Updates to Guest Preferences (Special Requests)
- John West
- Stephen Day
At A Glance
The OTA_HotelResRQ message will now include fields for Guest Preferences (also known as Special Requests) to be sent if a guest makes special requests upon booking.
Highlights
This update will add support for Guest Preferences for bookings.
If a guest indicates preferences during the booking process (e.g. a certain type of pillow), then that information will be included in a “Special Requests” element in the OTA_HotelResRQ message.
Risks
There are no known risks associated with not supporting this feature, however the hotel's PMS must also support this functionality in order for the selected preferences to be visible on the reservation in the PMS.
Full Notice
Some guests have unique needs or wants that a hotel may need to accommodate to ensure that the guest has a satisfactory stay. This update to SHR’s IDS Interface will enable these requests to added to a reservation message and be visible in Windsurfer™ CRS. In order to support this new feature, vendors should ensure that they can accept this information, which will now be included in the OTA_HotelResRQ message if a guest makes a special request.
Vendors should ensure that Guest Preferences are properly relayed to relevant personnel so as to ensure that the requests are fulfilled.
The following is an example of an OTA_HotelResRQ message for a reservation where the guest has indicated a preference for a silk pillow:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<OTA_HotelResRQ xmlns:xsd="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" ResStatus="Book" EchoToken="20210824191535" TimeStamp="2021-08-24T19:15:35.3748975+08:00">
<POS xmlns="http://www.opentravel.org/OTA/2003/05">
<Source>
<RequestorID Type="1" ID="MAVERICK" ID_Context="Company ABC" />
<BookingChannel Type="GOO" />
</Source>
</POS>
<HotelReservations xmlns="http://www.opentravel.org/OTA/2003/05">
<HotelReservation>
<RoomStays>
<RoomStay>
<RoomTypes>
<RoomType RoomTypeCode="RM1" />
</RoomTypes>
<RatePlans>
<RatePlan RatePlanID="RT1" RatePlanCode="RT1" BookingCode="100">
<AdditionalDetails>
<AdditionalDetail />
</AdditionalDetails>
</RatePlan>
</RatePlans>
<RoomRates>
<RoomRate NumberOfUnits="1" EffectiveDate="2021-08-24" ExpireDate="2021-08-25" RoomTypeCode="RM1">
<Rates>
<Rate EffectiveDate="2021-08-24" ExpireDate="2021-08-24">
<Base AmountBeforeTax="1" />
</Rate>
</Rates>
</RoomRate>
</RoomRates>
<GuestCounts>
<GuestCount AgeQualifyingCode="10" Count="1" />
</GuestCounts>
<TimeSpan Start="2021-08-24" End="2021-08-25" />
<Guarantee GuaranteeCode="DX">
<GuaranteesAccepted>
<GuaranteeAccepted GuaranteeTypeCode="ADYEN">
<PaymentCard ExpireDate="6/2016" Remark="Amount:54.00;surcharge: 2.00" CardHolderRPH="81842" CardCode="TuneHotelsCOM" CardType="asiapay_m2u" SeriesCode="1111" CardNumber="4444333322221111">
<CardHolderName>14260-0450378918</CardHolderName>
</PaymentCard>
</GuaranteeAccepted>
</GuaranteesAccepted>
</Guarantee>
<Total CurrencyCode="USD" AmountAfterTax="0.1" AmountBeforeTax="1" />
<BasicPropertyInfo ChainCode="44" HotelCode="VH06" />
<SpecialRequests>
<SpecialRequest RequestCode="229">
<Text>pillow: Silk</Text>
</SpecialRequest>
</SpecialRequests>
</RoomStay>
</RoomStays>
<ResGuests>
<ResGuest>
<Profiles>
<ProfileInfo>
<Profile ProfileType="1">
<Customer>
<PersonName>
<GivenName>Test</GivenName>
<Surname>Test</Surname>
</PersonName>
<Telephone PhoneNumber="832-863-1111" FormattedInd="false" />
<Email ShareMarketInd="No">example@shr.global</Email>
<Address>
<AddressLine>12431 Test Dr</AddressLine>
<CityName>Houston</CityName>
<PostalCode>77082</PostalCode>
<StateProv StateCode="TX" />
<CountryName Code="USA" />
</Address>
<CustLoyalty MembershipID="123" />
</Customer>
</Profile>
</ProfileInfo>
<ProfileInfo>
<Profile ProfileType="3">
<CompanyInfo>
<CompanyName CompanyShortName="NA123456" Code="NA123456" CodeContext="CRS" />
</CompanyInfo>
</Profile>
</ProfileInfo>
</Profiles>
</ResGuest>
</ResGuests>
<ResGlobalInfo>
<HotelReservationIDs>
<HotelReservationID ResID_Type="13" ResID_Value="343941335" />
</HotelReservationIDs>
</ResGlobalInfo>
</HotelReservation>
</HotelReservations>
</OTA_HotelResRQ>
Be advised that there are updates to come with respect to security features surrounding this update.
Additionally, there is more documentation available, including the specific calls to fetch guest preferences available on our IDS Swagger page here: https://shrdev.atlassian.net/l/c/iDhTYKw5
Hotels that wish to take advantage of this new feature should contact their PMS vendor to make sure it is supported.