01
Decide: ask only what staff will act on
Start by listing what your property can actually change for a guest: bed configuration, room floor, quiet location, arrival time, dietary needs, accessibility, and special occasions. Any preference you cannot honor should not be asked, because asking creates an expectation. Worked example: a forty-room coastal hotel reviews its operations and finds housekeeping can swap pillows, the front desk can block high or low floors, and the kitchen can prepare breakfast for common allergies. Its booking form therefore asks four things: bed type, floor preference, dietary or allergy needs, and whether the stay marks a celebration. Spa scheduling and minibar choices wait for later messages.
02
Structure: choices first, free text last
Capture most preferences as selectable options rather than open text, so they can be sorted, filtered and shown on a front-desk screen. Bed type, floor, and arrival window suit dropdowns; allergies suit a checklist plus a short notes field; occasions suit a type and date. Keep one optional free-text box at the end for anything unusual. In the coastal hotel example, the checklist reveals that several guests each month flag nut allergies, letting the kitchen plan stock. Label every field with the reason, such as so we can prepare your room, which tends to make guests more comfortable sharing and keeps the request honest.
03
Follow up: confirm, store, and revisit
Preferences captured at booking should be confirmed in a pre-arrival message a few days out, giving guests a chance to correct or add details like a late flight. On arrival, staff should see a short summary rather than the whole form. After checkout, record what was delivered and whether anything changed, so the profile improves for the next stay. The coastal hotel sends a confirmation listing the four answers, then notes after departure that a guest preferred a sea-facing room. Set a review rule too: remove stale or sensitive notes on a schedule, and give guests a simple way to view or delete them.