IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v17y2025i9p4036-d1646332.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Be Smart, but Not Humanless? Prioritizing the Improvement of Service Attributes in Smart Hotels Based on an Online Reviews-Driven Method

Author

Listed:
  • Zeyu Chen

    (School of Hospitality, Tourism, and Events, Taylor’s University, Subang Jaya 47500, Selangor, Malaysia)

  • Stephanie Hui-Wen Chuah

    (Faculty of Economics and Management, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Bangi 43600, Selangor, Malaysia)

  • Kandappan Balasubramanian

    (School of Hospitality, Tourism, and Events, Taylor’s University, Subang Jaya 47500, Selangor, Malaysia)

Abstract

Although integrating smart technologies into service encounters can provide hoteliers with a competitive advantage, managing customer satisfaction in smart hotels remains challenging due to limited knowledge of how to prioritize improvements across smart service and traditional service. Therefore, the study aims to evaluate customer satisfaction with both smart and non-smart technology attributes in smart hotels, identify attributes with high improvement priorities, and uncover factors contributing to customer dissatisfaction. This study proposes a prioritization method for service improvement in smart hotels by analyzing online reviews from 42 smart hotels. The findings reveal that customers’ technological needs are well met in smart hotels, but smart hotels need to promptly address three key issues: long check-in wait times, staff attitude and competence, and breakfast quality. To maximize customer satisfaction, managers should adopt a hybrid service model that strikes the right balance between technology and human interaction.

Suggested Citation

  • Zeyu Chen & Stephanie Hui-Wen Chuah & Kandappan Balasubramanian, 2025. "Be Smart, but Not Humanless? Prioritizing the Improvement of Service Attributes in Smart Hotels Based on an Online Reviews-Driven Method," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(9), pages 1-22, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:17:y:2025:i:9:p:4036-:d:1646332
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/9/4036/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/9/4036/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:17:y:2025:i:9:p:4036-:d:1646332. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.