The call every winter hotel knows
“We are at the toll gate, it is snowing, do we need chains?” In alpine houses this call comes from December to March, and it always comes when the front desk is busiest. The guest would have liked the information the evening before, but nobody has time to check every arrival day against the forecast.
That is exactly what the arrival radar does. It knows the arrival day from the booking and the location from your house. In the evening before, it queries the official warnings. If one is in force, it writes to the guest. If not, nothing happens.
What is checked
Weather warnings
from the national weather service for the municipality of your house (MeteoAlarm across Europe): snowfall, storm, rain, black ice, thunderstorms, heat, each with level and period.
Your own notes
, which you store per type of warning: “Winter equipment compulsory from the edge of the village”, “The car park behind the house is cleared in snow”, “Approach via the valley road, not over the pass”.
Road conditions
closures and chain requirements will follow as soon as an open data source is available for your region. Until then the message links the traffic service instead of claiming anything.
What the message reads like
“Good evening, Berger family. For your arrival tomorrow in Schladming, the national weather service reports a level 2 snowfall warning from 6 am to 6 pm. Winter equipment is compulsory from the edge of the village. Our car park is cleared, check-in is possible until 10 pm. Get in touch if you arrive later.”
The message is marked as automatically generated, comes through the channel the guest has chosen and ends with the house phone number.
The hotel case: 40 rooms, winter season
| Item | Example value |
|---|---|
| Arrivals per week in winter | 60 |
| Days with a warning in a 16-week season | 25 |
| Arrival calls on such days | 12 |
| Minutes per call | 4 |
| Front desk time per season | about 20 hours |
More important than the hours is the tone of the arrival: a guest who sets off prepared arrives calmer. The figures are example values.
The holiday rental case: no front desk
Without a front desk the call lands with you, wherever you are. The radar writes to the guest before they call, and you see in the log who received which message. You maintain the notes on the approach once.
What you need
- The digital guest hub or the WhatsApp channel as the way to send.
- The arrival data from your channel manager or PMS via the integration.
- Ten minutes for your notes per type of warning.
When it is not worth it
- In locations without notable weather, such as city hotels with arrival by train.
- If your guests mostly come from the town or region and know the conditions themselves.
Prices
29 euros per month as an add-on to the guest hub or the WhatsApp channel. Setup is included; message costs of the channel you pay to the provider as before.
Process
Set location and way to send.
Write the notes per type of warning, we supply suggestions.
Test message to yourself, then launch. Every message sent is in the log.
Frequently asked questions
Where do the warnings come from?
From the official national weather service of your country, which publishes warnings per region as open data (MeteoAlarm brings them together across Europe). We check which service covers your location during setup.
Does every guest get a message?
No. Only if there is a warning for the arrival day. On quiet days nothing is sent.
Are road closures and chain requirements included?
Not yet as live data. The message links the traffic service, and you can store fixed notes on the approach. As soon as an open data source from the road authority is available, it will be added.
What guest data is processed?
Arrival date, name and the chosen channel, as with any message before arrival. The weather query itself contains no guest data, only the location of the house.
Can I see the message beforehand?
Yes. You can set messages to be shown to you first. Most houses let them run automatically after the test phase.