How to create a room service

Overview

The Room service feature enables hotels to digitize their room service, allowing guests to place orders directly from their guest app.

This feature is highly customizable, letting hotels create different room service options based on their specific needs. For instance, a hotel can set up a food and beverage room service, a pillow room service, or a mini-bar products room service.

The digital menu simplifies the ordering process for guests and streamlines order management for staff. This article will guide you through setting up and configuring a room service.

 

 

Before getting started

Before creating a room service, make sure you have the following:

• Access to the CMS: Content > Services > Room service.
• Basic information about the room service ready: name, description, opening hours, etc.
• High-quality images of the food and drinks offered (or any other products or services) should be in landscape format (800 x 420 pixels) and not exceed 1 MB. Keep in mind that these images are for introducing your room service, not the specific catalog images you will create later to display your room service menu.
• If you have the guest app in different languages, prepare translated versions of room service descriptions.

Step-by-step guide

Step 1: Create your room service

1. Navigate to the Content section of the CMS
2. Select Room service from the left-side menu under Services
3. Click Add
4. Choose between using a template or creating a room service from scratch:
   • Templates include a default name, tag, and image. Select a template and click Save to start editing.
   • Create from scratch by clicking Create a new service in the upper-right corner.

If you selected a template, click Edit on the desired room service to continue editing.

Step 2: Fill in the room service information

• Name: Enter your room service name. Keep it under 30 characters to ensure it fits on one line on most devices.
• Subtitle: Add a short tagline to describe the experience (e.g., “Food delivered to your room,” “Dine in, relax,”). Keep it under 45 characters so it fits on one or two lines.
• Description: Provide a detailed overview, including the style of the in-room dining, special dishes or services, and anything that makes the room service unique.

Step 3: Upload images of your room service

If you created the room service using a template, it will already include a preloaded image.

Make sure your image files don’t exceed 1 MB. The recommended dimensions are 800 x 420 pixels (landscape format). The first image uploaded will be the cover image of your room service.

To upload an image:

1. Click the image icon to open the upload window.
2. Drag and drop images or select them from your computer.
3. Click Insert, then Save changes.

To delete an image:

1. Hover over the image and click the trash icon.
2. Click Save changes to confirm.

The following steps are optional and can be edited later.

Step 4: Include additional information about your room service

Additional details help guest understand your room service options. Click Add additional info and select the options that apply:

• Title and description: This adds two text boxes (title and subtitle) and an icon to be customized as needed. You can also link this information to an existing service by ticking the Link to service checkbox.

• Bullet list: This provides a list of items to customize as needed. You can use it to highlight key points of your room service.

• Dress code: For room service, this option is not commonly used. This option provides a default text box and an icon to inform guests of any attire requirements. Just fill in the text box under the title.

• Location description: For room service, this option is not commonly used. Use this option to provide directions to find the room service (e.g., floor number or building name).

• Website: Add your room service website.

• Video URL: If you want to share audiovisual content with guests, this option provides a default link box with an icon and title.

• E-mail: Use this field to include a contact e-mail for guests. When tapping on the email address from the guest app, the email client will open automatically.

• Phone number:This option allows you to include the room service phone number. When guests tap on it, the number will be dialed on the phone to call the room service. For this reason, you should add the country code to the phone number since guests might not have a local phone line.

• YouTube: You can include a YouTube link to provide audiovisual content. If you want the link to open in a browser, tick the box Open YouTube in browser.

• Virtual tour: For room service, this option is not commonly used. This option provides a preset field to include a link to a virtual tour of your facilities.

• URL list: In case you need to provide several links of interest to guests, use this preset option. Websites that cannot be embedded must have the Open URL in browser checkbox selected.

To remove any additional info item, click on the red X icon next to it or, if not applicable:

1. Click Additional info
2. Click on the items to be removed. They will change color as you click on them.
3. Close the pop-up window and click Save changes

Step 5: Add tags to improve searchability

Tags help guests find your room service when searching in the app.

1. Click on the Tags text box.
2. Select one or more relevant keywords from the dropdown menu.
3. Click Save changes.

Step 6: Add the room service location on the map

For room service, the map section is typically not used, as this service is delivered directly to rooms and guests do not need to collect orders at a specific point within the hotel. However, you can use this section if it applies to a specific hotel's operational needs.

1. Enable the Map location toggle button.
2. Search for the room service name on Google Maps and select the correct location.
3. If needed, manually drop a pin on the map.
4. Click Save changes.

Preview on the guest app

As you create your room service, use the Preview button at the top of the page to see how it appears in the app. This allows you to verify information, descriptions and images before going live.

Next steps

Now that you’ve created your room service, here’s what you can do next:

1. Organize room services into categories: If there are several room services at the property, use categories to improve navigation.
2. Choose a booking system: Select the booking system that better suits your service needs.
3. Add your catalog: Create a digital catalog to display the menu on the guest app, allowing guests to choose their products directly and place their orders. Follow the steps in this article.

Need further assistance?

If you have additional questions or require further assistance:

• Contact us via live chat
• Send a ticket to our Support team
• Visit STAY Academy, our training platform.