For better or for worse, a strong trend of heightened expectations has taken over the traveling public in the past decade. We see an enormous increase in travelers’ demand for better experiences, and hotels struggle to drive high levels of operational efficiency, maintain guest satisfaction, and deliver exceptional hospitality.
Bluetooth beacons in hospitality have enabled such a dazzling array of possibilities that have caused massive disruption in nearly every sector of hospitality. Today, beacon-based hospitality management has come a long way. Hotels worldwide now use relay Bluetooth beacon solutions for contactless check-in, location-based services, personalized offers, etc. In what follows, we’ll explore several distinct ways hotels can use beacon-based IoT and why hospitality businesses are investing in them.
A Bluetooth® Low Energy (BLE) beacon is a small, battery-powered transmitter that broadcasts a short identifier at set intervals. Mobile devices or gateways listen and convert the signals into proximity or room‑level context. Beacons primarily broadcast, and they don’t listen, record audio, or take video. A BLE beacon typically transmits a signal that can extend to 150m and up to 300m in long-range mode. Common protocols include iBeacon (Apple) and Eddystone (Google).
Typically, relay Bluetooth beacon deployment in hospitality includes app-based experiences and app-less RTLS with gateways. The underlying principle behind hotel beacon technology is quite simple really – using wireless beacon networks, we are able to harness the power of location data to deliver efficient and personalized hospitality services. Hotels are investing in Bluetooth beacons in a variety of forms and sizes, including smart badges, location anchors, asset tags, and emergency buttons.
Bluetooth technology is being employed by a number of hotels around the world to great effect. Here, we compiled 6 popular beacon use cases that hospitality embraces.
Large hotel properties pose a major challenge for guests trying to navigate unfamiliar spaces. Moving from room to room doing visual searches for amenities, conference rooms, or dining venues simply isn’t easy in today’s hospitality environment. Add to that the reality of so many “I’m lost” calls to the front desk.
Beacon-enabled mobile apps can give guests complete visibility into their location and optimal routes to their destination in real time. With suitable beacon anchors deployed at decision points like corridor junctions, guests can get turn-by-turn directions with the digital map.
Finally, if guests are looking for specific services, relay Bluetooth beacon technology for hotels will allow you to tell them exactly where to go and provide estimated walking times.
Harassment and safety threats toward hotel staff, housekeeping personnel in particular, are an unfortunate reality of hospitality these days. According to industry studies, hotel workers are nearly 40% more likely to be injured on the job compared to other service sector workers. The AHLA’s 5-Star Promise requires brands to provide Employee Safety Devices to housekeeping and room service staff.
Bluetooth-enabled personnel security tags fitted with emergency buttons can provide a way for anyone on staff to swiftly and discreetly trigger help and share precise room location. All you need is Bluetooth duress buttons or wearables that you equip your staff members, and ceiling or wall-mounted gateways that will collect their location. Whenever someone presses their button, security can respond to the right room fast. This peace of mind not only offers comfort to hotel staff and fosters a better work atmosphere, but can be a critical factor when trouble arises.
Guest safety plays a huge role in any effective hospitality operation strategy. Typically, hotel teams will care for their fair share of vulnerable guests, including elderly or unaccompanied travelers. However, this isn’t always possible in a busy setting, and not all areas are staffed at all times.
BLE hotel beacons can provide an added layer of protection by helping locate guests and triggering alerts in unsafe situations. If someone slips or needs help, they can push a wall-mounted panic button to call for assistance. The end IoT platforms immediately notify hotel staff. You will also get an alert when a guest exits safe areas or enters restricted zones like service back-of-house areas or storage rooms with valuable supplies.
The most obvious, and possibly the hoteliers’ favorite, use of Bluetooth beacons in hospitality is to build a comprehensive asset tracking solution. Hotels manage thousands of valuable assets, and it’s not easy to track them. Most hotels will purchase 15-25% excess equipment than required simply because employees often have a hard time locating and using assets.
Relay Bluetooth beacon asset tracking enables staff to quickly locate the necessary equipment or amenities, whatever they may be, from luggage carts to conference room supplies or anything else in between.
Effective solutions aren’t only about the real-time location, though. More importantly, they convert all the collected location data into insightful reports, helping to reveal the flow of assets, highlight under- and over-equipped areas, flag misplaced items, and inform data-driven purchasing and placement decisions.
Beyond tracking for operational needs, you may also want to monitor environmental conditions to enhance guest comfort. Some examples include monitoring temperature, humidity, or noise levels in guest rooms or common hotel areas to maintain comfortable conditions, deliver excellent guest experiences, and identify issues requiring hotel managers’ attention.
Also, take the matter of food safety in hotel restaurants and kitchens, for example. Maintaining appropriate storage conditions, in terms of temperature, humidity, etc., is essential to the safety and quality of food service. Sometimes, even minor deviations from the proper standards could have serious consequences for guest health and property reputation.
All data is collected by sensor-equipped BLE beacons installed in the relevant areas. As with the hospitality asset tracking example, both real-time and historical data are accessible through the IoT platform for analysis and action. Compliance with other areas of hotel operation also becomes easier with beacon systems.
Guests expect to have access to all kinds of personalized benefits. When staying at hotels or dining at restaurants, especially in premium establishments, guests are now far more sensitive to issues of convenience and personalization. Hoteliers can now deliver a more intimate, personalized guest experience through the use of beacon technology for hotels by using them to track guest movement patterns, preferred areas, and service utilization throughout their stay. This, in turn, can help to enhance guest satisfaction and increase ancillary revenue while reducing service response times.
By offering specific offers and perks based on their location on the property, guests will feel more valued and have more opportunities to engage with hotel services.
Bluetooth beacon technology first made its way into hospitality over a decade ago, bringing innovative capabilities for forward-looking hotel operators. There have been huge benefits along with clear results that real-time location-based services provide returns for hotel operators and guests. However, many operators also have been caught off guard by the complexity: Bluetooth tags, anchors and specialized gateways come with substantial costs and require installation of infrastructure all over the property.
It’s up to the solution provider to pair the Bluetooth hardware with a mobile app or management platform, and MOKO beacons integrate with a wide range of IoT platforms. Above all, beacon solutions allow hotels to finally get the real-time operational data they require throughout the property.
With BLE, you get a solution that’s easy to set up and scales with your hotel’s needs. It gives you real-time info, so you can find what you need fast, helping guest service and keeping the hotel operations running smoothly. We help hotels, both large and small, use BLE-based location services to streamline operations and track assets efficiently, helping to create an even safer, more efficient environment.
The leading technologies in hospitality today employ BLE devices that have low energy requirements. MOKOSmart’s Bluetooth beacon hospitality devices are being deployed in hotels and hospitality venues worldwide. Paired with Gateways, these make tracking guest luggage, housekeeping carts, and other valuable assets easy and cost-effective. Furthermore, they enable staff and assets to be tracked in real time. Whether it’s luxury resorts, boutique hotels, or restaurants, there are countless ways Bluetooth technology is generating value for hospitality providers.
Curious how relay Bluetooth beacons could improve your hotel’s operations and satisfaction? Talk with our Bluetooth expert team about your hotel property and how you would like to use the Bluetooth beacon technology.
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