The group business playbook:
19 ideas to deliver seamless experiences

Cloudbeds’ 2024 State of Independent Lodging Report identified group travel as a key trend shaping the travel landscape. Groups may choose to stay with you for any number of reasons – from conference travel and incentive trips to bachelor parties and stagettes.

Providing a stellar guest experience is the ultimate goal for properties in the hospitality industry. A good guest experience brings rave reviews, repeat business, and revenue, but it requires a comprehensive strategy, especially when it comes to groups. 

Groups require more organization and communication across departments. That’s where technology can help. From coordinating room blocks to streamlining check-in, technology ultimately enhances your hotel guest experience for groups and keeps them returning to you year after year.

Here, we’ll explore how you can improve your group guest experience, from pre-arrival to post-stay. By utilizing actionable ideas and implementing processes and technology suited to your and your group’s needs, you’ll be acing your group business playbook in no time.

But first, listen to Hospitality Entrepreneur Russell Edmond break down some of the biggest challenges hotels must overcome when managing groups and tips for a seamless experience.

Understanding the group experience

Before you incorporate tech into your group business playbook, you need to understand the group experience as a whole.

As a lodging operator, you may find yourself wondering, “Is there really that much of a difference between individual and group hotel guests? Aren’t there just more visitors?”

While this may be true, group bookings vary wildly depending on your hotel and target segments. Think about the last time your property hosted a wedding. The number of hands-on tasks and support from your staff and vendors increases significantly when you offer major event bookings as part of your hotel offerings.

Likewise, hosting an onsite conference at your hotel will be much different than hosting business travelers, both of which can still fall into the group travel category. For these reasons, you must tailor your strategy based on your segments.

Once you fully understand your group’s needs, you can determine how to streamline processes and deliver exceptional experiences throughout every phase of the guest journey.

19 ideas to improve the group experience 

Pick and choose the ideas that make the most sense in each phase of the guest journey based on your group segments.

Discovery

The guest experience begins before a group even chooses you as their provider. In the discovery phase, hotels must make it as easy as possible for event planners and other key contacts to find information and submit proposals. 

1. Update your website with a groups page 

Make it clear on your website the types of groups your hotel caters to and specs on event space, hotel rooms, amenities, food and beverage, and more. That way, event planners can easily determine whether or not it makes sense to start the proposal process. 

This page should also include contact information for your sales team, instructions on how to submit a request for proposal (RFP), and a lead form for inquiries. 

2. Include group codes on your booking engine 

Reduce the number of calls and emails from groups by including a spot for group codes on your booking engine. This way,  guests with a dedicated code can easily book a room in their allotted block via your booking engine at their discounted rate. 

Hotels can always remove group codes from their PMS after the group has stayed – or keep them indefinitely for returning groups. 

3. Connect to venue marketplaces 

Using event technology, connect to venue marketplaces and automate the RFP process to ensure quick communication with event planners. The more seamless an experience you provide in the discovery phase, the more trust you’ll instill in planners, helping you secure group business. 

Pre-arrival

During the pre-arrival stage, you can make great strides in getting to know your visiting group. Many hoteliers and lodging operators skip this step, not knowing they can gather insightful data about their guests before they even arrive. 

The pre-arrival stage is ultimately about understanding your group’s expectations (and setting them) and communicating with any key stakeholders or points of contact within the group. 

4. Communicate with guests

Take advantage of the pre-arrival stage to interact with your groups and prep your staff for their imminent arrival. This will place you miles ahead of your competitors and help you collect valuable information about your guests.

For starters, if your group is staying with you as part of an onsite event hosted by your hotel, consider assigning a designated point of contact, like an event manager, to oversee the coordination of the group.

Using pre-stay communications, you can gather details about your groups. This includes room preferences, dietary restrictions, check-in times, and more, reassuring group coordinators that all details are taken care of.

Personalize your pre-stay communication with information captured throughout the booking process. Time your messaging right so groups are reminded one week out, two days out, and the day of their stay with all the information they need to know for a smooth check-in experience.

5. Set up room blocks

By blocking off a section of rooms specifically for groups, you reduce the impact on other guests staying at your hotel and improve the group experience by situating rooms close together.

Consider where throughout your property groups are best suited. This ensures your group gets the best experience, with individual members being close to one another while reducing noise and distractions for fellow guests.

With Cloudbeds, hotels can block off specific units, not just room types, eliminating the need to manually assign rooms before a group checks in. This not only saves front desk teams a ton of time but ensures that groups will be situated together in the best possible location. 

Allotment block URLs can be shared with guests ahead of time so that they can book individual rooms via your booking engine. You can also set auto-releases, meaning that if rooms aren’t booked by a set date, they will be released to the general public. 

6. Bulk upload rooming lists 

Rooming lists are a popular way for hotels to collect information about groups, including room assignments, preferences, and contact details from tour operators. 

Hotels can leverage technology to upload rooming lists in bulk to ensure nothing gets lost in the upload and groups are satisfied upon arrival. Cloudbeds offers this feature to help hotels eliminate manual errors and ensure the check-in process goes as smoothly as possible. 

