What is a hotel mobile app?

A hotel mobile app is a software application designed to make life easier for hoteliers, and that has been designed specifically for small, wireless devices like smartphones and tablets.

Modern hotel mobile apps come in any number of forms, and are designed to help in all aspects of your hotel operations, from optimising your room pricing to scheduling your housekeeping roster. Many are even designed for guests, to ensure their stay is as fun, comfortable and stress-free as possible.

Integrating them with your existing systems has the potential to take your business to the next level so let’s go through everything you need to know about apps, and some of the best ones to try.

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Quick history and development of mobile apps

To put it as simply as possible, an app is a piece of software that allows you to perform a specific task or tasks. Apps can be used on a smartphone, desktop and laptop, and even televisions. 

In many respects, the mobile app revolution began before the first Macintosh computer was ever released. Steve Jobs pictured a database of software programs that people could shop for as if they were in a record store. This first vision occurred nearly 25 years prior to the development and release of the iPhone, and subsequently the App Store.

Slowly but surely, apps crept into our lives and became a powerful force in our personal and professional lives. Everytime you use Microsoft Word on your computer or Instagram on your phone, you’re using an app.

The use of apps is a growing trend worldwide. Today, there’s pretty much an app for anything you can imagine; from social media, to exercise tracking, to cooking, to music, and more.

But did you know that there are even apps you can use at your property to run your business more efficiently, improve guest experience, cut costs and boost your profits?

These nifty little programs hold a lot of power and the hotel industry is becoming flooded with more each day.

Why do hotels need an app?

One of the most powerful groups of travellers today are millennials — the generation of young adults that value experience over items. This is the same group who grew up with technology surrounding them, and they have come to expect the latest technology to greet them as they travel the globe.

Mobile apps can be a quick and easy way to research and reserve a hotel, especially to those who are constantly on the move. There’s no need to open a browser and navigate to a site through Google, or type in the right URL – the traveller can get where they want to go in a single click, and enjoy all the functionality they need via an intuitive, purpose-built interface, from booking a room to enjoying an enhanced guest experience.

Many accommodation providers have already caught on, creating or using mobile apps to improve the guest experience – for example, some apps allow guests to order room service, give the power to check-in early, or conveniently purchase extras and experiences. Other hotel features include exclusive local guides, concierge services, deals that can only be found on the app, and the ability to request specific types of toiletries for the bathroom.

On the other side of the coin, small hotels can also use apps to improve their backend business operations and increase overall efficiency, making life easier.

That’s why Little Hotelier has its own mobile app to help you keep on top of your property management, and an app store where you can access a range of useful apps that allow you to grow as a business and deliver better services.

Benefits of using hotel mobile apps 

You’re probably getting an idea already that there is an app to suit any purpose you want to fulfil at your property. The beauty of apps, and hotel mobile apps in particular, is that they can be whatever you want them to be and do whatever you want them to do. At a time when small, independent hotels are increasingly looking to technology to streamline and grow, hotel mobile apps can form a real competitive advantage.

The market is full to the brim with apps that can help you:

  • Make more money on each booking
  • Improve your reputation
  • Build better guest relationships and loyalty
  • Boost direct bookings
  • Adopt contactless processes
  • Streamline reservation management and check-ins
  • Manage your property remotely
  • Save time and cut costs
  • Upsell to your guests
  • Increase guest communication capabilities
  • And more!

Generally, apps are designed to make life simpler for you while running your property. They allow you to customise the technology you’re using to suit your needs, solve real problems easily, make confident decisions, and manage data more effectively.

Then there are guest-focused apps which aim to please your customers by offering them:

  • A way to quickly and easily book directly with your property.
  • The best possible price (thanks to direct booking functionality), as well as special deals and discounts.
  • An enhanced guest experience, with in app functionality allowing them to book services and make requests during their stay.

Combining a hotel website with a mobile app

There’s simply no excuse for a modern hotel not to have a website – travellers now almost universally search for and book hotels online, and while OTA listings have their place, they don’t offer the level of detail, nor the ability to book direct, that a website does.

Your website is the beating heart of your online presence – the thing that everything else, from your social media channels to your Google Business Profile, links back to. And by combining your website with hotel mobile apps, you can increase its reach, functionality and effectiveness.

You can add a hotel mobile app that optimises the price of every room to ensure you’re maximising your revenue, that enhances guest communication before, during and after their stay, that helps you to track reviews and enhance your online reputation.

There’s a hotel mobile app for everything, from basic hotel management to optimising every aspect of your business. And when you combine this endless functionality with a well built hotel website, the opportunities are incredible.

Introduction to the Little Hotelier App Store

As mentioned, Little Hotelier now hosts a hotel app store! You now have a place where you can access innovative apps designed specifically to help small hoteliers enhance their businesses.

Here you’ll be able to find apps that cover all the benefits mentioned above, and more.

These apps can work hand-in-hand with the Little Hotelier system, allowing you to extend what’s possible at your property in terms of management efficiency and the services you can deliver to your guests.

As the industry evolves, and in turn your business does too, adopting handy apps on top of your current systems will allow you to grow smoothly to meet the needs of travellers from all around the world.

Top hotel apps your business should check out

Don’t know where to start? If you haven’t nailed down exactly what you need an app to solve, take a look at this list.

Here you’ll see the apps that are most popular with hoteliers right now. They include:

Little Hotelier: The Best Mobile App for Small Hotels

Little Hotelier is more than just a hotel mobile app: it’s a complete property management system. As all hoteliers will know, property management is far from a desk job – which is where our app comes in. It offers Little Hotelier users the opportunity to manage their property, and keep tabs on all the goings-on, while they’re on the go. It’ll even help you to keep your hotel running smoothly if your WiFi goes down!

  • Booking notifications: A notification is sent straight to your phone whenever a new reservation is made.
  • Check in/check out: Our app is capable of completing check-ins and check-outs, so you can let the guest fill in the necessary details as you show them around or guide them to your room.
  • Keep on top of availability: Create and edit reservations on the go, and block off rooms in an instant.
  • A portable payment portal: Use Little Hotelier Payments to collect payments right in the app.
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By Dean Elphick

Dean is the Senior Content Marketing Specialist of Little Hotelier, the all-in-one software solution purpose-built to make the lives of small accommodation providers easier. Dean has made writing and creating content his passion for the entirety of his professional life, which includes more than six years at Little Hotelier. Through content, Dean aims to provide education, inspiration, assistance, and, ultimately, value for small accommodation businesses looking to improve the way they run their operations (and live their life).