Getting The Picture
Hotels are recognizing and offering what guests want with the latest TV-based entertainment, increasing satisfaction with an eye on additional revenue.
By Derek Gale, Associate Editor -- HOTELS Magazine, 11/1/2006
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iPod connectivity is old news and flat-screen televisions are becoming standard. In-room hotel technology is finally catching up with consumer technology in homes. So what’s the latest buzz when it comes to hotel entertainment? HDTV. “Federal mandates (in the United States), brand standards and guest expectations are driving HDTV to critical mass in the lodging industry,” says Scott Petersen, president & CEO of Sioux Falls, South Dakota-based LodgeNet.
“Hoteliers who spent the past few years educating themselves about digital television are rapidly moving to implement an HDTV solution.” This is especially true in the luxury sector, where a growing number of travelers enjoy high-definition entertainment at home and are bringing those expectations into guestrooms.
A common strategy for hoteliers in this segment is to plan an upgrade of in-room entertainment offerings to coincide with general guestroom renovations. The Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, California, which recently completed a US$85 million renovation of its 569 rooms, did just that. Each room now features a 42-inch (107-cm) LG plasma television, with two in some rooms, and a Bose audio system. The TVs themselves are impressive, but more impressive are the 10 channels of HD content coming in digitally to the rooms thanks to a partnership with LodgeNet. “It absolutely makes a statement [to guests],” says Michael Robertson, project manager. “When they [see] ESPN in high-def, they [say], ‘OK, I’m at home.’”
The transition to high-definition was not easy, however. The Beverly Hilton is a landmark property and “there were challenges in attaching 80-pound (36-kg) plasma screens to walls that were built in the 1950s,” Robertson says. “But LodgeNet helped us work through them, as well as the cabling issues.” Specifically, Lodge-Net helped the hotel find a vendor that could produce cables to fit through tight pipes and conduit inside the hotel walls. The company also helped train the hotel’s engineers on the technical aspects of the hardware. “Before, each TV had a power cord and coax cord coming in the back,” Robertson says. “Now you have nothing short of a computer coming in, so it’s a big deal if something goes wrong. Hotel engineers have a lot to learn.”
 Tangerine Global offers high-end HD content blended with broadcast, cable and satellite programming and technology that seamlessly integrates with hotel broadband delivery systems. Click image for larger view. |
Differentiating Content
With upscale and luxury properties migrating to HDTV, also growing in the segment is new HD content provider Tangerine Global, out of Marina Del Rey, California, which has deals with the likes of Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group and The Peninsula Hotels. Tangerine offers exclusive on-demand HD programming on a variety of subjects, spanning everything from adventure, sports and tourism to fashion, food and wine. This is blended with the best local fare from broadcast, cable and satellite television and all integrated with the digital infrastructure at each hotel property.
“We keep adding more programming,” says Stu Levin, Tangerine’s founder and CEO. “A lot of it is amenity-based, very high-end luxury content. So when you talk about fashion, yoga, fitness, collectibles, art, museums and travel, you’re hitting the core of the demographic. In typical existing video-on-demand models, a lot of the content is traditionally Hollywood and adult, so this is really luxury.”
And that is a fit with guests of The Peninsula Hotels. “Our goal is to deliver a compelling entertainment experience to our guests,” says Fraser Hickox, general manager, research & development, The Hongkong and Shanghai Hotels Ltd., Peninsula’s parent company. “Tangerine Global offers alternative programming from the sometimes jaded Hollywood content and a highly individual mix of programming tailored to each hotel’s specific needs.” In The Peninsula Chicago, for example, “they have managed to double the number of channels we are receiving for slightly less than what was previously paid for less,” Hickox says.
Levin notes that Tangerine has recently added a good amount of multilingual content, including programming in Chinese and Japanese, and says that is attractive to international hotel companies like Peninsula. “Our guests come from around the world so we are attempting to provide for all,” Hickox notes. “[Tangerine] also gives us the ability to import a specific television service for limited periods—for a foreign delegation, for example.”
 The InnNetwork interactive television system gives hotel guests a number of choices, whether they be in the realm of TV, Internet, radio, shopping or local information. The interface also allows for advertising to generate additional revenues for hotels. Click image for larger view. |
Adding Revenue Opportunities
For properties looking to enhance the guest entertainment experience while also adding new marketing and revenue opportunities, Las Vegas-based InnNetwork has an innovative solution. The InnNetwork system combines a high-definition LCD TV with a full power in-room computer, including DVD player and wireless mouse and keyboard. The result provides guests with access to more than 500 downloadable movies, 300-plus predefined television channels, games, music, shopping, printing, local information and hotel services. “Everything on demand” is how the company describes the interactive system.
InnNetwork uses a “rev-share” model where the company provides all the hardware (including the 32-inch (81-cm) to 42-inch (107-cm) LCD HDTV) and service at no cost to hotels. Instead, hotels charge their guests a daily fee for system use (usually in the range of US$5 to US$20). The charges can be added to a guestroom folio, included in the folio, or hotels can opt to have guests pay from the room. InnNetwork then receives the first US$85 per room per month, and the hotels receive 67% of any additional revenue from guest charges, plus 33% of in-room revenue generated by the system (including movies and advertising).
InnNetwork will be installing the system in all 350 Tharaldson hotel properties in the United States (some 27,000 rooms), and Preferred Hotel Group has designated InnNetwork as a Preferred Alliance Partner. “Anyone who was seen the InnNetwork system understands why it has been chosen by Preferred Hotel Group,” says Preferred CEO John Uberroth. “The system offers entertainment options that will grow with the expansion of Internet accessible streaming video. It also provides new and exciting revenue opportunities for our members.”
Staybridge Offers Home Theater Away From Home
ATLANTA We all know how good it can feel after a long day’s work to grab a beverage, kick back in a comfortable chair at home and watch a sporting event or a movie. Now Staybridge Suites aims to re-create that environment for its extended-stay guests with its new “Just Like Home Theater Room.”
“We understand that our guests long for the comfort and relaxation of their own homes when they’re on the road,” says Robert Radomski, vice president of brand management for Staybridge Suites. “Our goal is to bring that experience to our guests who spend weeks, sometimes months in our hotels.”
To give guests that experience, the Just Like Home Theater Room will include a 50-inch (127-cm) flat-panel, high-definition plasma television, five surround-sound speakers with a 10-inch (25-cm) subwoofer, a DVD player and overstuffed leather chairs with individual cup holders for up to nine guests. The venue is designed for business travelers who might want to catch a game or relax by watching a movie but would prefer to do so in the company of co-workers or other guests.
The room will be located adjacent to the Great Room in Staybridge properties, offering guests the opportunity to gather for refreshments and appetizers during the brand’s Sundowner receptions and then to follow that with a movie or sporting event in the Just Like Home Theater Room. The room will feature an evening event schedule and also will be available for small meetings during daytime hours using the system’s PC plug-in feature, which allows for projecting presentations onto the large screen.
Staybridge is beta testing the home theater concept through the remainder of the year at the Staybridge Suites Atlanta-Perimeter East, near the InterContinental Hotels Group Americas headquarters. The brand plans to roll out the new room to current and future properties in 2007.
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