7. Upsell add-ons and amenities

Pre-arrival communications with groups can also be a great time to upsell hotel amenities, activities, and items. Communicate with the group event planner or key account to better understand the group’s preferences. 

For example, a group of friends coming into town for a wedding might love a specific type of champagne. Knowing this ahead of time and suggesting that the group put in an order before arrival will not only ensure that the guests aren’t disappointed when they arrive but will also result in additional revenue for the hotel. 

8. Prepare your staff

Once you’ve collected information about the group, it’s time to start prepping your team for their arrival. Frequent team meetings to discuss group preferences and expectations help keep everyone on track. Putting together an agenda for the duration of the group’s stay can also assist your team in keeping track of team responsibilities and important tasks.

Throughout these tasks, ensure you and your team maintain clear communication between group sales managers and operations teams, as well as with any important third-party vendors involved, such as event planners or corporate travel agents.

Arrival

The arrival of your visiting group is about creating a seamless experience for all guests, eliminating unnecessary stress for your team, and reducing friction among travelers who are not part of your visiting group.

9. Offer digital check-in

Utilizing digital check-in allows your groups to check in ahead of time, reducing wait times and allowing them to settle into their rooms sooner. It also frees up valuable space in the lobby, creating a positive impact on guests not part of your staying group who may need to check in, too.

To make this process even smoother, ensure you have the group’s rooms assigned and key cards ready in advance. As part of your digital check-in process, you can also enable the use of digital keys for your group to make check-in even more efficient.

10. Reconfigure your lobby

If digital check-in is not an option or if group members need to pick up tickets or conference swag, consider reconfiguring your hotel lobby to have a group check-in counter.

This makes it easier for groups to get what they need and reduces friction for other hotel guests.

11. Write a personalized welcome letter

Upon arrival to their rooms, surprise and delight your group guests with a personalized welcome letter to make individual members feel extra special, solidifying their decision to stay with you.

While tech is always a surefire way to give your property the boost it needs, maintain an excellent guest experience by finding additional ways to deliver a little extra hospitality. For instance, a handwritten note for the bride and groom saying how much it means that they chose your hotel for their big day can go a long way.

In-stay

The in-stay portion of your group business playbook is all about catering to your guests and ensuring their stay remains as frictionless as possible.

Understanding the values of the group or company you are looking to attract to your property and identifying ways to support their goals can transform your group’s stay from “average” to “amazing.” 

12. Support group objectives

Identify ways to support their goals throughout their stay with you, too. For instance, if sustainability is a priority for your visiting group, look for ways to advertise this throughout your promotional materials and provide environmentally friendly products in your rooms.

13. Utilize guest engagement software

Guest engagement software enables your groups to communicate seamlessly with the event manager or front desk reception. Whether they’re asking a question from the comfort of their rooms or have a query while partaking in group activities outside the hotel, guest engagement software provides your guests with easy access to their points of contact when they need them the most.

14. Implement a digital guidebook

An easily accessible webpage or digital guidebook tailored to your group’s needs, means key information and resources at your guests’ fingertips any time of day. Details relating to their itinerary, the wifi information, amenities, and local suggestions for restaurants and activities position your property as the expert of your region while satisfying guests.

15. Include in-room amenities

Be sure to include in-room amenities that make sense for your chosen group. Corporate guests will appreciate features like coffee machines, ironing boards, and steamers, while groups attending a wellness conference might enjoy access to in-room fitness equipment like yoga mats, blocks, or stretch bands.

16. Leverage group folios 

Each group will have different ways they want to pay. From corporate accounts covering the whole bill to social groups taking care of happy-hour drinks, it’s important to make the payment process as seamless as possible. 

With a group folio, you can add specific charges to a group account and other charges to the reservation folio. This way, you can split charges properly, making it easier when it comes time for payment. 

17. Provide group invoices 

With group invoices, you can provide key contacts with a comprehensive breakdown of all the charges from the group folio (via email or print-off). Since groups are spending a lot staying at your hotel, a detailed invoice is a crucial part of the guest experience. 

The clearer the invoice, the fewer questions groups will have upon payment. This streamlines the checkout process for both sides, ensuring a positive end to their stay. 

Post-stay

You can continue to create amazing connections with your groups long after they depart your hotel by fostering loyalty and repeat business. This applies to individual travelers returning for transient purposes or group bookings with you year-over-year. 

18. Send personalized follow-up 

For starters, send group members a personalized thank you email or SMS message with a survey link to collect feedback. This shows that you truly care about their opinions and also helps your team make improvements for future group stays. 

19. Offer promotional codes

Groups are a fantastic way to attract repeat, transient guests. If you delivered a stellar group experience, it’s likely that guests will want to return on their own for a vacation (or else they will be more inclined to recommend you to friends and family). In your follow-ups, be sure to include a one-time discount code to be used on a future stay. 

Using technology to facilitate a seamless experience 

Hosting groups can get a bit messy at times. With the right tech as part of your stack, especially an integrated hospitality solution, you’ll ace the pre-arrival, in-stay, and post-visit experience for individual members of your visiting group, as well as implement smooth operational processes that benefit your staff.