From late November, a hotel's diary fills up with things guests need to know about: Christmas party nights, festive lunches, carol evenings, a New Year's Eve dinner and changed breakfast times on the days that follow. If you run a hotel, a B&B or an inn with rooms, the screens in reception, by the lifts and outside the restaurant are the easiest place to keep all of that clear, without a reception desk buried in printed notices.
Here is how to plan your screens for the festive season, so the right message appears on the right screen at the right time.
Decide what each screen is for
Guests use different parts of the building in different ways, so give each screen one job rather than showing everything everywhere.
- Reception: a warm welcome, today's events, festive opening hours and Wi-Fi details.
- Lifts and corridors: short, glanceable reminders, such as tonight's dinner times or the New Year's Day brunch.
- Restaurant and bar entrance: the festive menu, booking reminders and where to find allergen information.
- Meeting and function rooms: the name of the event in that room today, so party guests find the right door.
A screen in a narrow corridor or beside a lift often works better in portrait, while reception screens usually suit landscape. OrbiSignage supports both, so choose whatever fits the wall.
Plan your festive content calendar
The festive season is really a run of small campaigns, each with its own dates. Map them out now:
- Late November to mid December: Christmas party nights and festive lunches, plus any gift voucher offer you genuinely run.
- Christmas week: Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Boxing Day timings for meals, the bar and reception.
- Between Christmas and New Year: activities for staying guests and local walks or attractions nearby.
- New Year's Eve and New Year's Day: event timings, late breakfast and check-out arrangements.
- Early January: back to normal hours, and anything you are promoting for the quieter weeks.
Keep bank holidays in mind, as they change how many guests, staff and local visitors you have. In England, Wales and Northern Ireland, Christmas Day is on Friday 25 December 2026, the substitute Boxing Day holiday is Monday 28 December, and New Year's Day is Friday 1 January 2027. Scotland also has St Andrew's Day on Monday 30 November and a substitute 2 January holiday on Monday 4 January 2027. You can check every date on the gov.uk bank holidays page.
Let schedules do the switching
The busiest week of the year is not the time to be updating screens by hand. With dayparting, each piece of content runs only during the hours and days you choose, so the breakfast slide disappears at 10am and the dinner menu takes over in the evening.
- Give seasonal schedules a start and end date, so festive content appears and disappears on its own.
- Use priority for one-off notices. A New Year's Eve timings slide can sit above your everyday loop just for that day, then step aside.
- Target the right screens. Send restaurant content to the restaurant screen and event signs to the function room, rather than every screen in the building.
If dayparting is new to you, our guide to five ways cafés use dayparting explains the idea, and it works just as well for hotel mealtimes.
Festive menus and allergen information
If you serve food, a festive menu brings new dishes and new ingredients, and guests with allergies will want to know what is in them. Under UK food law, businesses must be able to give information about the 14 major allergens in the food they serve. A screen can show your festive menu and point guests to where full allergen information is available, but keep the printed or verbal route too, and make sure staff know the answers.
Our post on allergen information on Christmas menu screens goes into more detail. This is general information, not legal advice, and rules can change, so check the Food Standards Agency allergen guidance for the current requirements.
Welcoming, readable and private
Screens in public areas are seen by everyone, and guests may be tired or catching a screen as the lift doors close. A few simple habits help:
- For party welcomes, use the company or event name rather than guests' names, check with the organiser, and never show room numbers.
- Use strong contrast and large text, with one message per slide, shown long enough to read.
- Go easy on flashing or fast motion.
- Do not rely on the screen alone for changed check-out times. Tell guests at check-in too.
Tip: Make your festive opening hours and New Year timings slides today, give each a start and end date, and publish them. In the middle of December you will be glad nobody has to remember.
Your festive screen checklist
- List every festive event and changed opening time, with dates.
- Decide which screens should show each one.
- Create the slides, with clear times and plain wording.
- Schedule each with a start and end date, and set priorities for one-day notices.
- Publish, then walk round the building and check every screen.
- Book a quick check for early January to return to normal hours.
Try it before the season starts
Any TV with an HDMI port and a Fire TV or Android TV device can run OrbiSignage, and content is stored on each player, so it keeps playing if the hotel Wi-Fi has a busy evening. The player apps are on our downloads page. The Free trial covers up to 3 screens for 7 days with 250MB of storage, and no card is required. After that, see our per-screen pricing, or browse the knowledge base for help with schedules.
Dates are correct at time of writing (October 2026).