For hotels with a culture strongly centred around personal service, the arrival moment is a key part of the overall guest experience.That is why many upscale hotels hesitate when evaluating digital check-in solutions. Guests figuring out the process themselves at a kiosk or on their own device often contradict the service experience those properties are built around.
At the same time, no hotel can escape rising operating costs.
Becoming more efficient is not optional, it is a condition of staying profitable.
This creates a challenge for many hotel operators:
How can you make hotel check-in more efficient without losing the personal touch guests expect?
Flying Reception is Hotelbird’s answer to that tension. A staff member brings the tablet to the guest, retrieves the reservation, and guides the check-in. The process is digital and efficient. The experience stays personal. That distinction matters for hotels that have hesitated on digital check-in because the available options felt designed primarily for budget properties, self-service concepts, or hotels looking to remove the front desk entirely.
the Flying Reception: personal service, detached from the desk
The mechanics are worth stating precisely because they are frequently confused with common self-service check-in.
A staff member – equipped with an iPad running in Flying Reception Mode – approaches the arriving guest wherever the arrival sequence naturally begins. For some properties, that’s the lobby or entrance; for luxury hotels managing VIP arrivals, it can start far earlier: when the hotel arranges the airport transfer, the iPad can be handed over during the drive, allowing the guest to confirm registration details, apply a digital signature, process payment, and even download a digital room key – all before they arrive. As long as the iPad has mobile service, the entire check-in can happen off-site – meaning VIP guests step through the door and go straight to their room, with no stop at the front desk and more time for genuine hospitality rather than administrative tasks.
→ Learn more about Hotelbird’s NFC wallet key compatibility
Guided interactions like this do not mean the front desk has to disappear. For some hotel concepts, that is the goal and entirely achievable, but for more service-focused hotels it typically remains available for guests who prefer it or for interactions that genuinely require it.
What Flying Reception mode removes is the requirement that every arrival must pass through a single physical check-in counter. This is not automation instead of service. It is automation that detaches the service from the desk and allows check-in to happen where and when it makes the most sense. Guests can sit in the lounge, enjoy a welcome drink at the bar, or complete the process wherever they feel most comfortable.
three benefits of flying reception for hotel operations
1. Efficiency through automation
The traditional check-in process involves a meaningful amount of work that has little to do with hospitality: re-entering registration data into the PMS, manually creating routings, adding company addresses, correcting errors, and asking guests to repeat information they already provided during booking.
With Flying Reception, registration data is captured digitally and transferred directly into the PMS. There are no paper forms, no manual transfers, and no duplicate data entry. Hotelbird properties report up to a 90% reduction in front-office administrative tasks following implementation, with staff recovering an average of eight minutes per guest for other activities.
→ Learn more about Hotelbird’s digital check-in/out
2. Relieving peak-hour queues without reducing service quality
The traditional front desk creates a physical bottleneck: all guests converge on one location at broadly the same time.
Flying Reception redistributes that load. Check-in happens wherever it makes sense – in the lobby, at the desk, or in another guest-facing area. Families and groups can be handled separately and efficiently. Queues dissolve before they form. The desk, when it is used, is reserved for interactions that genuinely require it.
3. Flexibility to offer the best experience for every guest
Not every guest wants to check in digitally on their own device. Forcing all arrivals through the same self-service flow is one of the most common challenges with digital check-in implementations.
Flying Reception allows hotels to offer multiple arrival paths. Guests comfortable with online check-in can use a self-service option. Guests who prefer a guided, staff-assisted process receive personal support. Flying Reception Mode can be activated or deactivated on staff devices at any time, allowing hotels to adapt to changing operational needs.
Across Hotelbird properties, a 95% automated pre-check-in rate demonstrates that guests are generally willing to use digital processes when they are offered as a convenience rather than imposed as the only option.
Flying Reception Mode in Practice: Jaz in the City Amsterdam
Jaz in the City Amsterdam implemented Flying Reception Mode as part of a broader Hotelbird rollout.
