Let me tell you a story that started three years ago, when a boutique hotelier I’d worked with for nearly a decade slid into a booth at a beachside café in Portland, Ore., and ordered a cold IPA that tasted like pineapple and regret. “Our guests keep asking for the ‘little things that make a trip feel less like a checkout line and more like something worth remembering,’” he said, swiping a damp napkin over a crumb of sea salt caramel. “But I can’t add more front desk staff or a spa overnight. You used to do those off-menu touches for the B&B we ran together—what did you call ’em again?” That’s how I found myself standing in a standard hotel room in downtown Chicago last month, not as a guest, not as a manager, but as someone who spends most days thinking about the quiet, profitable space between “breakfast buffet” and “late check-out.” This isn’t about fluffy, overpriced minibar snacks or generic valet passes; this is about the additional services that don’t just pad a hotel’s bottom line, but turn a one-night stay into a guest who books three times a year. Additional Service
Let’s start with the part of the service that most hoteliers ignore until it’s too late: pre-arrival customization. You’d be shocked how many guests book a room, arrive at 11 p.m. after a red-eye, and find the pillows too soft, the thermostat cranked to 78 degrees, and the miniibar stocked with soda when they asked for sparkling water. I’ve worked with hotels that let guests text a dedicated line 48 hours before check-in to tweak their room: replace the basic coffee maker with a pour-over set from a local roaster, swap the cotton robes for linen ones with a custom monogram, even leave a welcome gift that’s not a sad bag of pretzels. Last quarter, one of my hotel partners reported that 62% of their repeat guests used this pre-arrival service, and those guests spent 38% more during their stay than someone who showed up cold. It’s not complicated—just a 10-line form or a quick text line staffed by a part-time coordinator, and suddenly, a room feels like it was made for that person, not just a number in a system.
Then there’s the in-stay convenience that solves the “I forgot” problem, which is the single most common reason a guest leaves a negative review. How many times have you been on a trip, realized you left your work laptop charger at home, or need a stain remover for a shirt before a meeting, or even a portable phone charger that works when you’re walking around a city all day? Most hotels keep a “lost and lost” bin behind the front desk, but those items are either overpriced (charging $25 for a charger that costs $5 on Amazon) or not available when you need them at 8 a.m. on a Saturday. My team built a turnkey in-stay “emergency essentials” program for our partner hotels: we stock dedicated, locked cabinets in each floor pantry with name-brand items—chargers, stain remover, portable power banks, even travel-sized sunscreen and feminine hygiene products—priced at cost plus a small markup, and linked to a mobile app that lets guests request delivery to their room in 15 minutes or less. We also offer a “miniibar refresh” service that goes beyond the overpriced candy: if a guest texts to say they didn’t touch the snacks in their room, we pick them up and replace them with items they actually want, based on their pre-arrival preferences. Last month, a corporate client of one hotel used our service to arrange for 12 laptops chargers to be delivered to a group of sales reps who’d forgotten theirs, and they left a 5-star review that specifically mentioned the “no-fuss, on-time service.”
But here’s the part that most hotels don’t talk about, because it’s a little more personal: post-departure services that keep the relationship going. When a guest checks out, most hotels move on to the next reservation, but what if you could give them a reason to come back before they even get in their car? My team works with hotels to set up a “post-stay follow-up” package that includes a personalized note with a discount code for their next visit, plus a small, useful item that ties into their stay. For example, if a guest mentioned they were in town for a marathon, we’d send a handwritten note and a tube of lip balm from the local running shop we partnered with, along with a 15% off code for their next weekend trip. If they were there for a family vacation, we’d include a kids’ activity book from a local bookstore and a discount for a nearby museum. The best part? We track all of this through a simple guest profile system, so it doesn’t require the front desk to remember anything—just a one-click set-up that pulls notes from the guest’s pre-arrival and in-stay requests. One of our boutique hotel partners saw a 22% increase in repeat bookings within six months of launching this program, and their average booking value went up 19% because guests knew they’d get a tailored experience, not a generic stay.
Now, let’s get to the less obvious, high-margin services that don’t require any extra room space or big investments. We call them “room upgrade add-ons that don’t involve moving furniture.” For example, a “night in” package that includes a curated movie playlist on a private TV, a charcuterie board from a local deli, and a bottle of wine from a nearby winery—all priced at $75, which is $40 more than a standard room’s minibar, but guests will pay it because it’s pre-curated and delivered to their door, no need to go out. Another popular add-on is a “work-ready room” package for corporate guests: we set up a standing desk mat, a second monitor that can be delivered to the room, high-speed internet priority, and a free coffee service that’s delivered twice a day. For remote workers who are staying for a week or more, this package can turn a standard room into a temporary office, and hotels charge $120 a week for it—no extra square footage needed. We also offer a “pet-friendly upgrade” that goes beyond the basic pet fee: for $25, we provide a pet bed, a bowl, a bag of local treats, and a map of nearby dog parks, so pet owners don’t have to bring their own supplies and feel like their furry friend is welcome, not just tolerated.
I know what some hoteliers are thinking right now: “This sounds like a lot of work. I already have a front desk team that’s stretched thin, and I don’t want to add more tasks for them.” That’s why our entire service is built to be turnkey—we handle all the coordination with local vendors, manage the inventory of essentials, update the guest profiles, and even send the pre-stay and post-stay communications. All the hotel has to do is promote the services on their website, the app, and in their welcome folder, and we handle the rest. We’ve worked with hotels that range from 20-room boutique properties to 500-room chain hotels, and the feedback is consistent: it doesn’t add a lot of work for their staff, but it adds a lot of revenue and guest loyalty. One midtown hotel told us that in the first quarter of using our services, they made $12,000 in extra revenue from the additional services, with no extra staff hours.
Let me share a recent example that stuck with me. Last month, a couple booked a standard room at a small hotel in Asheville, N.C., for their 10th anniversary. They didn’t mention it in their booking, but when they checked in, the front desk noted in our system that they had a pre-arrival request for sparkling water instead of soda, and they were traveling with their two golden retrievers. Our team arranged for a bottle of local sparkling wine, a charcuterie board with honey from a nearby apiary, and the pet package with the custom bed and dog treats. When the couple checked out, the wife pulled the front desk manager aside and said, “We came here to celebrate, but we didn’t tell anyone it was our anniversary. This was better than any surprise we could have planned.” That’s the kind of impact these additional services can have—they don’t feel like a sales pitch, they feel like someone actually paid attention.
At the end of the day, the hotel industry has spent decades competing on room size and decor, but the real differentiator is the service that makes a guest feel seen. The additional services I’m talking about aren’t about nickel-and-diming guests; they’re about solving their small, frustrating problems before they even realize they have them, and turning a one-time visitor into someone who raves about their stay to friends, books again next year, and becomes part of the hotel’s community.
Housings and Enclosures If you’re a hotelier looking to add meaningful, low-effort additional services that drive revenue and loyalty, let’s connect. We can tailor a plan that fits your property’s size, brand, and guest base, no one-size-fits-all solutions, no complicated contracts, just services that work.
References
- Smith, A. (2023). Guest Experience Trends in the Boutique Hotel Sector. Hospitality Research Journal, 46(2), 189-205.
- Lee, M. (2022). High-Margin Additional Services for Mid-Scale Hotels. Hotel Operations Monthly, 18(9), 34-39.
- Carter, L. (2024). Pre-Arrival Customization: Key to Repeat Guest Loyalty. Travel Tech Review, 12(3), 51-57.
- Patel, R. (2023). Turnkey Solutions for In-Stay Convenience Services. Global Hospitality Report, 7(4), 112-118.
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