A practical guide to guest journey automation for small hotels and B&Bs

You’re answering guest emails, handling arrivals, managing housekeeping and still trying to deliver a warm, personal experience. 

At the same time, guest expectations are constantly climbing. Instant replies, personalized information and seamless check-ins are now essential – they’re no longer just nice-to-haves.

This is where guest journey automation comes in.

Crucially, this isn't about replacing your genuine hospitality or turning your hotel into a self-service machine. For independents, it is about protecting your time, cutting down on repetitive admin and making sure your guests get clear, timely information.

It's important to remember that there’s no one-size-fits-all approach to automation. How you automate the guest journey will depend on your accommodation size, service style, and guest profile.

Before looking at the three guest journey types, let’s start with the basics.

Key takeaways:

• Guest journey automation helps independents save time and reduce admin without losing their personal hospitality.

• Automation works best when applied by phase: pre-stay, in-stay and post-stay, each with a different goal.

• Pre-stay automation delivers the biggest impact by setting expectations, reducing emails and enabling early upsells.

• The right level of automation depends on your hotel, ranging from basic message automation to fully data-driven journeys.

• When done well, automation runs quietly in the background and frees your team to focus on guests, not tasks.

Automation during different steps of the guest journey

Guest journey automation works best when you keep the different phases of the guest journey in mind. Each step requires a different balance between information, service and timing. What makes sense before arrival does not necessarily work during the stay, and post-stay communication has a completely different goal again.

For independent properties, this phased approach is especially important. Automating everything in the same way often leads to either too many messages or the wrong message at the wrong time. 

By breaking the journey into pre-stay, in-stay and post-stay, you can focus automation where it adds the most value, without overwhelming guests or your team.

Another advantage of thinking in phases is that it allows you to start small. You do not need a fully connected tech stack on day one. Many independents begin with pre-stay automation, then gradually add in-stay and post-stay flows once the basics are working smoothly.

Pre-stay automation: set expectations and answer questions

The pre-stay phase shapes the guest’s first real impression of your hotel. This is where expectations are set, uncertainty is reduced and many repetitive questions can be answered before they ever reach your inbox. 

For independent hotels, pre-stay automation is often the highest-impact starting point because it prepares guests for arrival while quietly reducing manual work and creating opportunities to upsell early.

What you can automate:

• Booking confirmation with clear stay details and policies

• Pre-arrival reminders sent a few days before arrival

• Pricing, restrictions and availability updates to booking channels

• Self-service check-in or digital registration forms

• Digital key access on the day of arrival

• Preference collection such as arrival time, bed type or dietary needs

• Simple upsell offers like breakfast, parking or early check-in

• Practical destination and arrival information

When done well, pre-stay automation reduces back-and-forth emails, helps guests feel prepared and brings in extra revenue before check-in.

In-stay automation: support without interrupting the experience

During the stay, guests value speed and availability more than long explanations. In-stay automation should focus on being helpful and discreet, providing quick answers and an easy way to ask for help without disrupting the experience. When done right, it supports guests in real time while giving you the option to step in when something requires personal attention.

What you can automate:

• A welcome message with Wi-Fi details, breakfast times and contact information

• Check-in kiosk

• Keyless entry or smart locks

• AI-driven FAQ handling for common questions like parking, towels or late check-out

• Automatic routing of service requests to housekeeping or maintenance

• A mid-stay “How is your stay?” check in with guests

• In-stay upsell offers for spa, food and beverage or local experiences

Good in-stay automation supports your daily operations in the background. It helps you respond faster and catch small issues before they turn into bad reviews.

Post-stay automation: close the loop and drive retention

The post-stay phase is about follow-up, not friction. Once guests leave, automation helps you stay consistent without feeling pushy, making sure feedback is collected, reviews are encouraged and future stays are gently promoted. For independents, this phase is key to protecting reputation and turning one-time guests into repeat, direct bookers without adding extra admin work.

What you can automate:

• Digital check-out instructions

• Automatic invoice or bill delivery

• Thank-you messages

• Guest satisfaction surveys such as NPS or CSAT

• Review requests for Google or Tripadvisor

• Win-back and repeat-stay offers

Post-stay automation helps you collect feedback while it is still fresh and keeps your hotel top of mind for future stays.

