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Hotel guest apps have become some of the most popular technologies in hospitality. Digital check-in. Service requests from guestsโ phones. Direct communication with reception. For many hotels, these represent a key step towards digitising the guest experience.
However, more hotel management teams are starting to ask a different question:
Do these solutions actually improve hotel profitability, or do they only make the stay smoother?
Because optimising the guest experience during the stay doesnโt always mean optimising the business.
From a strategic perspective, all hotels face two very different challenges.
This second challenge sets the tone for most of the hotelโs profitability. Yet, much of the technology in the sector has focused mainly on the first.
In practice, every hotel technology plays a role at different stages of the guest journey, and it doesnโt start with check-in, but long before that.
| Guest Journey Stage | Hotel Guest Apps | Guest Communication Platforms |
|---|---|---|
| Discovery & Enquiry | โ Not involved | โ Automated response to enquiries |
| Booking | โ No influence | โ Drives direct bookings |
| Pre-arrival | โ ๏ธ Limited communication | โ Captures preferences |
| During stay | โ Handles service requests | โ Handles requests and upselling |
| Check-out | โ ๏ธ Surveys or feedback | โ Ongoing communication |
| Post-stay | โ Not involved | โ Reactivation and repeat bookings |
Guest apps focus mainly on the in-stay phase.
Guest communication platforms cover the entire guest journey.
And that has a direct effect on business results.
Guest apps are designed to digitise the guest experience during their stay. In the hotel market, there are several well-known solutions in this category, like Duve, STAY, Hoteza, GuestU orSuitePad.
These tools usually kick in once the booking already exists, and often offer:
Some guest apps also offer pre-arrival features, like advance service sales, which help guests prepare for their stay.
For operational teams, these tools deliver clear benefits:
For many hotels, theyโve played a valuable part in digitising the guest experience, but they come with a built-in limitation. They start operating only once the guest has already booked. From a hotel business perspective, that means they come in after the margin has already been set.
One of the most noticeable shifts in recent years has been the use of WhatsApp for hotel guest communication. Travellers today want to talk to hotels through the same channels they use every day. Thatโs why more hotels are using WhatsApp to answer questions, handle service requests, and give recommendations during the stay.
This side-steps one of the big pain points of guest apps: guests having to download a specific hotel app. When communication happens through familiar channels like WhatsApp or web chat, interactions are usually faster and feel more natural.
As a result, some hotels now supplement or even replace guest apps with direct guest communication solutions.
Something crucial happens before a guest ever books: they compare hotels, ask questions, and weigh up their choices. Most of these conversations happen through:
And right at this moment, something decisive occurs: whether the booking will be direct or via an intermediary. When a booking comes through an OTA, hotels pay between 12% and 30% commission. That cost is already fixed before any guest app comes into play. Thatโs why focusing only on the in-stay phase can help operations, but doesnโt change how guests are acquired.
The difference becomes crystal clear with a simple example.
A potential guest finds the hotel on Booking.com and wants to ask a question.
The hotel is slow to respond or doesnโt respond directly.
The guest books through the OTA.
Days before arrival, they get a link to download the hotel app.
During their stay, they can:
The experience is fine.
But after check-out, something typical happens: the guest relationship ends there.
If that guest returns, chances are theyโll book again through the OTA.
Now, letโs see how results shift with another approach.
Picture a hotel with stats like these:
This adds up to: 25,500 nights sold each year
Approximate annual revenue: 3.8 million euros
If 60% of bookings come through OTAs, the commission cost adds up quickly.
| Category | Approximate Value |
|---|---|
| Total revenue | โฌ3,825,000 |
| OTA bookings (60%) | โฌ2,295,000 |
| Average OTA commission (18%) | โฌ413,100 per year |
Over โฌ400,000 in annual revenue goes on distribution costs.
If the hotel can shift just 10% of OTA bookings to direct, the impact looks like this:
| Improvement | Approximate Impact |
|---|---|
| OTA bookings switched to direct | โฌ229,500 |
| Commission saved | โฌ41,310 recovered per year |
And all this happens without selling a single extra room.
Just by changing how some guests are acquired.
This approach affects more than just one department. It has organisation-wide benefits. Paradise Resort Gold Coast, a family resort with 360 rooms in Australia, implemented a unified communication platform. Hereโs how each team benefited:
Management and ownership: Greater control over distribution and improved margins per booking. The resort generated 531 direct bookings through its chatbot, totalling โฌ450,000 in commission-free revenue (a 12% increase in direct bookings over previous figures).
Revenue management: More opportunities to convert enquiries into direct bookings. They responded to queries across 6 channels (web, WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram, email, SMS) in a single platform, automating 91.1% of 34,655 conversations.
Operations: Fewer phone calls, fewer emails, fewer manual tasks. Online check-ins rose to 41%, taking the pressure off reception. During the stay: 15,589 messages were automated, with an open rate of 82%.
Guest experience: Faster communication, always on channels the guest already uses. From pre-arrival (reminders, online check-in) to post-stay (surveys, express check-out reminders).
As Paradise Resort discovered, connecting all three phases doesnโt just improve the guest experience. It also strengthens what matters most for any hotel business: its margins. Hotel guest apps help to optimise the in-stay guest experience. Guest communication platforms do more than that: they cover the entire guest journey.
Want to see how it works? Book a demo with HiJiffy to discover how a unified communication platform can improve both your guest acquisition and profitability.
Hotel guest apps are applications that let guests interact with the hotel from their mobile devices (or in-room tablets) during their stay. They typically include features such as digital check-in, service requests, messaging reception, digital keys or buying extra services. Their main aim is to improve the guest experience and make certain hotel processes easier.
A guest communication platform lets hotels manage every guest interaction across the guest journey – from the first enquiry, through check-in, to after the guest has left. These solutions pull together communication in channels like WhatsApp, web chat, social media, or email, helping hotels serve guests and capture more direct bookings.
The big difference is when they interact with the guest. Guest apps are mostly used after the booking is confirmed, mainly during the stay. Guest communication platforms engage with the guest before booking, during their stay, and after departure – opening up the chance for more direct bookings and guest loyalty.
Most guest apps require downloading a specific app. By contrast, lots of guest communication platforms let guests talk to the hotel via WhatsApp, web chat, and other familiar channels – so thereโs no need for guests to worry about downloading another app.
More hotels now use WhatsApp for guest communication as itโs familiar to most travellers. It allows hotels to answer queries quickly, manage guest requests during their stay, and share useful information – all without the guest needing to download a hotel-specific app.
Guest communication platforms mean hotels can answer potential guestsโ questions in real time. This helps resolve queries on availability, price, or services before the guest has a chance to book through an OTA. When guests get fast, clear answers, theyโre much more likely to book directly with the hotel.
OTAs are great for visibility, but they often charge commissions of 12% to 30% of the booking value. Reducing reliance on these middlemen means hotels can boost margins, strengthen direct guest relationships and win more repeat bookings.
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