Instant access:
Computers called
Seaportals are being
installed in all rooms
at the Seaport Hotel
in Boston.
Imagine a hotel room
that opens by means of a retina scan -- no key necessary. Inside is
an Ammique bed, made of 20,000 spring-loaded pistons, instead of a
traditional mattress. Got work to do? A massage chair/computer
station will ease the tension from your shoulders as you type away.
Artwork not to your liking? No problem: It’s displayed on a LUX-HDA
flat-screen panel that can be changed to suit your style or mood.
And there’s no need to search for light switches or temperature
gauges -- one convenient control panel, the Inncom Guestroom
Digital Assistant, handles phone calls, guest services and room
settings.
This futuristic room exists, albeit in
demo form. It’s Guestroom 2010, which debuted at last year’s
Hospitality Industry Technology Exposition & Conference and
will reappear at the 2007 HITEC event, to be held next month in
Orlando.
We’ll still need room keys for a while
yet; however, hotel technology is evolving rapidly, incorporating
new conveniences for the discerning guest. Following are a few
innovations being developed and/or installed in properties around
the world.
Key advances
The check-in procedure is one area of
constant tweaking by hotel companies. For now, the lobby kiosk is
the focus, but the process might someday take guests directly to
their rooms.
“Ideally, you will be able to use your
credit card or Gold Passport card as your room key,” says Walter
Brindell, assistant vice president of rooms for Chicago-based Hyatt
Hotels Corp. “If you check in from home, we will know when you are
coming, and your lights will be on and the HVAC will be turned on.
Everything will be tied in to that key lock at the door.”
Meanwhile, holders of Hyatt’s Gold
Passport cards can check in online and use kiosks to grab their
keys. They also can check in using PDAs such as Black-Berries and
Treos. All guests will have this capability by the end of the
year.
Bethesda, Md.-based Marriott
Inter-national successfully tested a similar mobile check-in
service but has not yet announced a rollout for the technology.
Who’s there?
“Housekeeping!” is the cry usually
heard through the door. But at hotels featuring technology from
Niantic, Conn.-based Inncom, hotel staff won’t need to knock or
otherwise ruffle guests who have forgotten to hang the
do-not-disturb sign.
One such property is the 80-suite
Regent South Beach in Miami. Here, body-temperature sensors monitor
whether someone is inside a room. Housekeepers (silently) press a
button outside the door to determine if the room is occupied.
An Inncom motion sensor turns on the
foyer light as guests enter rooms at the 426-room Seaport Hotel in
Boston; a sensor also indicates if someone is in the room.
Fingers do the
walking
Loathe to lug a laptop? As of May 1 at
the Seaport Hotel, 85 of its rooms were equipped with
“Seaportals” -- flat-panel, touch-screen computers offering web
access (with parental controls). Also available onscreen is full
hotel information, as well as direct access to the concierge.
Because there is no hard drive, guests
can’t work on documents, but they can save files to thumb drives.
When guests check out, the Seaportal is reset to clear it of any
personal information.
Also complimentary through the
Seaportal: domestic long-distance and local telephone calls using
Voice Over IP technology. Installation of the computers throughout
the property will be completed by the end of this year.
Similarly, the 124 Executive Club rooms
at the 863-room Westin New York at Times Square are equipped with
Apple iMac G5 computers featuring programs such as Quicken.
The Gaylord Palms Resort &
Convention Center in Kissimmee, Fla., has installed Gaylord
iConnect computers in all 1,406 rooms. Geared toward convention
guests, the computers offer group-specific messaging, survey
capabilities, virtual trade shows, online guest services and more,
as well as full Internet access. Also in every room is a
laptop-size safe that doubles as a battery recharger. There is no
current plan to install iConnect at any other Gaylord property.
That’s
entertainment
Flat-screen televisions are finding
their way into a rapidly growing number of hotel rooms around the
world. They are the focus of a brandwide rollout by Marriott. All
Marriott, JW Marriott and Renaissance properties will be equipped
with high-definition LCD TVs. The TVs will be in 25 percent of the
brands’ 40,000 rooms in the United States and Canada by the end of
the year. The rollout should be complete by 2009.
Call in:
The handy
Regent Pocket
Butler
Mobile concierge
Some hotels are equipping their guests
with pocket-size devices to help them navigate the city they are
visiting.
At Italy’s 370-room Rome Cavalieri
Hilton, guests can borrow the MusicBox, an MP3 player and digital
camera. Audio tours cover many of the city’s ancient highlights.
Back at the hotel, the concierge puts the guest’s photographs on
CD.
A PDA displaying everything a traveler
needs to know about the City of Light is available at the 463-room
Hilton Arc de Triomphe Paris. The TAOcity device features a
touch-screen map with GPS; listings, including restaurants and
sites; and audio tidbits for more than 700 historic places and
works of art.
Guests of the 27 rooftop-terrace suites
and other VIPs staying at the Regent South Beach get a Regent
Pocket Butler, a miniature cell phone with four buttons; it
connects to the 24-hour butler, chauffeurs, the concierge and the
hotel’s guest-services liaison from anywhere in South Florida.
Guest networks
Some resorts have started using
technology to help guests find each other.
Steamboat Ski Area in Colorado offers
guests the Steamboat MountainWatch so they can find and communicate
with members of their group on the mountain, as well as get
up-to-date resort information. The wristbands use RFID technology;
readers placed throughout the resort track their movements. To gain
access to messages, guests swipe the wristbands at centrally
located kiosks.
Great Wolf Resorts also is using RFID
wristbands at four of its properties, including the 401-suite Great
Wolf Lodge in the Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania. At these
properties, the wristbands allow entry into guest rooms and the
indoor water park. Guests also can use them to buy items around the
resorts at special payment terminals.