Three guest journey types based on level of automation

Every independent property fits into one of these three models. Most properties sit somewhere between them, and that is perfectly fine.

Transactional or basic automation

Transactional automation focuses on getting the essentials right, every time. This model is about consistency and reliability rather than experience design. By automating only the most repetitive messages, independent hotels can reduce manual work and avoid mistakes, while keeping the guest journey largely human-led. It is often the first step into automation and a practical choice when time and resources are limited.

What it looks like:

• Automated booking confirmations and reminders

• Standard pre-arrival information

• A simple post-stay thank-you and review request

• Most guest interaction still handled manually

• Pricing, restrictions and availability updates to booking channels

Efficiency impact:

• Fewer repetitive emails

• Less risk of forgetting messages

• No change to your service model, just less admin

This level of automation is often the first step. It removes the most obvious manual work without changing how you run your hotel.

Assisted automation

This second type of automation is about balance. Routine questions and standard messages are handled automatically, while staff remain closely involved when context, empathy or judgment is needed. This model allows independents to stay responsive and professional without feeling automated or distant. It is especially effective for hotels that want to scale efficiency while keeping a strong personal touch.

What it looks like:

• Automated core messages across the entire stay

• AI-based messaging via channels like WhatsApp

• Website chatbots that handle FAQs

• Escalation rules when sentiment is negative or requests are complex

• Templates staff can quickly personalize

• Pricing, restrictions and availability updates to booking channels

Efficiency impact:

• Staff spend more time on guests and less on inbox management

• Faster response times

• Better issue recovery during the stay

This model is a sweet spot for many independents. Automation handles the predictable parts, while your team stays in control of the experience.

Data-driven or complete automation

Fully automated journeys treat the guest experience as one connected flow rather than a series of isolated messages. Decisions are driven by guest data, behavior and stay context, with systems working together in the background. 

This model reduces friction for guests and workload for staff, while still allowing human intervention when it adds the most value. It works best when systems are well integrated and the operation is ready to rely on automation with confidence.

What it looks like:

• Pre-stay journeys that adapt based on:

  • Length of stay

  • Room type

  • Booking source

  • Guest history

• In-stay personalization powered by connected systems

• Post-stay campaigns that change based on spend, feedback and engagement

• Pricing, restrictions and availability updates to booking channels

• Keyless entry or smart locks

Efficiency impact:

• Higher upsell conversion

• More direct repeat bookings

• Ability to scale without adding staff

This model works best when your PMS, messaging and CRM are well connected and guest data is used intelligently.

Choosing the right journey for your hotel

Choosing the right level of guest journey automation is less about what technology can do and more about what makes sense for your hotel today. Room count, staffing levels, guest profile and service style all influence how much automation is helpful and where it adds the most value.

Many independent hotels do not fit neatly into a single model. In practice, most combine different levels of automation across the journey. Pre-stay communication is often fully automated to reduce emails, while in-stay interactions remain personal. Post-stay follow-ups then run automatically to ensure consistency without extra admin.

The key is to focus on real pressure points: 

• If you are overwhelmed by repetitive questions before arrival, pre-stay automation should come first. 

• If issues are only discovered at check-out, adding mid-stay checks and better request routing will have a bigger impact than more messaging. 

Automation should solve concrete problems, not create extra noise.

And, the right journey model is not fixed. As your operation evolves, your automation can (and should) evolve with it. The goal is a guest journey that feels smooth and personal for guests, and manageable for your team.

Automation should support hospitality, not replace it

Guest journey automation works best when guests barely notice it. Most guests are not thinking about systems or workflows. They care about clear information, quick answers and feeling looked after throughout their stay.

For independent hotels, automating the guest experience should be seen as a way to protect your genuine hospitality. By removing the repetitive, predictable work, your team is free to focus their time and energy on what truly matters. When confirmations, reminders and follow-ups run reliably in the background, staff can focus on the moments that actually require human attention.

It is also worth remembering that automation does not stop at the guest experience. Many of the biggest efficiency gains happen behind the scenes. Automating internal workflows like task creation for housekeeping and maintenance, room status updates, payment follow-ups or reporting reduces errors and context switching for your team. Fewer manual steps mean fewer things to forget, especially during busy periods.

The best guest journeys feel simple and effortless, even when the technology behind them is not. Start small, automate the obvious and build from there. When done right, automation supports hospitality rather than replacing it.