6 Surprising Ways to Increase Your Average Daily Rate

For the hospitality industry, ensuring an exceptional guest experience has never been more important. The prevalence of online review sites and willingness of guests to voice their opinions with photos and ratings means each guest experience is an opportunity, and a challenge. Further, online ratings can actually have an impact on the average daily rate your hotel can charge. A Cornell study found that a single star increase on online review sites can increase your average daily rate (ADR) by 11.2 percent.¹

Better guest satisfaction means better reviews, and a higher ADR. How can your hotel give your guests a truly exceptional guest experience? Here are 6 surprising ways to increase your average daily rate.

1. Be consistent

From the moment your guests first reach out to schedule a stay, to the second they walk into the lobby, your guests are forming an opinion of your property. Make sure your online reputation and your in-person guest experience are consistent, to give your guests the experience they were expecting.

How much revenue are leaving on the table? Take our quiz to see how much of an impact your guest experience has on your ADR. >

2. Stay on top of routine maintenance

No guest wants to arrive to find a broken light switch or a dirty air conditioner. Routine maintenance, while not glamorous, will help prevent guest experience problems that could lead to bad reviews. To keep your routine maintenance on track, consider implementing a communications system with a workflow management application purpose-built for hotels to automate maintenance workflows.

3. Get ahead of one-time maintenance

Broken fixtures, torn carpet or wallpaper, and holes in the walls make for lousy pictures on Expedia or TripAdvisor. Effective communication between your housekeeping and maintenance teams can help resolve maintenance problems before your guests even see them. A clean, functioning room with no maintenance problems is a much better way for your guests to start their stay.

4. Make guest requests a priority

Guest requests, like luggage assistance or a request for concierge services, are an important part of your guest’s experience with your hotel. When guests have to wait longer than expected for a request, or don’t get it at all, they tend to write poorer reviews. In contrast, fulfilling guest requests quickly and correctly the first time gives your guests an exceptional experience, leading to better online reviews and, ultimately, higher ADR.

Resolve in-stay maintenance issues immediately

Even with the most effective routine maintenance workflows in place, unexpected problems do happen. In the event of a problem, there should be as few steps as possible between your guest notifying the front desk and having the issue corrected. To make sure in-stay maintenance problems are taken care of quickly, consider investing in a communications system that allows front desk staff to send an automated, prioritized request directly to maintenance staff, no matter where they are.

5. Keep your front desk accessible

Because hotels deal with people, mistakes happen, and requests from guests can get overlooked—requiring guests to follow-up with staff. Take steps to ensure your guests can locate a front desk staff member at all times. Keep your front desk staff available even if they have to step away from the desk by looking for a communications system that integrates with staff personal mobile devices, or consider investing in a SIP-DECT phone.

6. Make early check-in a priority

Most guests understand that early check-in is completely based on availability, but it can be a big benefit to guests when it’s possible. Ensure quick turnover and prompt room readiness by streamlining the connection between your front desk and housekeeping staff. Early check-in can be an unexpected treat for guests, and can help boost your online reviews accordingly.

Guest experience as a whole affects the way your guests review and rate your property online. By keeping these 6 ways to improve guest experience in mind, your hotel could raise its online reputation, and as a result, increase your average daily rate.

Looking for more ways to boost your ADR? Learn how Mitel can help your hospitality communications needs today. >

1 Cornell University