Today, we want to look at the Mobile Apps of the four largest hotel chains that we regularly cover: Hilton, Hyatt, IHG and Marriott to decide which has the best application for travelers on the go.
Since everyone has different preferences this is a topic that might yield different opinions with everyone so we explicitly welcome your input in the comments.
Mobile applications are a must these days, and I book a significant number of my stays through the app rather than dealing with the website unless it’s a really impractical design or I need to compare a lot of rates.
Today, let’s look at the four major hotel chains and their individual apps:
- Hilton – Hilton Honors,
- Hyatt – World of Hyatt,
- IHG – One Rewards
- Marriott – Marriott Bonvoy
The abilities each chain gave to the mobile app varies and also depends on the instruments that the individual loyalty program confers (such as free night certificates and suite upgrades etc).
HILTON HONORS:
In my opinion, Hilton is the most basic one of these apps. Graphics and functionalities are simple which also contributes to the app actually working very well. I have experienced very few outages over the years and often times I was able to book on the app when there was some kind of error on the website (especially with Hilton Honors award bookings).
WORLD OF HYATT:
Hyatt has worked a lot on their app in recent times. The graphics have somewhat improved, and it’s possible to apply free night awards and milestone awards directly without having to call in. You can also directly access your hotel folio, which I really like, and some hotels offer to order amenities, even room service, through the app.
In the past weeks I had repeated trouble with being logged out of the app multiple times a day for no reason and the folio often showed zero, only after accessing it half a dozen times would it show the charges. This needs to be fixed as it’s really annoying. Direct access to the hotel, like a chat option, would also be nice.
IHG ONE REWARDS:
The functionalities of the IHG app have improved a lot and there are rarely any outages. Especially the Rewards Wallet works well and there are several functions you can utilize while being mobile rather than using a web browser, including buying points. I also like that IHG retains your corporate discount code if saved in the profile. I’m not staying that much with IHG but this app always works when I need it so no complaints here.
MARRIOTT BONVOY:
With all the negative things I can say about Marriott, their app is actually very well-designed and functional. It shows Lifetime stats and an annual stay counter, and you can compare several rates at once by selecting previously saved rate codes from a list.
You can also combine nights of different sources (award certificates/points) which is extremely valuable. Marriott’s unique feature, which allows you to supplement a certificate with up to 15,000 extra points to stay at a higher value property, is also very useful and can be utilized through the app. The most valuable feature, though, is the chat option with the property, which I use extremely often, almost every single stay.
You can inquire directly with the hotel about upgrades, directions, housekeeping requests and any other query you might have. Extremely useful and I wish every other app would feature this!
All things considered, I would probably rank them in the following order:
- Marriott Bonvoy
- World of Hyatt
- / 4. IHG Hilton (I don’t have a preference or reason to rank either of them better than the other
Hotel companies should continue to improve and integrate mobile apps into the daily hospitality operations of their properties, which would simplify the guest experience, reduce touchpoints, and take a certain amount of workload off the guest services desk. All chat operations are usually handled in the back office.
Conclusion
I have moved from being a skeptic to an avid user of mobile apps in the hospitality sphere as long as the app doesn’t present a roadblock. As far as the big four are concerned I don’t have a particular problem with either of their apps and while there is always something that can be improved I think Marriott has come very close to doing it right while Hyatt still has some kinks to even out.
What I find universally useful is that you can see what room type you’ve been upgraded to (if the hotel management is on their toes and upgrades guests the night/morning before arrival as they should). If an upgrade is not visible or the room type you were upgraded to is unsatisfactory, then contact the hotel for a better room through the chat function and make sure you tell them to cancel if they don’t have anything suitable available. It’s always good to be flexible!
What is your favorite hotel mobile app?
