AT A time when every industry is becoming tech-savvy, can hotels remain far behind? On November 5, Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide introduced SPG Keyless, a programme that allows guests to check in and get into their rooms through their smartphones via an app. For now, SPG Keyless has made its debut in Starwood hotels in cities like Beijing, Hong Kong, New York, Los Angeles and Doha. Hilton Worldwide, too, plans to let guests into their rooms with the help of their phones by early 2015.
The Peninsula Hotel in Hong Kong now offers guests a tablet device to control the lighting, curtains, temperature, etc, in their rooms. They can also order dinner, make spa reservations and plan day trips with the help of the device. “This blended solution allows guests to peruse hotel services, speak to staff and make requests without delay and without using the telephone,” says Shane Izaks, general manager of information technology, Hongkong and Shanghai Hotels, which runs The Peninsula in Hong Kong. The Hilton has already embraced a new technology with Conrad Concierge App, which enables people to ultra-personalise their stay by choosing their preferred bathroom amenities or making their breakfast choices over a smartphone.
A recent report by Skyscanner, a travel search engine, says over the next 10 years, hotel rooms will run on the mantra of not just personalisation, but hyper-personalisation. “Travellers will be able to book rooms in which everything from the air temperature to the strength of the shower is set specifically for them. Hotel room walls will be fully interactive—playing films, showing pictures, displaying Skype calls from loved ones… Pillows with embedded electronics will provide sleep-aiding massages and wake-up calls… Guests’ skin and hair will be improved by showers offering water infused with vitamin C, while advances in 3D printing will mean that guests no longer need (to) worry about bathroom amenities, as they will simply be able to print everything they need, including toothpaste and soap,” the report states.
Some of this is already coming into effect. Advances in the health and well-being department are apparent in the ‘Stay Well Room’ at MGM Grand in Las Vegas, which has room lighting designed to reset the internal clocks of jetlagged guests, air filtered through advanced air purification filters and optional aromatherapy infusions. The Park Hyatt Tokyo and Park Hyatt Seoul give guests free access to over 2,300 international newspapers on their smartphones or tablets, using the hotel’s Wi-Fi network and the PressReader app.
More and more hotels are now starting to use technology as a substitute for human hospitality. Hotel 1000 in Seattle features guest rooms with heat-detecting body sensors that indicate to housekeeping staff when a room is occupied—a kind of automatic do-not-disturb notice. Similarly, ARIA Resort & Casino, Las Vegas, is programmed with a technology that detects when you enter your room—the lights turn on, curtains open and the temperature adjusts as per your choice. At the end of the day, you can hit the ‘good night’ button on the screen, which activates the ‘do not disturb’ signal in addition to switching off lights and closing the drapes.
Some offerings even go beyond this. The Park Hyatt Tokyo rents guests a pocket-sized mobile Wi-Fi connector to be used with an iPhone, iPad, BlackBerry or laptop to make international calls and get Internet access wherever they go during their stay.
Indian hotels, too, are now slowly hopping on to the technology bandwagon. The Ritz Carlton in Bangalore has installed iPads in all the rooms—the guest’s name appears on it with personalised messages. It also enables guests to place in-room dining orders, view the guest service directory, besides listening to music and logging on to the Internet.
By Divya A