From peak season in the summer to hockey tournaments in the winter, the Hyatt Place Buffalo/Amherst is always busy hosting guests and events. To make sure every traveler has a memorable experience, they utilize hospitality messaging to connect, respond to requests, and ensure events run smoothly.

An experience to remember 

Located centrally in the Buffalo, New York metropolitan area—10 minutes from the airport, 20 minutes from Niagara Falls, and 10 minutes from downtown Buffalo—the Hyatt Place Buffalo/Amherst is entering its peak season.

“Every day is different, you never know who you’ll run into,” Matthew Chiazza, general manager, said of his role that he’s been in for five years now. “You might have a plan and it ends up a completely different way, you have to be prepared for everything.”

This preparation for the unexpected in the hospitality industry has helped him be on his toes in his personal life as well. It’s not just the excitement he enjoys about the industry, but the power to make a difference as well.

“You have the power to give someone an experience they’re going to remember, something they’re not expecting,” Chiazza said. “[You can] turn it into something they’re going to tell their grandchildren.”

It’s really about the little things, he added. 

Opportunity to respond 

One of the little (but meaningful) things his team at the front desk has been enjoying is hotel guest messaging to communicate with guests. Hotel texting with Kipsu has made the process “more efficient” for his team, and is now ingrained with the day-to-day operations.

“A front desk team member wouldn't be able to do their tasks without it,” Chiazza said. His team appreciates the ability to come up with a response via digital messaging, as opposed to being put on the spot over the phone or at the front desk.

“You can phrase things how you want to phrase them,” he said of handling issues. Guests also seem to prefer this method of communication, in this age of increasing technology: More and more travelers are checking in via mobile apps, using mobile key, and checking out from their smartphones—without guest messaging, Chiazza’s team wouldn’t be able to communicate with them.

“It’s one way we can touch base with everybody,” he said. 

Mid-stay check-in messages also give insight into how a guest’s stay is going, giving the Buffalo/Amherst team an opportunity to fix anything that might improve the guest experience. “Whether we can fix it or not, at least we had an opportunity to try, versus finding out later on a review,” Chiazza said.

Texting versus in-person interactions or calling also seems to allow for more honesty from guests. “People like to share more things behind a keyboard than face to face, [it] allows us to learn more,” he said.

Return of the business card 

Part of a management group of 25 properties, the Hyatt Place Buffalo/Amherst was the first to start using Kipsu—now, almost all properties in the portfolio do. Employees have started having little competitions with each other on their scores, Chiazza said—friendly, of course.

The team doesn’t just use Kipsu to compete with each other, though. With a large banquet space, his Hyatt Place is often hosting events. One way they’ve used texting for hotels to organize and communicate during large happenings is handing out business cards with their Kipsu number on it. 

Then, if someone needs something during the event (more coffee, where to register, an extra table) they can just send a text message to that number and it’s sent to everyone on the team. 

“It helps with efficiency, even more so than just with overnight guests,” Chiazza said. 

Whether it’s with big groups or one-on-one, the Hyatt Place Buffalo/Amherst is getting the most out of hospitality guest messaging. Learn more about hotel texting services or schedule a conversation with a Kipsu team member today!

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If you're interested in sharing your own story about using Kipsu, send us an email at hello@kipsu.com