. Offer help and the absolute easiest way for guests to find hotel and local information rather than adding a stack of paperwork and maps to already full hands. (There’s an app for that too!)