Top 10 fun hotel activities to delight your guests

In the age of the experience economy, travelers are also looking for experiences, like hotel guest activities, on top of accommodation. It is even better if the experience is unique and authentic and gives them a chance to embrace local culture for themselves.

With some innovative thinking, you can curate guest activities that speak to this traveler's needs. This way, your hotel guests don’t necessarily need to explore outside of your establishment’s facilities. Moreover, you will be able to capitalize on them by turning them into exciting upselling deals.

Let’s explore 10 popular and practical ideas for hotel activities that will appeal to modern travelers.

Why should you offer guest activities at your hotel?

Hotel guests expect more than a clean room. Guest satisfaction is also impacted by what’s on offer. Aside from the primary benefit of improving the overall guest experience, offering a wide range of hotel guest activities will also serve your hotel well.

According to multiple reports, including Hilton's 2024 Trends Report, modern guests prioritize experiences. Travelers’ interests are also evolving with an increased focus on F&B, exploration and adventure, and connecting with people and local cultures.

By offering experiences and activities, you can give your guests what they crave.

Secondly, guest activities are needed to differentiate your hotel from its competitors. It helps define your hotel’s personality. For example, offering fitness classes and spa treatments will help you carve a name for yourself as one of the best wellness retreats in your area. On the other hand, focusing on personalized, exclusive experiences will help establish you as a luxury hotel.

Suggesting additional paid activities also helps you leverage upselling so that you can generate more revenue.

At the end of the day, if your guests enjoy a more memorable stay, they’re more inclined to return to your hotel to relive some of the fun things that made their stay unforgettable. This helps to foster guest loyalty, which makes it easier to increase revenue.

How to effectively offer hotel activities

Many hoteliers tend to give hotel guests activities away for free to enhance guest satisfaction. However, upselling unlocks new revenue opportunities without compromising the guest experience. The reality is guests are willing to pay for extra convenience and value.

Once you train your teams on how to offer guest activities as upsells, you’ll start to maximize the potential. It’s best to offer activities throughout the entire guest journey (in other words, post-booking, pre-arrival, at the front desk, and during the stay). This way, guests are aware of your offerings when they’re in the purchasing phase and more likely to convert.

1. Fitness classes

According to Neilson Beach Clubs’ 2025 Trends Report, nearly a third (29%) of travelers want to maintain their fitness while they’re on holiday. In fact, fitness classes topped the list in 2024 as the most popular activity at beach clubs in particular.

There’s no reason why offering fitness classes needs to be restricted to indoors. Nearly half of adults (42%) list swimming as an activity they want to enjoy on their next trip, making an aqua fitness class a good way to attract guests and maximize a costly investment like a swimming pool. Plus, as it’s a low-impact exercise, you can also cater to older guests.

2. Health and wellness experiences

The global wellness tourism industry is anticipated to be worth about $1.35 trillion in 2028. What makes this number even more impressive is that if it reaches this predicted market size, it would have increased by over 100% since 2022.

Not only is it a lucrative market, but there are also various ways that you can appeal to travelers looking to book wellness retreats. Think individual body treatments, spa treatments aimed at couples, or group meditation classes.

3. Movie nights

Hosting movie nights offers a number of perks. It appeals to young and old, making it a popular activity that families can enjoy together. Plus, with some clever marketing, it can also be turned into a lucrative upselling opportunity.

Hoteliers can, for example, sell beverages and snacks. In addition to selling popcorn, the ultimate movie snack, you can also offer your guests gourmet treats to elevate the movie experience further.

You can even go as far as to package it with cooking classes. That way, hotel guests will get dinner and a show!

For an even more memorable experience, you can combine it with themed parties. For example, if you’re planning to show a classic like The Great Gatsby, you can arrange a 1920s-themed after-party.

It’s also pretty straightforward to organize. It doesn’t take much effort to turn a conference venue or lobby into a pop-up theatre for one night. This can also be an outdoor space, like a backyard or park, where you’ll be able to accommodate a screen and seating.

4. F&B experiences

One of the best ways to attract guests is to offer something for their taste buds. Here are some fun hotel activities paired around food to create lasting memories.

• Local food dining experiences

Food brings people from all walks of life together. Enjoying a city’s cuisine is usually at the top of most travelers’ to-do lists.

Why not allow your hotel guests to have a more hands-on experience and let them watch how their dinner gets prepared? Alternatively, you can invite local chefs to your restaurant who can use indigenous ingredients to create a memorable dining experience.

• Al fresco dining and gourmet lunches

One of the hotel food trends that emerged from the pandemic is a renewed preference for al fresco dining. If you have an open terrace or patio, let your guests dine outside. A gourmet lunch paired with stunning views is the perfect combo.

Alternatively, if you have a beautiful, manicured lawn, you can upsell picnic baskets to your guests. From families with young kids to the boomer generation, picnics appeal to guests of all ages.

• Wine tastings and beer tours

A big part of any trip is to explore the city. You can play a role in this part of your guests’ journeys too.

For example, create a mutually beneficial partnership with local food tour guides. This way, travelers get to taste the local cuisine and explore their local area.

