For hotels, guesthouses and event venues
Check-in, banquet, seasonal contract: your hotel signs digitally
Guests sign on the tablet at the front desk, organizers confirm banquet and conference contracts via signing link, and new staff sign their employment contract before their first shift. Everything sealed and fully documented, without binders in the back office.
Typical documents
Which document, which signature level?
From the front desk to banquet sales to the HR office: these documents cross the desk at a hotel every day. Each one has the right signature level, and where the law requires paper, we say so.
| Document | Signature level | Note |
|---|---|---|
| House rules and additional agreements at check-in | SES in person | In kiosk mode at the front desk, for example for pets, parking or late check-out, in German or English. |
| Damage and handover report | SES in person | At check-out or when handing over the keys to a vacation rental, with verified identity in the audit trail. |
| Banquet, conference and wedding contract | AES recommended | No form requirement; for large sums and tiered cancellation fees, the SMS code strengthens the evidential value. |
| Group and allotment contract | AES recommended | With tour operators and corporate clients; hotel management countersigns in a fixed order. |
| Permanent employment contract | AES recommended | No form requirement; the SMS code uniquely links the signature to the signer. |
| Fixed-term contract for seasonal staff | QES | Meets the statutory written form for the fixed term under § 14 (4) TzBfG; otherwise the contract counts as permanent. |
| Written statement of essential employment terms | Paper | In the hospitality industry, this must still be handed over signed on paper (§ 2 NachwG), even when the contract itself is signed digitally. |
Which level for what? See the overview on the page Signature levels, or to dig deeper: Guide: sign an employment contract digitally .
Workflow
Front desk, banquets, HR office: one tool for all three
Here is how SmartDocs spreads across the hotel without any department installing software:
At the front desk
The front desk opens the prepared agreement in kiosk mode and hands the tablet across the counter. The guest signs with a finger or stylus, without an account and without an app.
In banquet sales
Conference and wedding contracts go out as a signing link. The organizer signs on their phone, hotel management countersigns afterward, and addenda for the menu or number of guests run through the same template.
In the HR office
Seasonal staff receive their contract before their first shift, fixed-term contracts with QES. They confirm the data protection commitment and work instructions on the tablet on their first day.
What this looks like in practice: A 120-room conference hotel now sends banquet and conference contracts only as a signing link: instead of waiting for them to come back by mail, the organizer's signature often arrives the same day. At the front desk, guests sign additional agreements on the tablet, and at the start of the season, the new employment contracts are signed before the first shift begins.
Matching features
Built for everyday work: Hotels
Kiosk mode at the front desk
The tablet at the front desk becomes a signing station. Guests need neither an email address nor an app, and the identity verification goes into the audit trail.
Learn moreGerman or English
You set the language for each signer. The signing page and emails follow it, for international guests and organizers.
Forms for events
Build banquet orders with selection fields for menu, allergens or equipment directly in SmartDocs, no PDF needed.
Learn moreQES for seasonal contracts
Fixed-term contracts meet the statutory written form with the qualified signature, available as an add-on on request.
Learn moreFAQ
Questions from hotels
Your next banquet contract won't come back by mail
Start for free, set up templates for the front desk and banquets, put a tablet at reception. No payment details, no minimum term.