What do hotels sell best? Sometimes it starts with simply being seen
Hotels spend a great deal of time thinking about what they can sell beyond the room: breakfast, late check-out, drinks, dinner, spa treatments, parking, experiences and upgrades.
But there is another question worth asking:
Can guests actually see what you are selling?
That sounds almost too simple. Yet during hotel visits, we often notice facilities and services that are technically available but practically invisible.
A rooftop terrace is a good example.
A hotel may have invested in furniture, lighting, staffing and a rooftop space with the potential to generate both revenue and a better guest experience. But if a guest walks past the hotel, enters the lobby or returns in the afternoon without noticing that the rooftop exists, the commercial potential of that investment is reduced.
The best product may be the one guests notice at the right moment
Hotel upselling is increasingly about timing and visibility rather than simply adding more things to sell.
Industry guidance on ancillary revenue points in the same direction. Mews highlights the importance of promoting additional hotel services at relevant moments throughout the guest journey, while IRIS describes pre-stay and in-stay communication as opportunities to increase guest spend on services such as food, drinks, upgrades and experiences.
That communication doesn't always have to happen on a phone.
Sometimes a wall is enough.
Imagine a guest returning to the hotel at 17:00. The choice might be:
Go upstairs for a drink — or walk down the street and spend the money somewhere else.
A clear sign saying ROOFTOP TERRACE ↑ may therefore be much more than wayfinding. It is a small sales channel positioned exactly where the decision is being made.
Sell what you already have before adding something new
This is an interesting exercise for almost any hotel.
Walk through the property as if you were visiting for the first time and look for everything a guest can potentially buy, use or experience.
Then ask one question:
How would I know this exists?
The answer can reveal surprisingly simple opportunities:
- a rooftop terrace that cannot be seen from the street
- a restaurant that looks closed from the lobby
- a happy hour mentioned only on the menu
- an attractive courtyard hidden behind reception
- late check-out that is available but never actively offered
- meeting facilities that local businesses don't know exist
- an outdoor area guests don't realise they can use
- a bar that guests only discover when they happen to walk past it
Digital signage specialists similarly point to rooftop bars, restaurants and spas as services worth promoting at places where guests naturally pause or make decisions, such as lobbies, corridors and elevator areas.
A wall can be commercial space
We recently played with a very simple example on a hotel façade.
There was already a small pavement sign promoting the hotel's rooftop terrace. But from a little distance, it was easy to overlook.
Immediately beside it was something much bigger:
a large, unused section of façade.
So we asked: what happens if that surface becomes part of the hotel's communication?
Not another complicated advertising campaign. Just strong branding, a clear rooftop message and an arrow.
The physical hotel itself becomes the media.
And this way of thinking can be applied inside the hotel as well. Elevator walls, reception areas, corridors, room information, Wi-Fi landing pages, QR codes and digital screens can all help guests discover something they might otherwise have missed.
The objective isn't to cover hotels in advertising
There is an important distinction.
More communication is not necessarily better communication.
Hotels should still feel like hotels — not shopping centres.
The interesting opportunities are the places where useful guest information and commercial value overlap.
“Rooftop terrace upstairs” can be useful information.
“Breakfast available until 10:30” can be useful information.
“Late check-out available today” can be useful information.
“Courtyard open — drinks available at the bar” can be useful information.
If the message helps the guest discover something relevant while simultaneously increasing the likelihood of a purchase, it can improve both the guest experience and hotel revenue.
Before investing in something new, look at what is already there
For us, that is perhaps the most interesting part.
Improving hotel revenue doesn't always require another renovation, a new piece of technology or a major investment.
Sometimes the opportunity is already built.
The hotel already has the rooftop.
It already has the bar.
It already has the terrace.
It already has the service.
The missing piece may simply be making sure people know about it.
At We Help Hotels, we look for opportunities like these: small and large changes in physical spaces, guest communication and services that can make existing hotel assets work harder.
Because before asking “What else could we sell?”, it can be worth asking:
“Are we selling what we already have well enough?”
