If you haven’t read Nobel laureate Daniel Kahneman’s “Thinking, Fast and Slow” (2011), don’t worry; its applications for hotels, while manifold, can be neatly summarized. Notably, this book goes at length to explain the ‘peak-end rule’ based on psychology experiments conducted in the decades prior by Kahneman and his collaborator, Barbara Fredrickson. With travelers rediscovering the world of hotels in the post-pandemic era, you should learn this principle and think about how it may apply to your brand.

What the peak-end rule describes is a shortcut that the human brain uses to condense information about past experiences in order to save space for other functions and present experiences. Unlike how a computer compresses code by (more or less) evenly omitting repeating or algorithmically decipherable data to reduce the number of megabytes taken up, the brain focuses on preserving two key moments within a broader memory or experience – the peak and the end.

We all live and breath for the ‘guest experience’, but really this term is a bit of a simplification. What we actually mean is the sequence of mini-experiences the guest encounters from pre-stay to post-departure that are evaluated in one’s mind to determine an overall appreciation for the brand.

Focus on the Departure Experience
The ‘peak’ in this rule may be more complex to define and to create, but the ‘end’ is clear as day – the check-out and departure. So much emphasis is put on the check-in experience that we may be neglecting other aspects of operations that may, psychologically speaking, have a substantial influence on how your brand is remembered, reviewed and recommended.

That’s not to say that checking in isn’t critical; great first impressions set the pace for a great stay and will buffer the peak by allowing for a higher high (a good check-in) or suppressing what maximal can ever be attained (a mediocre or bad check-in). In this sense, it works a lot like compound interest. But the human brain isn’t so simple, with the peak-end rule revealing why you must also improve the departure experience to optimize satisfaction.

Here are some thoughts:

• A proud and sincere ‘thank you’ always goes a long way
• Introduce a bit of theater into your gratitude by making it a grand team gesture
• Personal farewells from a senior manager or a team member who had extensive contact with the guest
• Departure gifts in the form of unique mementos related to the property, the brand or a specific experience that the guest partook in
• Departure gifts in the form of snacks and drinks for the road
• Refreshment beverages available during the check-out process
• Any kind of surprise and delight
• So often check-out is depressed by the transactional part of it, implying that you should aim to use technology to shift the guest folio settlement away from the physical check-out
• If the last thing you are giving a guest on check-out is their invoice, then you are leaving them on a sour note that should be avoided or masked by something else

To reiterate from the opening paragraph, a brand’s ability to curate an exceptional departure experience is further complicated by guests who want a contactless check-out, settling their folios via their phones and eschewing direct contact with the front desk. If you don’t know when guests are leaving, how do you tailor a great departure so that they leave on a positive note?

Tech to the Rescue
For the rest of this year and into 2023, integrations are allowing you to home in on the mini-experiences that are bringing down the average in the guest’s mind. Sitting with the aforementioned contactless check-out, perhaps the same technologies that facilitate the online folio settlement and check-out can also send a ping to the front office team so that they are aware of an imminent departure.

Maybe that online check-out can be equipped with a message prompting the departing guest to head somewhere to receive their gift or snacks. Or maybe the solution lies in how brands manage the post-departure aspect of the customer journey. There are lots of options to get creative.

Next, think of the departure as the end of the end, with the overall stay as the aggregate of a bunch of different experiences, each having its own peak and end. How can you map this using internal systems or hotel review platforms? This will help you look beyond the departure to build higher peaks and thus create a more positively remembered onsite experience.

In the Restaurant
On our ledgers, onsite F&B is kept separate from the rooms, but they are jumbled together in the guest’s mind. Hence, a great dining experience halos positively back onto the perception of the rooms.

Taking the peak-end rule into account, while an amuse bouche or complimentary breadbasket may come standard at your signature dining outlet, these both start off the experience rather than end it. Yes, a great start allows for a loftier zenith, but to create a lasting upbeat sentiment amongst patrons, consider, for example, a few free house-made truffles presented after the bill.

Such a small gift helps to shift the end from the check (transactional) to a sweet, thoughtful dessert (memorable). This would go over even better if you can identify beforehand whether it’s the guest’s final night at the hotel – yet another reason for better PMS-POS integrations.

Traditionally this post-meal gift is the mint’s role, but there are a few key differences between these two presentations. Truffles are far more elaborate than mints and, when combined with the made-in-house aspect, they really drive home the implication that you truly care. Next, present them after instead of alongside the bill so that the truffles are the final thought and not the dent in the guest’s wallet. It doesn’t have to be truffles per se; Greek hotels excel at crafting a strong finish with restaurants often leaving a complimentary small bottle of raki (a digestif) on the table for you to enjoy after settling up.

A whole book could be written on how hotels have gone to great lengths to create memorable peaks and pleasant endings, often without ever having heard of the peak-end rule. Beyond the restaurant, how can you apply this psychological lesson to other services? What tech can you deploy to get granular on all these mini-experiences? The point throughout is to focus on these two aspects of the hotel journey and seek out ways to elevate just one element for lasting results.