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Glossary

Understanding Abra’s vocabulary helps you get the most out of the platform. This glossary covers the core concepts and data types you’ll encounter.

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Guest Intelligence

These are the building blocks of guest knowledge in ABRA.

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Preference

Any request, requirement, or guest intel that relates to a specific department.
Preferences are department-specific information that helps teams prepare for and serve guests. When you add a preference for an arriving or in-house guest, ABRA automatically emails the relevant department. Examples by Department:
Preferences for arriving and in-house guests are automatically emailed to the relevant department, ensuring the team is prepared.
Categories:
  • Allergies - Food, environmental, or material sensitivities (flagged with special visibility)
  • Dietary - Vegan, kosher, gluten-free, etc.
  • Room - Bed type, floor level, view preferences
  • Service - Communication preferences, housekeeping timing

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Golden Nugget

Meaningful personal details that can be used to personalize future interactions and are not related to any specific department.
Golden Nuggets (or just “Nuggets”) capture the human details that make guests unique. Unlike Preferences, these aren’t department-specific - they’re general knowledge that helps anyone on your team connect with the guest. Examples:
Preference vs. Nugget: If the information helps a specific department do their job better, it’s a Preference. If it’s general knowledge that helps anyone personalize service, it’s a Nugget.

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Celebration

Any special occasion the guest is celebrating during their stay.
Celebrations are opportunities to surprise and delight guests by recognizing meaningful moments. Types: Recurring: Celebrations like birthdays and anniversaries repeat annually. ABRA automatically surfaces them for future stays.

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Touchpoint

A recorded interaction between staff and a guest.
Touchpoints track when and how your team engages with guests, building a history of service moments. Examples:
  • Lobby greeting on arrival
  • Concierge consultation for dinner reservations
  • Housekeeping special request fulfillment
  • Manager table visit at restaurant

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Issue Management

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Hurdle

Any complaint or issue that arises - big or small.
Hurdles are the single system of record for guest problems. Every issue gets logged, assigned, tracked, and resolved. When you create a Hurdle, ABRA automatically sends an email notification to ensure quick follow-up. Required Fields:
Every Hurdle creation automatically sends an email notification to ensure quick follow-up.
Example Hurdles:
  • AC not cooling properly in room 412
  • Wrong meal delivered to room service order
  • Noise complaint from wedding in ballroom
  • Lost item in laundry

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Compensation

Service recovery offered to a guest in response to a Hurdle.
When issues occur, compensation helps restore guest satisfaction. Track the dollar amount within the Hurdle for accountability and reporting. Examples:
  • Complimentary room upgrade
  • Meal credit ($60 for champagne)
  • Late checkout
  • Spa discount
  • Points/loyalty credit

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Guest Delight

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Wow Moment

Any gesture - big or small - where you or the team went above & beyond for the guest.
Wow Moments are intentional acts of service that exceed expectations and create lasting memories. Tag yourself and any team members involved - each person will be recognized! Examples:
  • Remembered guest’s coffee order and brought it unprompted
  • Delivered an “after-skiing” hot cocoa bar in the room and congratulated them on surviving their first day skiing
  • Surprise birthday cake with personalized message
  • Room decorated for honeymoon arrival
Components:
  • Description - What was done
  • Photos - Visual documentation (optional)
  • Staff involved - Tag yourself and team members who made it happen
Tag yourself and any team members involved in creating the Wow Moment - each person will be recognized for their contribution!

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Magic Tracker

A system for moving guests from unknown to delighted.
The Magic Tracker categorizes guests by their service journey: WOW Score (0-3): Measures the level of delight achieved for a guest during their stay.

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Profiles & Data

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Living Profile

The dynamic, combined view of everything known about a guest.
A Living Profile aggregates all guest intelligence:
  • Bio information (contact, occupation, demographics)
  • All Nuggets across stays
  • All Preferences (including allergies)
  • Celebration dates
  • Stay history
  • Hurdle history
  • Wow Moments received
  • Accompanying guests (family, travel companions)
The profile grows and evolves with every interaction.

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Accompanying Guest

A guest traveling with another guest, linked via the PMS.
If a guest is traveling with someone added as an “Accompanying Guest” in Opera (or other PMS), their profile will be automatically attached to the primary guest profile.
Add preferences to each guest’s individual profile - not just the primary guest. Each accompanying guest has their own preferences and needs.
Relationship Types:
  • Spouse/Partner
  • Family member
  • Business associate
  • Travel companion

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Bio

Core biographical information about a guest.
Fields:
  • Phone number
  • Email
  • Occupation
  • Gender
  • Address
  • Birthday
  • Anniversary

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Reservation Statuses

Understanding reservation statuses is essential for using ABRA effectively. ABRA stores a small set of core statuses in the database. Some statuses you see in the app (like “Arrivals” and “Departures”) are calculated based on the stored status plus today’s date.

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Stored vs Displayed Statuses

Arrivals and Departures are not stored in the database. They are calculated in real-time:
  • Arrivals = Upcoming reservations where check-in date is today
  • Departures = In-House reservations where check-out date is today

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Status Lifecycle

A reservation moves through these stages:
  1. Guest books a reservation → Upcoming
  2. Check-in date arrives → Shows as Arrivals (still stored as Upcoming)
  3. Guest checks in → In-House
  4. Check-out date arrives → Shows as Departures (still stored as In-House)
  5. Guest checks out → Past

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Other Statuses

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Reservations

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Reservation

A guest’s booked stay at the property.
A reservation connects a guest to a specific stay, including their room assignment, dates, and rate information. See Reservation Statuses for how statuses work.

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Reservation Note

Notes attached to a specific reservation, often synced from the PMS.
These are processed by ABRA’s AI to extract Preferences, Nuggets, and Celebrations automatically.

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Organization

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Department

An organizational unit within the hotel.
Common departments:
  • Front Desk
  • Concierge
  • Housekeeping
  • Food & Beverage
  • Spa
  • Engineering
  • Management
Departments are used to:
  • Assign Hurdles
  • Categorize Preferences
  • Receive automated preference emails
  • Filter reports
  • Route notifications

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Hotel

A property configured in ABRA.
Each hotel has its own:
  • Guest database
  • Staff users
  • Departments
  • Room inventory
  • PMS integration settings
  • Branding/colors

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Quick Reference

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Need Help?

For any questions or support, reach out to your hotel administrator or contact support@abrahospitality.com.

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See Also

Living Profile Concept

Deep dive into how profiles work

Guest Intelligence

How ABRA captures and organizes insights