Wireless Wednesday for 8/6/14: With Mitch Evans - Hotel Technology

Rick travels for his work and spends a great deal of time in hotels. Technology in hotels has changed a lot in recent years. Let's take a look at some of the latest in hotel tech.

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**Topics**  

Hotel technology

1. Hotel Chain Plans Phone-Based Check-in and Room Access

Forbes reports that Hilton Worldwide, international hotel operator, is rolling out smartphone-based guest tools allowing self-service check-in, access to a virtual floorplan to select a room, and (in 2015) actual door access once checked in. The author states the drive for this technology is the growing influence of the swelling ranks of Millennials, who "[...] have a very strong inclination toward automated and self-service customer service." But are there security risks?

2.   Mobile Bookings are up

Mobile hotel bookings increased by 84% and revenue increased by a staggering 121% over the past year (HeBS Digital). Guests locate hotels, flights, and other traveling accommodations and book them via their tablets or smartphones. In fact, tablets generated 218% more room nights and 311% more revenue than mobile devices (HeBS Digital), because even though people research hotels on mobile phones, they are more likely to turn to tablets to finish their booking. The tablet and mobile phone have become so integral to the hotel booking process; it does not make sense for that mobile technology to end when they reach their destination.

 

3. Hotels using Social Media To enhance the guest experience

Our social media accounts are full of personal information about our jobs, hobbies, friends, special occasions, and even our personalities. The hospitality industry is taking that information and using it to personalize our experiences.  We have learned that a thoughtful digital experience builds brand loyalty; it’s great that the brands we routinely “follow” and “like” are taking advantage of the information at their fingertips – regardless if it’s from our twitter account or the information we offered during our booking or check-in.

Often, a guest will freely offer all the information a business needs to make their experience memorable; all the business needs to do is ask!  The St. Regis in Bora Bora will add all new guests to their VIP list, and send them special forms to fill out that gather information on tastes, food restrictions, special occasion celebrations, etc. This allows them to personalize a guests’ stay with information the guest freely offered. The guest feels as though they received a custom experience, and that creates brand loyalty. For example, The Palomar in Washington, DC catered to a loyal guest’s exercise preferences by providing her a room with a stationary bike situated in front of the room’s secondary TV screen.

If a hotel cannot get the information directly from their guest, they can use clues from their guests’ social media accounts. Half Moon Resort in Jamaica has relatively active social media campaigns on Twitter and Facebook. Although they do not typically monitor the social media accounts of their future guests, social media has been instrumental in adding the element of surprise for future guests who “like” them on Facebook or follow them on Twitter.

“One client who followed us on Twitter tweeted he had a birthday coming up. It coincided with their stay with us. We surprised him with a birthday cake.” – Pre-Arrival Concierge Manager Merricka Dyer

 

4.  Xeros helps hotels save water by using beads

Xeros, a Sheffield, UK-based commercial cleaning company whose water-substitute technology we profiled earlier this year. The company originated when researchers at the Leeds School of Textiles decided to try using polymers for fabric dye to strip laundry stains. The polymer beads, they discovered, worked extremely well as a partial water substitute. It also requires 50% less detergent, and the garment life is extended.

As of this summer, the company has partnered with all five major hotel chains. Jonathan Benjamin, president of Xeros North America, says it's a slow process: “If I ask a General Manager how much water they are using in their laundry, they have no idea. One challenge we have is helping people understand this.”

Using Xeros’s proprietary front-loading machine, the company claims water savings that top 75%, and energy savings of up to 50%. The polymer beads can be reused hundreds of times and are 100% recyclable. The company's Sbeadycare program uses the old polymer to manufacture car dashboards. Best of all, the beads do a better job than the standard water-and-soap combo.

While the technology is exciting, cost is still a problem. Sterling Linen Services, a hospitality laundry in New England, was interested in adopting the Xeros technology, but the initial investment was daunting. The deal was ultimately made possible by Liberty Utilities, a small energy company serving ten states, which offers a rebate program for customers who invest in energy-efficient measures. Liberty commissioned an engineering study comparing Xeros to a commercial washer, finding that water use was cut by 80% and natural gas usage was reduced by 100%. Ultimately, it paid Sterling $28,000 as an incentive to adopt Xeros, based on projected water and energy savings.

 
5. Hotel Chains with the best Wi-Fi

Many people are concerned about which hotel chains have the fastest Wi-Fi.

Of the major hotel chains, Hotel WiFi found that Quality, Ramada, Best Western, and La Quinta tended to have the fastest free Wi-Fi.  (www.hotelwifitest.com)

Also Independent hotel chains are some of the fastest followed by:

Hilton
Wyndham
Marriott
Courtyard By Marriott
Loews
Holiday Inn

 
App of the Week

Website:  Speedspot.org

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