Loyalty Series

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Your PMS is lying to you:
Why 360-degree guest profiles are a myth – and what smart hoteliers track instead.

Let’s start with something that might sting a little: If you’re still chasing a “360-degree guest profile” from your property management system (PMS)… you may be chasing a unicorn.

We hear it often. A hotelier dreams of one golden record: everywhere the guest has been, everything they’ve booked, spa preferences, wine list leanings, OTA behaviour, mood on a Wednesday…. you name it.

It sounds fantastic. But the reality? Between mismatched systems, disconnected data, and privacy trade-offs, that pristine, all-knowing guest file just doesn’t exist.

And here’s the kicker: it doesn’t need to.

“They’re usually envisioning one master record that captures absolutely everything about a guest – historical stays, room preferences, booking channels, social media presence, and so on,” says Katarzyna Raiter, Project Manager for Loyalty at Profitroom. “There’s a real desire to have a single source of truth that lets them personalise each touchpoint without missing a beat.”

But the smartest hotels aren’t trying to know everything. They’re just focusing on what matters: behavioural signals over biographical trivia. And they’re using those to deliver the kind of experiences that lead to more direct bookings and greater guest lifetime value.

Let’s unpack why the full-circle fantasy lets you down, and what actually gets results instead.

The 360° fantasy: clean on paper, chaotic in practice

When hoteliers say they want a holistic guest profile, they’re usually imagining a clean, structured file neatly displaying:

• Historical stays
• Preferred room types
• Booking channels (and when they switch)
• In-stay spend
• Social sentiment
• Maybe even preferred pillow density

What do they get?

A mess of mismatched data from ten different systems, each with its own fields, formats, and "version" of the truth. Spa bookings in one tab, food and beverage receipts in another, and reviews living entirely elsewhere. OTA booking? Good luck tracking anything beyond a name and stay date.

“The biggest challenge is that PMS platforms structure guest data in a different way,” Raiter explains. “Even if they offer integrations, each one has its own labels, field formats, and rules for storing information. As a result, it can be quite time-consuming to merge or synchronise that data into one consistent record.”

And even if your PMS plays nicely with your CRM (many don’t), stitching together a single picture is often context blind. Sure, someone booked a spa package. But did they love it? Or did they quietly leave halfway through?

“If you’re not sure how you’re going to use a piece of information, be it a checkbox about gym preferences or a note about arrival time, you risk cluttering your database with noise,” Raiter explains. “A leaner, more purposeful approach focuses on the data that actually helps drive better direct bookings and stronger guest engagement and gives better remarketing options.”

The winning question isn’t “How much do I know about each guest?” Rather, it’s “What helps me take action right now?”

Spoiler alert: partial profiles still deliver

Complete profiles sound great. But if the reality falls short, partial insights still deliver. “Even if a hotel is fully focused on direct bookings and collects solid first-party data during that process, it can be tough to track what a guest does once they leave the hotel grounds, like attending local events, dining off-site, or participating in excursions,” Raiter explains. “Also, many times there are more than one system in operation in the hotel, covering spa, restaurant, and activities, which are not connected with PMS or CRM.”

Still, the opportunity lies in what you can track – and how you act on it. “For example, if a guest consistently upgrades to a suite, our platform triggers an upsell campaign the moment that guest makes another booking, even if the property doesn’t have a full preference profile yet,” Raiter says. “Meanwhile, if someone abandons a reservation mid-process, we can send a targeted campaign inviting them to complete their booking, potentially with a small incentive.”

Over time, more data naturally fills the gaps. But you don’t need to wait for a perfectly complete guest record to deliver personalised, conversion-focused messaging.

From personas to patterns. What smart hotels track instead...

Behaviour beats biography. And the best-performing hotel clients know it. “In our system, it’s simple to create dynamic segments around booking patterns, for instance, guests who book spontaneous weekend getaways versus those who plan months in advance,” says Raiter. “By focusing on behaviour instead of demographics, hotels can offer more relevant promotions and see higher conversion rates,” Raiter adds. “Of course, our platform also automatically generates segments based on factors like seasonality, travel companions, and other key behaviours to further personalise each guest’s experience.”

Here’s where it pays off:

• “Last-minute bookers with high extras spend”
• “Early-bird planners with repeat seasonal stays”
• “High-frequency guests who respond to upsell offers”

These segments are dynamic, responsive, and built around actual guest behaviour. No guesswork. Just useful signals that drive smart automation and relevant offers.

So, what data should you track? Start with just three things

We see impressive results from properties that focus on three behavioural metrics:

1. Booking timing: How far in advance they book (or how late they leave it).
2. Preferred products or offers: Which packages, rooms, or services they usually choose.
3. Post-stay sentiment: Whether they leave glowing reviews, or silence.

Even timing alone can unlock more value than a deep profile.

“If you see a consistent spring booking pattern, our system can automatically schedule relevant campaigns a few weeks prior using our recurring campaign module,” Raiter explains. “You don’t need to know their exact birthday or other personal details – just leveraging their demonstrated behaviour can have a bigger impact on conversion rates.”

When automation fills in the gaps

When full profiles fall short (and they will), automation catches what matters:

• Repeating seasonal behaviour? Send a rebooking nudge before they even start browsing.
• Package interest without conversion? Remarket with urgency or a last-chance deal.
• Loyalty status but no recent activity? Pop a “come back” code into their inbox.

“In our solution, we tackle data noise by automating campaigns around the moments that truly drive revenue and loyalty,” Raiter says. “For example, we’ll automatically detect abandoned bookings and trigger tailored follow-ups, set up recurring email campaigns timed to specific booking windows, and segment guests by their direct booking habits.”

“Our loyalty tools then adapt offers to each guest’s preferences, ensuring every touchpoint is relevant,” they add. “By zeroing in on these critical behaviours, you eliminate needless alerts and focus on the interactions that really matter for boosting conversions and guest satisfaction.”

That’s loyalty without overreach. Personalisation with purpose.

Still want that  360° view? Be careful what you wish for

Privacy laws are tightening. Third-party cookies are on borrowed time. Hotel guests want personalisation, yes, but not at the cost of feeling watched. Chasing a complete guest file in 2025 might just be counterproductive.

“It’s better to prioritise context,” Raiter advises. “We see hotels gain more by leveraging the real-time data they do have – especially around direct bookings and on-property upsells, than by chasing an exhaustive profile that might raise privacy concerns.”

By reacting to what the guest is doing right now, rather than waiting to fully know who they are, you’ll create smarter journeys, higher conversions, and far less risk of data bloat. And honestly, guests don’t care whether you know their dog’s name.
They care that you remembered they always book room 205 with a bottle of red waiting. Spot the pattern, deliver the moment, earn the return.

So, what’s next? From unicorns to utility

Big-picture profiles aren't going away, but the way we use data is evolving. Here’s how to stay ahead:

• Track less, with purpose: Booking lead time, offer conversion, and sentiment feed better loyalty triggers than a bio ever will.
• Use segments, not stereotypes: Let guest behaviour – not guesswork – shape your offers.
• Forget perfect profiles: Most journeys start incomplete. Let automation respond to what is visible, and layer insight organically over time.
• Compliance is king: The relevance you create now matters more than the pipe dream of omniscience you never needed.

Because at the end of the day, guests don’t want to be known, they want to be understood.

Let’s chat about how Profitroom can help.