Hi ​@ettore.zotarelli ,

we use Mews Kiosk in all our 7 Hotels for check in + out. So for us we use both options.

I am very happy to have a call with you as already mentioned by email to give you some Kiosk Feedback.

Best

Linus 

Maybe this sound a bit stupid, but what is the difference between the kiosk and the online check-in?

Good question! The Kiosk would be on-site on a tablet, it can connect to a Mews payments terminal as well as key cutters. The online check-in via the guest portal is limited to a user device. There are pros and cons to both solutions and some are more or less popular depending on the market / hotel layout (kiosks will take some lobby space) etc.

​@Pierrick 

The Kiosk check in is a possibilty to check in guests onsite at your property (Self Service) including payment + encoding cards.

Online Check in allow to get payment card + guest details but does not check in the guest at your property. The guest is mared at “Chcked in Online” but need to be checked in by Kiosk or Commander at arrival. 

Thanks Linus!

I will get to that soon, but in this post I am specifically trying to identify why we get a few requests to only use it for one or another. I know that some hotels offer "express check out", for example, when guests can simply walk out and they will be automatically charged - I'm trying to understand how common it is.

Thanks for being such an active contributor!

We are on the starter pack so we dont have access to the kiosk so we were using canary to complete online checkin but we are about to switch to Drop.inn so we can use Web keys. Happy to discuss my experience with both platforms just give me a call. 

James Powell

Owner

Dear Ettore,

from my perspective, the kiosk check-in process is ok.

What I am missing either at the c/i already but especially at the check out are functions for business travelers, such as (but not limited to):

• add a company address to the bill
• split the bill into positions that will be reimbursed by the company (e.g. logis, breakfast, parking etc.) and personal expenses (e.g. minibar, restaurant, etc.) - depending on their company’s policy
• send a bill to a different e-mail address (e.g. accounting) right away

Without these options, for us the check-out process is not much of a support and we would rather opt out the c/o.

Best regards, Thomas

PS: As this topic is somewhat connected and already opened earlier: I would be more than happy to have the option to allow guest to do the online-check-in without the need to have the actual check-in processed through staff (commander) or a kiosk-solution. 

We have classic checkin/checkout so we use the kiosk only for checkin to fetch missing guest information. So we do currently use the kiosk only for checkin yes.

We are about to start testing the kiosk in two of our hotels. We will be using both options, however for both we already have some wishes. 

Check in: 

• Possibility to exclude costs that are on VCC, so guests can check in using the kiosk, but VCC hasn't been charged yet. To avoid guests seeing for example the Expedia rates or not being allowed to use the kiosk. 
• Possibility to use the kiosk only for registration card fill in. So check in is done by staff on a computer, but an iPad / tablet is connected to this computer and guest will see the registration card and fills it in. When it's saved it's visible in Mews on the computer. 

Check out:

• Possibility to send the invoice to an email address of choice. No need to go to front desk to request a copy or send an email to our front desk.
• Changing billing address info.

Also open for a call once we start using the kiosk to share our experiences.

Our properties used third party kiosks a few years back, and there were too many billing issues to allow guests to check out on the kiosk. The issue was with pre-paid third party reservations where guest had to provide additional payment for hotel fees and incidental hold. Sometimes the guest was stuck at check-in, sometimes they were able to get their keys without paying the additional amount. 

I can also see the thought process behind an “Express Check-Out” kiosk. 

We struggle in the checkout process because of the billing, same as mentioned above. All limitations are alreadyt mentioned but this does make us consider to not use the kiosk for checkout.

Our reception is not manned 24/7, so we obviously would use our kiosk for both check-ins and check-outs. However I could see why you might want to restrict the kiosk’s use, for example to require people to go to reception so that they can interact with staff and can speak to them, push marketing, gather information, etc.

We’d love it if there was a way to make people use the kiosk to check out when we’re not there, though!

Hello!! We use the tablets only for check in, the check out we have it enabled to be done by guest automatically. We don’t find it usefull for the check out - or you want a contact with the guest or you do it automatically...

Thank you everyone for the engagement!

It seems like in our case, most of the situations around not wanting to check out if because of other feature limitations (e.g. billing, minibar) which are known issues that we are working on addressing.

This is super helpful. Thank you again! I may reach out directly soon as we further explore some of these options. For the main points raised above (bill splitting, 3rd party reservations / VCCs / incidental holds, and minibar), we got solutions already at the late stage of designing, and we are implementing some of the underlying architecture needed to make them happen. So do stay tuned for beta invites 

Thanks again! Yours,