In a world where teenagers are selling their kidneys to buy iPads, and high-powered executives refuse to be caught dead without one, hoteliers are finding it hard to resist the urge to cash in on the gadget mania. Hotels across the country are making devices like the iPod and iPad the centerpiece of their in-room offerings, spending anywhere between $500 and $4,000 per room on tablet interface applications that control the minutest of room functions through these modern-day marvels.
While an iPod to open curtains and control air conditioning may appear to be little more than an expensive fad, technologists and hoteliers believe that placing these devices in the hands of their customers is giving them rare insight into guest behaviour.
?Tablet interface technology products enhance the guest experience, not just through the functions they can perform, but also through their ability to track the likes, tastes and preferences of a guest. They can record information about a guest?s behaviour ? what kind of room he liked, what channels he preferred to watch, what food he likes, which cola he prefers, and so on. For repeat business, this information is invaluable,? says Binu Mathews, president and chief operating officer of hospitality software provider IDS Software, which has developed an iPod-and iPad-based software for hotel chains like Peppermint and Best Western Hotels. ?The information can be transmitted to any hotel in that chain, so that the hotel ensures consistent service to its customers,? he adds.
Rooms in Hotel La Marvella, a Bangalore five-star hotel that is part of the international Best Western Hotels chain, comes with iPods lodged in shrine-like docks. From giving the room occupant a visual of his visitors at the reception to unlocking doors; from drawing curtains, setting lights, controlling air conditioning to placing orders; from being anything between a keyboard and a remote control, these five-inch men Fridays promise to do it all for their guests. The Leela Kempinski provides similar iPods in its properties in Delhi and Chennai, and also places iPhones in rooms across hotels.
Peppermint plans to equip its staff with Windows 7-enabled tablets similar to iPads, developed specifically for the chain. The device will enable staff to perform functions such as check-in, check-out, inventory management and guest ordering, on the move. The technology, developed by IDS, will be rolled out in 10 Peppermint Hotels in the next one year.
While the company did not want to share the expenditure involved, Arjun Baljee, who heads the Peppermint chain, said ?When you consider the upfront cost of developing such a technology, it is a very expensive proposition. But the long-term benefits, in terms of increased mobility for hotel staff, improved productivity and better service are immense.?
Besides hotels and hospitality chains, stand-alone restaurants are also trying to integrate similar technology directly into the dining experience. Touche, India?s first ?touch table? restaurant, opened its doors around two months back in Bangalore. The technology in Touche, developed by an in-house team, enables diners to view menus and place orders through a touchscreen table and simultaneously surf the web, use Facebook and Twitter, and play online games. Guests can also request music and videos from an online jukebox and diners on other tables can respond and rate those requests. ?What we have is a very unique concept in India, and there are only about four to five such restaurants in the world. The cost incurred in creating this was possibly double of what it would have cost to build an ordinary restaurant, but the response we have received since opening has been very encouraging,? says Jiby Mathews, co-founder, Touche Restaurant.
However, the surf-and-dine idea is not palatable to all. Ravindra Kumar Singh, senior vice-president, projects and engineering, The Leela Kempinski, says, ?We do not want our guest to go through an induction just to understand how to switch off a light. We focus on keeping the human element intact, keeping the high-technology element behind the scenes, and presenting it to the guest in its simplest form.?
Touche had to march a team of captains armed with Samsung Galaxy Tabs to serve as an interface between guests and the kitchen after some customer complaints.
While technology of this nature is still a distant proposition for several hotels considering the costs, the inevitability of such state-of-the art facilities becoming a standard is hard to deny. Priti Chand, spokesperson, The Zuri Hotels and Resort, says, ?In the Zuri Whitefield, Bangalore, we have spent an average of R1.25 crore per room, and it takes a minimum of five to six years to get a return on investments in a hotel. We don?t see a lot of business sense in immediately providing such features. But in another two years, these things will become staples, and we will have them in place by then.?