Hi ​@James.taylor 

we are not located in that regions but would be intresting to see the results and outcome of this funcions from other properties. 

Best

Linus 

Thank you ​@Linus.Bihn, I’ll be sure to reach out once we’re ready to offer this in Europe as well.

Thank you,

James

Hey James, all properties of Samesun would love to participate.

Our staff have been asking for this feature for a long time :)

Cheers,

Phil

Hello,

Please add Stadium Hotel.

Thanks,

JD

Hi everyone,  

We’re excited to announce that we are launching a BETA for Guest photo verification in Online Check-In. You can ask guests to take a selfie as part of completing their pre-arrival registration and their picture will be saved in their guest profile for the you to review and use async when needed.

North America and APAC only

At this time, we can only offer this capability to properties located in North America or the Asia / Pacific regions.

If you’re located outside these regions and would like to have this capability, please do let us know as we continue to work on compatibility for all markets we serve.

 

How can this help you? 

Collecting a guest selfie during a digital check-in adds a little bit of friction which may be what your property needs to keep your guests and property safe from people with bad intentions.  

It can help you build a case for fraudulent chargebacks or damage claims.  

It will also be saved on the guest profile which makes it easier to recognize guests on arrival and manage restricted or membership access.  

 

How does it work?  

1. This is available for Pro & Enterprise customers. In the check in form settings, you can turn on the photo verification option and make it required or optional.  

2. Any guest going through online check-in will be asked to provide a picture (and allowed to skip if optional).  

3. The picture is saved in the guest profile and surfaced where helpful in Mews Operations (i.e. reservation smart details).  

4. You can then access, download or delete the picture when needed. 

5. For repeat guests, the photo will be pre-populated with their previous selfie (provided it has not been deleted), they can confirm it or submit a new one. 

IMPORTANT: it is your property’s responsibility to make sure you comply with local regulations about guest photo collection and retention. You should make sure your Privacy Policy is up to date to inform your guests. 

NOTE: guests starting their online check-in on desktop will be asked to scan a QR code to complete the flow on mobile. This is part of the BETA experiment as ~75% of guests already complete online check-in on mobile today. Desktop improvements will come as a next step based on BETA observations. 

 

What does it look like?  

Guest flow 

 

How can you get started? 

1. Reply in this thread with the property(ies) you’d like to activate.

2. Once done, you’ll need to open the Check in form (Settings / Property / Guest Experience), go to the Guest Verification tab and adjust the guest visibility option for the verification photo. 

3. If you select Optional or Required, the option will immediately appear in the OCI flow. 

Please ask any questions and share any feedback you have below. We’re looking forward to hearing your comments and collaborating on the development of this functionality! 

is this legal? in EU the data protection is heavy… Just asking!

Please add The Chicago Hotel Collection Magnificent Mile and The Ambassador Chicago to the beta. 

Also, is there something in the works for a photo or copy of guest ID for online check-in? 

Please add Hollywood Hotel as well!

Hi ​@phil.m, ​@JulioDiaz, ​@JillMorgenthaler and ​@jeffzarrinnam,

This option is now available for your requested properties.

Please do share any questions or feedback as you try this out as we’re keen to hear from you.

Also, is there something in the works for a photo or copy of guest ID for online check-in? 

​@JillMorgenthaler, yes, this is in the works to complement the image of a guest, but we need a little more time for this part of the capability. Please do continue to share any thoughts or questions on this capability as we’re keen to make sure it delivers the right value. 

Thank you,

James

is this legal? in EU the data protection is heavy… Just asking!

Hi ​@Horacio Amistat City, thank you for asking this question. 

This is one of the reasons this capability is only being made available to North American and Asia Pacific based customers for the time being. The laws around data collection are different in these locations and we’ve learnt from our customers that this is a much more common practice in the hospitality industry in these regions.

We’re continuing to assess and validate with our Legal team the right way we could potentially offer this capability for our European based customers as well. However, in any region this becomes available, it is ultimately up to you as the customer whether you’re allowed to collect this data and to update your privacy policy and terms and conditions in accordance with local laws. 

I hope this helps, but please do let me know if you have other questions or would be interested if this became available in Europe. 

Thank you,

James

Good morning, 

Kindly add L’UNI Appart-Hotel to the beta please ! 

Thank you,

Michael

Hi James,

I tried uploading a selfie, but sadly all I can see is a white square instead of the photo. I tried uploading the photo multiple times, and waited a few hours to see if it would change.

I used an iPhone 12 (iOS 18.0.1) to take the photo and tried viewing it in both the latest versions of Chrome and Safari, but it’s always just the white square.

If you want I can dm you the property and test user so you can have a look.

Cheers,

Phil

Hi ​@phil.m,

Thank you for sharing this and sorry to hear you were having an issue. 

Please can you send me the details via DM and I will investigated further. 

Thank you,

James

@mbrideau, this is now enabled for the property you requested.

Please let me know if you have any questions or feedback.

Thank you,

James

Hello, 

Please add Uma House.

Thank you!

Merni 

Hi ​@Merni BW, this is now available for your property. 

Please do share any feedback or questions you have.

Thank you,

James