Most tour guides will be happy to offer a discount if it means that they’ll get more group bookings. Plus, it’s one of the best ways to create a truly authentic experience for all guests while delivering first-class entertainment.

Luxury hotels can, for example, ask their own sommelier to host wine tastings in the convenience of their hotel room.

• Cooking classes

Another way that you can incorporate more cultural experiences is by inviting local chefs to host cooking classes in your hotel’s restaurant. These sessions can be tailored to highlight regional dishes, traditional cooking techniques, and even include stories or cultural insights shared by the chef, making the experience both educational and immersive. Whether it's learning to make handmade pasta in Italy, mastering spice blends in Morocco, or crafting sushi in Japan, guests leave with a new skill and a stronger connection to the destination.

5. Bike rentals

Bike rentals are a great upselling deal that you can promote to digital nomads and green travelers specifically.

To ensure that it appeals to various types of travelers, try to offer different types of bikes.

For example, digital nomads who need to get some work done while on holiday will appreciate an electric bike, while families will be able to enjoy the fun together if you also offer bicycles with training wheels.

6. Adventure activities

Adventure activities are a great way to encourage guests to explore the great outdoors. Depending on your area, you could advertise adventure activities like scuba diving, kayaking, snorkelling, or sunset cruises. If you’re not close to water, you can explore ideas like a hot air balloon ride, sandboarding, ziplining, mountain biking, or rock climbing.

Let your location and target market guide you, and remember to put the right disclaimers in place to protect all parties involved. As many of these activities are weather permitting, you’ll also need to have a plan in place to manage expectations.

7. Kid-friendly activities and game nights

If your hotel is located in an area that has many kid-friendly attractions, you can reach out to museums, local theme parks, etc., to see if they’ll offer tickets at discounted prices. Your guests will appreciate this extra effort to make their stay more cost-effective and engaging.

That said, don’t rely solely on local businesses to keep your younger guests entertained. Not only does it become an extra monetary burden, especially considering that parents will have to pay for themselves as well as their dependents, but for some parents, commuting with young kids is still a hassle and risky.

Game nights remain one of the most fun things that young and old can enjoy together. There are several popular board games that will have them entertained for hours on end.

Similarly to movie nights, it’s pretty easy to organize. You’ll essentially need a spacious room (a hotel lobby will work just fine), chairs, and a range of fun games. You can, for example, also arrange supervision for the kids, making it a win-win situation for caregivers who would rather enjoy one of your other services offered.

Why not turn it into a mini-tournament by charging a small entry fee and offering an attractive grand prize?

8. Local tours and hiking trips

Guided hiking trips tick many boxes. They allow guests to spend time outside, explore the local environment, and generate a sense of adventure. It might not get the adrenaline pumping like some of the other adventure activities, but it will get the endorphins flowing.

It doesn’t necessarily need to be a long, intensive hike. You can also work with local businesses to offer guided tours to nearby attractions.

9. Creative and exclusive experiences

As mentioned earlier, travelers crave unique experiences. Hotels that dare to add unusual activities or find ways to put a creative spin on mainstream activities will be rewarded for their boldness.

What makes offering creative and exclusive experiences also a worthwhile investment is that it can support your marketing strategy. These types of experiences are exciting and typically have a strong visual element which means that guests will want to share them on social media. Considering that travelers, especially millennials and Gen Zers, often turn to social media for their regular dose of travel inspiration, you’ll want to think about how you can use hotel guest activities to grow your social media presence.

It’s a win-win situation. While these experiences are exclusively available to hotel guests, when they’re shared on social media, potential guests can also “enjoy” the offering.

Here are some hotel activity ideas that are both creative and exclusive:

• A morning run with a concierge

• An individual yoga class at sunset on the beach

• A floating breakfast

• An unplugged live music show in their hotel room

• A local vegan food experience shared by friends

• Guided tours to nearby villages

• Hosting a barista workshop

• Spicing things up by letting guests become a sous-chef for a day at a hotel’s restaurant.

10. Special occasion activities

Travel is often used to celebrate a special occasion like an anniversary, birthday, or job promotion. By offering select activities to help your guests celebrate, you’ll make it a lot easier for them.

When they’re busy packing for their trip, there are a million things they need to remember. Add to that last-minute arrangement and the pressure of remembering a special event, and something is bound to be forgotten.

Many travelers will welcome the opportunity to finalize their celebrations for events beforehand. This way, their holiday can start as soon as they get on the plane.

Here are some ideas for extra special activities for those special occasions:

• A family photoshoot by a professional photographer

• An intimate dining experience with a surprise welcome gift waiting at the table upon arrival

• A proposal at the beach.

Final thoughts

In the hospitality industry, you need to provide guests with a memorable experience. That’s how you stay top of mind and build relationships.

From comedy nights hosted right in your hotel lobby to local tours that explore the wider local area, the key is to provide guests with a wide range of experiences that cater to different interests. Then, to encourage guests to book a few hotel activities, start to market them during the awareness stage already. In fact, it might just be that those summer movie nights under the stars are the reason why guests decide to book a stay at your hotel.