Holiday season is upon us. And as we all plan our big summer get away, amidst all the excitement, there will undoubtedly be parts of the holiday experience we don’t look forward to with as much enthusiasm. The stress of remembering everything we need to pack, for example. Long queues through security at the airport. Long queues to check in at our hotel when we’re already frazzled by the journey that has gone before.

Except, as far as the last one goes at least, we probably don’t have to dread that one so much anymore. Long queues at check in at hotels are becoming a thing of the past. In fact, check-in at a reception desk is becoming a thing of the past. We might even be seeing the last throes of the reception desk full stop.

This is all, of course, because of the onwards march of self-service. One recent survey found that 70% of American travellers now prefer to skip the reception desk altogether and check-in themselves digitally. And why not? Self check-in is not only easy, convenient and minus those patience-sapping queues on arrival. There is also choice in terms of how and when you can do it.

There are, for example, mobile and contactless check-in options, where you provide all the details required online before arrival, and get sent a code of some sort that either activates a digital locker containing your door key, or activates the digital lock on your room directly.

And then there is self check-in via a kiosk. This is more like the traditional method in the sense that it happens on premise when you arrive. But it’s easier to expedite quickly a) if you have several kiosks for large groups of guests to use at once and b) if it is combined with some parts of the pre-arrival check-in process, like submitting details of personal identification documents in advance. Fitted with an appropriate scanner, a kiosk can confirm a guest’s arrival in a matter of seconds with a swipe of a passport.

Self check-in benefits everyone

So your guests are happy, which is, after all, the most important thing. But the benefits of self check-in – and especially the use of kiosks in the reception area – extend way beyond that. One obvious advantage is that, with kiosks, you no longer have to worry about staffing a reception desk 24/7. Any hotel staff who have ever worked the red-eye shift will be eternally grateful for that.

And let’s not forget that hotel reception desks are not just for check-in. Hotels don’t feel obliged to keep the front desk open around the clock just in case a new arrival turns up in the small hours. Reception desks are the hub of operations, the main port of call for all guest services, from replacing lost keys to booking transport and excursions.

All such services can be handled by kiosks, 24/7. And there’s a final cherry on the top for hotel operators. The same survey cited above found that hotels that use kiosks see a 25% higher rate of upsells for additional services.

So the hotel reception desks of old may indeed soon be just a memory. But with kiosks primed to step up, it doesn’t seem that anyone – guests, staff, owners – will miss them too much.