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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:

01

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.

02

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.

03

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.

FAQ

Questions from hotels

No. Since January 1, 2025, the registration form is no longer required for guests with German citizenship. Foreign guests must still sign it by hand on the day of arrival under § 29 Bundesmeldegesetz (German Federal Registration Act). As an electronic substitute, the law only permits specific procedures, such as a card payment with strong customer authentication or electronic proof of identity with an ID card; a signature on a tablet is not one of them. SmartDocs handles the other documents at the front desk, from house rules to damage reports.

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.

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