The property attracts international travellers looking for a lively, individual experience and regularly sees 90% of arrivals and departures concentrated within a three-hour window. Long queues, high administrative workload, and limited time for guest interaction were common operational challenges.
Six months after go-live, the results were alerady measurable:
- 60% automated check-in rate
- 58 hours saved per month in manual check-in effort
- General Manager Marjolein Bruschke put it directly:
“With Hotelbird, we’re now seeing results that go beyond what we expected – not just in numbers, but in how smoothly everything runs. The best part is that guests hardly notice the technology at all. For them, it simply feels natural.”
→ Read the full Jaz in the City Amsterdam success story
What Changes for the Front Office Team
When Flying Reception removes the administrative layer from check-in, the nature of the front office role shifts. Staff spend more time in direct guest contact. The role feels more like hospitality – and it visibly empowers the team.
At Jaz in the City Amsterdam, that shift showed up in an unexpected way. With fewer manual steps and the support of Hotelbird’s Flying Reception tablets, staff confidence to approach guests proactively increased – including team members who had previously stayed closer to the desk.
“Seeing some of our quieter team members step into the lobby and engage with guests so naturally was a great moment. The new setup really helped them feel more confident to engage with guests on the floor.” — Kevin van den Aardweg, Front Office Manager, Jaz in the City Amsterdam
For operations leaders dealing with front office retention and high staff costs – a persistent challenge across the industry – that shift in role quality has practical value. A position that feels more like hospitality and less like data entry is easier to fill and easier to keep.
Six Questions to Evaluate Whether Flying Reception Is Right for Your Property
1. Does your front desk team still spend significant time on manual check-in tasks?
Re-entering registration data, managing paper forms, correcting PMS errors – if yes, Flying Reception removes most of that at the point of interaction.
2. Do all arrivals currently funnel through one physical spot?
If your desk forms a queue at peak times, the problem is structural. Flying Reception distributes check-in across the lobby so multiple guests can be handled in parallel, in different spaces, at the same time.
3. Do you want to be more efficient at check-in without losing the personal touch?
Flying Reception is designed for exactly that balance. The staff member stays in the interaction. The administration moves to the background.
4. Is your brand scored against digitalisation aspects
Some luxury hotel networks and hospitality organisations increasingly evaluate how seamlessly digital processes are integrated into the guest experience. If digital guest interactions are becoming part of the standards that influence hotel reviews and scoring, hotels need a way to modernise the arrival journey without sacrificing personal service.
5. Do you want upselling to feel like part of the welcome rather than an awkward add-on?
When the offer appears on the screen the guest is already holding, it becomes part of the flow – visible and unobtrusive, without the staff member having to raise it verbally. Hotelbird properties have refinanced software costs through upselling revenue generated this way.
6. Is your PMS open and ready to integrate?
Flying Reception depends on live data flow between the tablet and the PMS. Hotelbird connects to Apaleo and Opera Cloud. Clean, current PMS data is a prerequisite – this is the most important infrastructure question to answer before moving forward.
What Hotels Want to Know Before Introducing Flying Reception
What is Flying Reception Mode?
A staff member brings an iPad to the arriving guest, opens the reservation in the Hotelbird terminal app, and guides the guest through the remaining steps, including registration confirmation, digital signature, payment, and optional wallet key download. It is a guided digital check-in experience rather than self-service.
How is Flying Reception different from a self-service kiosk?
A kiosk requires guests to locate and complete the process themselves. Flying Reception keeps a staff member involved throughout the interaction. The operational efficiencies are similar, but the guest experience remains highly personal.
Does Flying Reception work for upscale and luxury hotels?
Yes. Flying Reception was specifically designed for hotels that want to improve efficiency while maintaining personal service. The staff member remains at the centre of the interaction while administrative tasks move into the background.
What if a guest prefers the traditional front desk?
They simply use the front desk. Flying Reception complements existing operations and allows hotels to offer multiple check-in options simultaneously.
What are the technical requirements for Flying Reception?
Hotelbird integrates with Apaleo and Opera Cloud. Clean and current PMS data is required. For payments, Hotelbird supports partners such as Nexi and Adyen directly within the check-in flow.