A kiosk makes guests hesitate. A phone doesn't.
Here's what the data reveals about guest behavior.

Every hotel that's installed a check-in kiosk has watched the same scene play out: a guest walks up, hesitates, glances around for the front desk just in case, then pokes at the screen like it might bite. A phone doesn't get that reaction. Guests already trust it with their banking, their boarding passes, their whole digital life so when it's also the thing that checks them into their room, there's no hesitation at all. New data from one of our hotel clients puts a number on that gap, and it's bigger than we expected.

Digital check-in only works if the email actually gets opened. That sounds obvious, but it's easy to overlook and it's exactly what we found when we dug into three months of data from a client.

Research from across multiple properties and thousands of reservations reveals a clear guest preference: digital pre-arrival check-in captures 41% of all check-ins. This substantially outperforms traditional front desk interactions (37%) and self-service kiosk options (17%).

What changed wasn't the check-in flow itself. It was the email that led guests there.

Two things made the difference. First, general communication around check-in got clearer and better timed, guests understood earlier what to expect and when. Second, and maybe more important: emails to guests booked through OTAs got separate treatment. OTA bookings often route through masked or forwarded addresses, and generic check-in emails were quietly landing in spam or getting clipped before the link even showed. Tailoring that email specifically for OTA guests fixed a leak that had nothing to do with the technology and everything to do with deliverability.

It's a good reminder for the industry: a lot of "check-in adoption" problems aren't UX problems. They're inbox problems.

Why the phone beats the kiosk

The 17% still going through kiosks says something too. A kiosk is a one-off interaction with a device you've never touched before and will probably never touch again. Every guest approaches it a little unsure: will it accept my passport scan? Do I tap here or swipe? What happens if I get this step wrong? That small hesitation adds friction, even when the machine works perfectly.

A phone doesn't have that problem. It's the one device guests actually trust, because it's the one they use for everything else. Their details are already saved, the interface is familiar, and there's no queue behind them adding pressure. Online check-in doesn't need to be flashier than a kiosk to win. It just needs to feel like something the guest has already done a hundred times before.

There's more room to close here, the front desk still accounts for more than a third of check-ins, and we're not done. But 41% from an email fix alone is a strong sign of where the next gains are hiding: not in new features, but in getting the basics of guest communication right.