Gone are the days of waiting in line at reception or suddenly finding that your plastic room key has deactivated. Check into a hotel in 2025, and you might never visit the front desk or even speak to a staff member again, unless you want to. From mobile check-in to QR code room service menus, hotels of all types, brands and sizes are redesigning stays around convenience and efficiency.
Let’s dive into how this push toward contactless everything is reshaping the hotel experience from arrival to checkout.
Skip the Front Desk
Checking into a hotel used to mean waiting in line in the lobby, having to get your license or passport photocopied, and answering a dozen questions — most of which was information you had previously already provided when you made your reservation. But these days, many hotels are making that step completely optional. With mobile check-in, guests can confirm their details on the hotel’s app before they’ve even arrived, and then head straight to their assigned room. And the best part? That same app unlocks the hotel room door, too.
For travelers arriving late at night, juggling lots of luggage, or simply eager to squeeze in every possible minute by the pool on day one of their trip, skipping the front desk helps get things underway without any delay.
Self-Service Kiosks
For guests who don’t want to download another app, many hotels have still modernized their check-in process with self-service kiosks. Placed in the lobby, these machines handle the basics — check-in, check-out, and even special requests like extra keys or room upgrades — without the need to wait for staff assistance. A quick scan of your ID is all it takes to get your room assignment and key, making the check-in process much faster than the traditional way, yet less complicated than using a hotel-specific app. These kiosks are especially useful if you’ve just arrived with a dead phone or don’t have cell service because you’re in another country.
While mobile check-in and these self-service kiosks make the overall hotel check-in process faster, they haven’t completely replaced the option of a face-to-face welcome — yet. Guests who prefer to stop at the front desk can still be checked in by a hotel representative, but now it’s a matter of choice rather than obligation.
Smart, Comfortable Rooms
The technology upgrade trend at hotels hasn’t stopped at the main lobby — once you’ve checked into your room, you might notice that many basic comforts are now controlled digitally. In the last few years, to keep pace with evolving guest expectations and to stand out from competitors, many hotels have introduced smart systems that let you adjust lighting, temperature, and even the curtains directly from your phone or an in-room tablet. You can usually also connect the TV to your favorite streaming service, so you can pick up right where you left off with that movie you were watching on the plane.
For hotels, smart rooms are more than just flashy amenities. Offering guests more control means fewer calls to the front desk for things like extra blankets, and when the room is feeling extra cozy, guests might just stay in and spend a bit more money on room service instead of going off-premises to have dinner. And this isn’t just at luxury resorts — production of smart hotel room devices is projected to double in the five years leading up to 2027, meaning that even mid-range and budget hotels are adopting some of these upgrades.
QR Code Dining
Speaking of room service, the hotel dining experience has gone digital too. Instead of flipping through a laminated binder and calling in an order from the hotel room landline, many hotels now let guests use a QR code to browse the menu, place an order, and pay — all from their own cell phones. This same process often works whether you’re sitting in one of the hotel’s restaurants, lounging by the pool, or ordering breakfast in bed.
For hotels, QR code dining reduces the need for printed menus and streamlines their back-of-house operations. It also makes it much easier to update menu items, whether that means removing a sold-out dish or adding a daily special. For guests, it means there’s no need to track down a server or wait for someone to bring the bill. While some people don’t love the reduced human interaction that QR code menus entail, for many guests — and for hotel bottom lines — the convenience outweighs the trade-off.
Wristband Payments
Plastic RFID wristbands have long been a staple at large resorts and on cruise ships. Featuring a small, scannable chip inside, they replace the need to carry room keys, credit cards, or cash around the property. What’s changed in recent years is how widely they’re being adopted — today, this contactless technology is popping up at mainstream chains and mid-size hotels, too.
And these days, these wristbands don’t just unlock your room or handle bar tabs — they act as your lifeline across the entire property, from grabbing poolside snacks to booking spa treatments. Families can even set spending limits or permissions, so kids can grab a soda without racking up a surprise tab. Many of these wristbands also sync with hotel apps and loyalty programs, so charges, rewards, and reservations are all tracked automatically. For guests, it means more convenience, and for hotels, it means faster transactions and more on-property spending.
Contactless technology has transitioned from once being a novelty, to next being essential during the pandemic, to now becoming a standard part of the hotel experience. Whether it feels seamless and efficient or impersonal and robotic depends on the traveler — but either way, many of these contactless systems are here to stay. Your next vacation might look less like waiting in line at reception and more like tapping, scanning, or swiping your way through your trip.
Emily is a freelance writer who has been traveling full-time for over five years She has visited dozens of countries but can often be found in Spain and Mexico. In her Substack, Extracurricular Pursuits, she shares personal essays and travel stories that document the quirks, chaos and realities of living abroad.