3. Future hotel experience
Scenario: You are booking into a high class hotel. Consider the ICT systems that an advanced hotel uses to make your stay a pleasant one and the limitations they have at the moment. Discuss how these may be improved in the future.
To start, list down the ICT systems are typically used in a hotel at the moment.
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The fundamental aim of a good hotel is to make your stay as comfortable and familiar as possible and to do so in the most cost effective way from a business point of view.
ICT systems in the future can help with that vision.
| Limitation of ICT | Possible improvement |
|---|---|
| Customisation: To book into a hotel, you often go online to their web site or agent site and state some basic facts: Type of room, people, duration of stay. This does not offer much in the way of a personal experience. | In the future, you will be able to define a much higher level of customisation for your stay. 'I want these pictures of my family in the digital photoframes in the room'. 'I want this kind of linen on the bed'. 'I want these items in the bathroom'. 'These are my favourite foods and these are my allergies'. There will be digital transfer of the relevant files ready to be loaded into the various hotel systems when you arrive, along with a photo of yourself and guests so you are recognised upon arrival. |
| Comfort level and entertainment: At the moment you set your room temperature once you arrive and the lighting system is quite basic. The hotel TV and entertainment system has a number of channels but not necessarily what you have at home or would like. | As you enter the hotel, a facial recognition system senses your arrival. It also senses that the booked room is vacant and so the TV / entertainment system is configured with all your favourite TV channels along with the music track listings you provided beforehand. As you book in downstaris, the room temperature is set and computer controlled LED lighting system is adjusted to a pleasant ambience. When you open the door you hear a favourite music track playing in the background - a true home from home. |
| Converged platform: At the moment many of the hotel systems are entirely separate - booking system, entertainment system, staff allocation, security and so on. This makes it very awkward for these systems to talk to one another, thereby limiting what they can do. | There will be a move towards a common integrated data platform based on IP (internet protocol) so all the hotel systems can easily exchange data with each other. For example 'Hotel 1000' in Seattle has a converged system using fibre optic and CAT 5 cabling to link telephone, TV and energy / heating systems. This allows services such as video-on-demand, highly efficient energy use such as turning down the heating when no one is present in the room, high bandwidth internet and VOIP telephones, links to airlines for checking in, and local weather reports. The room sensors inform housekeeping that the room is empty so they can re-stock the mini-bar and turn the beds without having to knock on your door. |
| Setting standards: At the moment, most hotel chains and boutiques do not work together and so there are not many standard ICT systems in place, with each hotel having a different set up. Guests have to learn new systems each time they visit a different hotel and IT support staff have to re-learn a new system each time they change employment. | A trade association called 'Hotel Technology Next Generation' is rapidly growing, with members including many of the world's top hotels. They work together to set hotel standards on things such as network gateways, XML messaging protocols, digital signage and design of remote controls. They are looking at standardised Web services so the registration system communicates with the telephone system so guests receive messages in their own language for example. |
| Improved ICT for staff: At the moment, staff are allocated which rooms they need to prepare in a fairly traditional way - a manager gives them a roster and off they go. But guests are coming and going all the time, so they end up knocking on doors or being slowed down because the room is occupied. | The 'Rex Room Expediter' won Hospitality Technology Innovative Award in 2011. The app runs on the Apple iPod and connects wirelessly to the converged hotel network. Each staff member is given an iPod device already loaded with the app. It tells staff the order in which they need to clean the rooms, some hotels prefer VIP rooms first, other prefer focussing on early check-in rooms. It knows which rooms are currently unoccupied and adjusts the schedule so they are not delayed, also guest are not disturbed by a knock on the door. It also displays personalised guest preferences for each room. It can give instructions in the staff's native language. This improved efficiency may mean fewer, more efficient staff and an improved guest experience. |
| Virtual concierge: At the moment, guests are often unfamiliar with a hotel and so need to be guided by staff to their room. They need to read or be told how to use the hotel systems and so on. Quite an awkward experience. | 'Blow Up Hall 5050' is a boutique hotel in Poland. It has no reception area and no door keys. They hand out an iPhone to each guest. It is used as a 'virtual concierge'. It guides the guest to their room. It grants access to the room and other services they have reserved. It is pre-loaded with many concierge apps such as the best restaurants in the area along with maps, local cinema listings, theatre shows and ticket reservation. This kind of integrated 'guest assistant' may become more commonplace and the role the traditional receptionist and concierge may change. |
challenge see if you can find out one extra fact on this topic that we haven't already told you
Click on this link: Future technology of hotels