Hotel mobile ordering: A guide for small hoteliers

What is hotel mobile ordering?

Hotel mobile ordering is a digital service that allows guests to browse menus, place orders and make payments for food, drinks and hotel services from their smartphones.

Hotel mobile ordering is becoming an increasingly popular amenity, as forward-thinking hotels look to offer maximum convenience to their guests while also increasing their bottom line through increased sales.

In this guide, we’ll take a closer look at mobile hotel ordering systems to understand how they work, why an independent hotelier should consider implementing one, and the best options for your hotel.

Why do guests use hotel mobile ordering?

From Uber to DoorDash to Taskrabbit, mobile ordering apps have become an integral part of our day-to-day lives over the course of the last decade. The unmatched convenience has made traditional modes of ordering, such as in-person or over the phone, seem a little annoying and outdated.

That’s true in general, as well as in the microcosm of your hotel. Walking to reception to order and pay for a service, or even picking up the phone and having a chat, might seem like a minor hurdle, but it can be enough to put a hotel guest off placing an order for room service, a massage or an activity.

A lack of a hotel mobile ordering app can therefore see you leave money on the table.

How hotel food ordering system works

Let’s zoom in on mobile room service in hotels, which is perhaps the most common version of mobile ordering. Here’s a chronological breakdown of how a hotel food ordering system works, from the point of view of both the hotel and the guest:

1. The hotel sets up the system, then creates a digital menu that the guest can access through a web browser or purpose-built app, often through a QR code.
2. The guest accesses the menu, selects the items they want and customises the order to their tastes.
3. The guest chooses a delivery location (usually their room number, which may be loaded automatically). They will often pay for their food when they order, but they might instead have it added to their bill. 
4. The hotel processes the payment or room charge through an integrated system.
5. The guest receives an order confirmation and an estimated delivery time.
6. The order is routed to the kitchen or bar instantly, where it is prepared, packaged and assigned to staff for delivery. The guest may be able to track the order through this process.
7. The guest receives the order, and may be prompted to give feedback on the food, drink or service.

Key benefits of having a hotel ordering system

A hotel ordering system streamlines the guest experience by making food and service requests faster, more convenient and more operationally efficient. It also reduces pressure on staff and improves accuracy, empowering small, independent hotels to offer a high-end service that better aligns with modern expectations.

Mobile payments

Hotel mobile ordering allows guests to pay instantly and securely using their phone. This can be via credit cards, digital wallets or as a room charge that’s added to their bill and paid at the end of the stay. There’s no need to fuss with cash or deal with a card machine at reception–payments can be made instantly, easily and from the comfort of the guest’s room.

Intelligent upselling

A hotel’s mobile ordering costs can be far outweighed by the extra revenue that such a system can generate. Not only by increasing the number of orders, but by increasing the value of each order. The best systems can upsell automatically, by suggesting relevant extras like drinks, desserts or meal upgrades during the order process.

Update the menu digitally

No more reprinting and laminating menus whenever a slight change needs to be made. Hotel mobile ordering systems allow menus to be updated in real time, even as certain dishes become unavailable during the evening. You can keep guests up to date on what’s available, and can even discount certain dishes to make money on items that may otherwise have gone to waste.

Direct tickets to the kitchen

Humans make errors. If waitstaff mishear or incorrectly note an order, guests end up with the wrong item, leading your hotel to lose money while you work to rectify the situation. Hotel mobile ordering places the responsibility for getting it right in the guest’s hands, by sending the order directly from their phone to the kitchen. If a mistake is made, it’s theirs to own.

Faster service

This direct-to-kitchen system also drives faster service. By automating a number of steps in the process, orders are actioned and delivered sooner. Some systems even allow guests to track their order from the moment they pay to the moment they receive it, which increases transparency and decreases time-consuming order check-ins with busy hotel staff.

We updated our pricing with the introduction of Little Hotelier, and we have more accommodation to rent. We’ve loved being able to reduce manual processes.

David Edwards,

Executive Director Infrastructure, Technology & Experience

Maryborough District Health Service

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Top hotel mobile ordering app for small hotels

For small and independent hotels, the right mobile ordering system will be simple to implement, easy to use, cost-effective, revenue generating, and able to integrate with your existing hotel tools. Some of the leading solutions for smaller properties include:

1. Canary Technologies 

Canary Technologies offers an integrated mobile ordering platform as part of its guest experience suite, which allows hotels to digitise food and beverage orders, spa bookings, service requests and more. Guests can browse menus, place orders and pay using their phones, all without the need to download an app. The key feature is Canary’s AI-powered upselling, which suggests relevant add-ons to a guest based on who they are and what they’re ordering.

2. Mews

Mews is a cloud-based hotel PMS that comes with built-in mobile ordering and guest self-service tools. There’s no need for a guest to download an app – a simple QR code will send them to a web browser that offers full ordering functionality. An intuitive design makes the user experience smooth and simple, and helps to minimise the need for staff training. The solution supports room service, order tracking and a wealth of other on-site services offered through the Mews Guest Journey interface.

3. Cloudbeds 

While Cloudbeds doesn’t offer an integrated mobile ordering feature, this all-in-one hospitality platform does offer integrations with third-party mobile ordering tools. The strength of Cloudbeds is in its flexibility and ease of use, with a single dashboard for reservations, guest messaging and ordering. It’s a solid choice for hoteliers looking to centralise operations.

4. Little Hotelier

Like Cloudbeds, Little Hotelier is an all-in-one hotel management solution that lacks an integrated mobile ordering function, but offers a wealth of third-party integrations, and is designed to save you time, simplify your operations, and boost your revenue. Unlike Cloudbeds, Little Hotelier is built specifically for small, independent hotels.

If you’re looking for a solution that builds the foundation for smooth hotel mobile ordering, by getting your hotel running like clockwork and more profitably, the choice is simple: Little Hotelier.