How hotels can build a connection with guests from day one

What you need to know:

The Usual wanted to build guest communication that felt personal, local, and aligned with their brand, without creating more work for their team. They implemented Bookboost to centralise messaging, automate pre-arrival and on-site communication, and tailor guest journeys to each property.

The Usual: Style, sustainability and meaningful interactions

The Usual is a new kind of hotel brand, one that’s designed for guests who care about both style and sustainability. With locations in Rotterdam and Brussels, their spaces are thoughtful, design-led, and welcoming.

For them, communication is a key part of the guest experience, which is why they focused on their guest communication strategy from the beginning of their operations. 

They wanted to stand out by building an experience that felt personal and meaningful for every guest. 

“Guest experience doesn't start in the lobby. It begins digitally with strong communication, providing them with the right information so they feel prepared for their trip and to enjoy our location”, says Anne Williams, Digital Marketing Manager at The Usual. “We knew when we built The Usual, we needed a solution like Bookboost”.

Bookboost: The partner to build human hospitality behind the scenes

The team had seen too many hotels struggle with disconnected tools, slow processes, and generic guest communication and wanted something different. 

They needed a platform that integrated with Apaleo, their PMS, and was easy for the team to adopt without complications.

Bookboost fulfilled all the requirements. From the onboarding experience to ongoing support, it felt like a true partnership. “We've had positive interactions with everyone at Bookboost, which is not something you can say about a lot of software”, says Anne.  

“Bookboost lets us be ourselves, of course, with the personalised messaging... while keeping our tone real, warm, welcoming, the things that we want as a brand to be”, she adds.

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3 tactics The Usual used to build guest connections from day one

1. Creating different guest journeys by property

A personal and unique experience doesn’t communicate the same to everyone. They created property-specific guest journeys that highlight the most attractive elements of each location.

“Every city has a different feel, a different offering and a different tone”, says Anne,  “there's a reason to visit every one of them. And that needs to come across in our communications.”

The best part is that the messages are sent automatically without overwhelming the team. “All of our guest journeys are beautifully automated through Bookboost, which is super useful”, she mentions.

2. Reducing Time Behind a Computer

Real hospitality happens in conversations. The Usual wanted to prioritise time spent with guests instead of screens.

They used Bookboost’s Unified Inbox to reduce the amount of time spent answering emails or other messages from guests. 

By grouping all channels into one inbox and using elements like quick replies, they are more efficient with their time on-screen, which has a direct impact on their guest-facing time.  

“We find that with Bookboost, the team spends less time chasing this kind of information and more time creating moments that matter with our guests”, adds Anne.

3. Using WhatsApp and SMS to improve guest response

The Usual expanded their communication beyond email to reach more guests and make communication more immediate and more aligned with how people interact today.

“Particularly for European customers, interaction through WhatsApp is essential. We've found that communicating outside of email greatly increases the response that we get”, says Anne.

The team uses WhatsApp to welcome guests, share on-site tips, or even for quick urgent messages like a fire drill or an important event happening in the city that might affect their stay.

They also use it to ask for reviews at the right time, increasing their review rate. “We’re able to reach them while they're maybe in the taxi on the way to the airport... It's easy to fill out a review if it's just popped up in your WhatsApp”, she adds.

Why building connections from day one matters

For The Usual, guest communication isn’t a layer added after opening, it’s part of their brand DNA. By choosing the right tools early, they created a guest experience that’s consistent, personal, and scalable. 

Their story shows what happens when hospitality and technology grow together from day one.

Three lessons you can apply from The Usual:

- Don’t think about communication as secondary: Realising it is a key part of the guest experience will avoid many mistakes and lost time.

- Sustainability doesn't exclude tech: The Usual integrates smart tech with eco-conscious practices.

- Bring each property to life in your messaging: Use a single brand voice but adapt it to the local context and highlight what every location offers to guests.

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