HOTELS

Roger Hill

Where Technology, Design Meet
October 23, 2008

Didn’t we all grow up with the same idea of what the future would look like for us, and didn’t it closely resemble the Hanna Barbera cartoon, the Jetsons? Legless robot maids gliding behind us and endless tools devised to remove every bit of effort from our day. I think that we all know that the future is rarely as exotic as our dreams were when we were kids, but recently I’ve been seeing some innovations within the hospitality industry that are making me think that perhaps the Jetsons might not be so far off, yet.

Technology is an amazing tool in hospitality when used to accentuate the personal connections between guests and the hotel. There is an inherent interpretation that technology, by nature, will inhibit the personal relationship between the hotel and its guest, but instead I have seen it enhance the guest experience, personalizing it and making it as effortless and seamless as possible.

I started to think about this topic at a water park in Gurnee, Illinois, a couple of weekends ago with my kids. I remember the old days of worrying how I was going to keep my money dry while hurtling down 90-foot waterslides. Most of the time, this concern limited the amount of cash that I kept on me at the park and that then limited the number of ice cream cones and lemonades that I could treat my kids to. This time, however, we were given rubber bracelets imbedded with barcodes when we entered the park. To buy something, all that I had to do was touch my bracelet to a pad, and it logged my purchase. I settled up before I left the park and was able to leave the entirety of my wallet in a locker until I was on dry land once again.

So what does this experience mean? Surely the technology to install this new tool was considerable and likely very expensive. However, it meant that I, the guest, had a truly carefree day at the park with my kids. Some of that carefree feeling came from the fact that the technology was intuitive enough that any skill level could engage with it easily. But, more importantly, it meant that I wanted for nothing during my visit as I was able to purchase whatever I needed. In fact, it was easy to buy more – and I did!

But, from an operational standpoint, it also meant that there were huge space savings in the park because fewer lockers cluttered the park itself – perhaps even making room for an extra ride that led to even more captured revenue!?! It meant that fewer guests were plagued by theft, and ultimately, I engaged in more of their offerings – leading to increased sales per guest at the water park. In short, it was almost as if Rosie the Maid was floating behind my family and me all day long.

When technology and design meet, meaningful hospitality is the result for the guest and increased revenues often the result for the operator.

I have seen it in action in hotels too. Having spent the past few years working more frequently from China (we opened offices there in 2007), I’ve seen the Asian hospitality market seamlessly designing technology into their hotel experiences resulting in an emotionally warmer experience for their guest.

Inspired by what we’ve seen abroad, our firm is actually incorporating a leading-edge integrated technology into a project that we are developing in Chicago. This system consolidates communications so that every device in the hotel room communicates with one another from a central control panel. This maximizes efficiencies for the hotel while maximizing personalization for the guest. When the guest arrives in their room, they can program the drapes to their daytime and nighttime preferences that receive their cues from the alarm clock. They can set the television not only to show programming in their language of choice but also show their favorite news program from their country of their choice. They can arrange for a treatment at the spa or order roomservice for the next morning through the control panel. Again, the theme from earlier is illuminated. By designing a space around technology, the guest experience is qualitatively heightened, leading the guest to engage more with the product and thereby increasing the opportunity for revenues. 

Even more valuable is the concept that as guests engage with these technologies, they set preferences that can then be automatically reset during future stays once a user profile has been determined. I am sure that you can imagine how meaningful technology like this can become in offering true hospitality, maintaining loyalty among guests and driving future revenues. 

And so, I challenge you to begin thinking about where design and technology meet at your own property. What are you doing to design technology into your properties? How can you use technology (beyond just free WiFi) to inspire true hospitality and better your offerings at your property? For new adapters, how will you build an infrastructure that can evolve, expand and accommodate technologies of the future?

Posted by Roger Hill on October 23, 2008 | Comments (4)