IHG Delivers 'Hotel-In-A-Box’
Suite of technology solutions speeds property openings, simplifies vendor selection for franchisees.
By Adam Kirby, Associate Editor -- Hotels, 10/31/2009 11:00:00 PM
Hoteliers are generally not savvy about technology, so when it comes time to select tech vendors for a new hotel opening, the challenge can feel daunting. Which vendors offer the best product for the best price, and just as important, will the various technologies integrate seamlessly with one another?
Gustaaf Schrils has made it his mission to make such worries a thing of the past. Schrils, IHG’s vice president of hotel technology and services, teamed with global technology consultancy IBM to create an integrated technology package that offers hotel owners a slate of fully managed software and hardware options.
Known as “Hotel-in-a-Box,” the concept allows franchisees to slash technology and property support systems implementation time in half by eliminating the need for piecemeal technology purchases and difficult vendor negotiations. IHG franchisees instead can pick from a series of certified vendor options in whichever technology categories they wish—typically two or three options per category—with below-market costs already pre-negotiated by IHG.
Best of all, there is no need to worry about whether the various vendor platforms will work together—IHG and IBM have already tested them for integration.
Hotel-in-a-Box comprises the design, development and management of the core systems needed to support a new hotel, including property management systems, cabling and wiring, network design, guest Internet access, locking systems, telecommunications, video surveillance, voicemail, business center and in-room entertainment. Hotel-in-a-Box is built on IBM System x servers and is implemented by IBM Global Technology Services. The system includes IBM support for designing, installation and around-the-clock tech support.
Hotel-in-a-Box made its debut earlier this year at the Holiday Inn Express in Spartanburg, South Carolina, managed by Pinnacle Hospitality. “We were going to do it piecemeal—telephone equipment from one place, do the wiring from another place—but when I met with IBM, I thought the end product was going to be so beautiful,” says Suresh Desai, director of administration for Roebuck, South Carolina-based Pinnacle. “We love the idea of everything in one place.”
The genesis for Hotel-in-a-Box came about two years ago, as IBM was assisting IHG in its brand-standard rollout of the Micros Opera Property Management System. IHG had established a three-year goal of opening a hotel per day, and the company recognized the need to streamline the property-level technology implementation process.
“We wanted to provide the franchise owners choice,” says Raul Arce, vice president of IBM’s travel and transportation business division. “We don’t want to dictate the vendors, but we do want a process to accelerate the implementation of these technologies into these new hotels.”
Pinnacle reports saving about 10% off the overall installation cost by using Hotel-in-a-Box versus piecemeal vendor selection. That, combined with IBM’s one-stop-shop tech support, leads Desai to give the product suite his full-fledged endorsement. Any future IHG hotel openings managed by Pinnacle will include Hotel-in-a-Box, Desai says. “I would recommend this to anyone.”
IBM is experimenting with guestroom customer relationship management technology and energy management systems that learn guest ambient preferences and are able to sense when the room is occupied. Such technology, which could be included in Hotel-in-a-Box in the future, is a win-win for hoteliers in that it saves on energy costs while enhancing guest experience and providing a marketable green component.
While Schrils would prefer that all new-build IHG properties use Hotel-in-a-Box going forward, he says the product has value even for franchisees who do not ultimately sign on. Just by examining the offering, franchisees receive a more comprehensive understanding of IHG’s preferred technologies and vendors. “Instead of them going and determining themselves what to do on each of these components, this program gives them a list of each of these products that we would like for them to have,” Schrils says.
Hotel-in-a-Box is designed for new-build IHG properties—although it can work for retrofit projects on an à la carte basis—for most of IHG’s brands in North America, except the upscale InterContinental and Crowne Plaza brands, which require more complex technological brand standards.
“This works really well for the limited-service hotels and the smaller full-service hotels,” Schrils says. “When you get into Crowne Plazas and InterCons, the complexities get into a little bit more than the Hotel-in-a-Box is designed for.”
The company is working to certify the concept for overseas properties in the future, Schrils says.
It may be only a matter of time before the concept goes industry-wide, however. “There is tons of interest from other brands—my peers from other hotel companies are very interested in what we’re doing here. There’s a lot of momentum behind a program like this,” he says. Arce confirms that he has had inquiries from other hotel companies about launching similar programs.
To date, about a dozen hotels have signed on to Hotel-in-a-Box, with four completed installations. The pricing varies based on numerous factors, but installation typically costs between US$100,000 and US$350,000, according to Schrils.
Direct comments to: adam.kirby@reedbusiness.com
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