Hi-Tech Hotels Offer Next-Generation Customer Experience

Guest writer Rhonda Parmiter has an interesting piece up this week at VentureBeat in which she details examples of tech innovations employed by various players in the hotel industry. Parmiter posits that disrupting forces like Airbnb have forced hotels to up their game with regard to guest experience. Thus, “robots, retina scanners, and infrared sensors,” among other neat advances, are emerging onto the scene:

“According to a 2014 J. D. Power report, guest satisfaction in North American hotels is up significantly. Why? Hotels that are tapping into consumers’ wants — with devices and experiences that cooperate for immediate satisfaction — have already figured it out. Customer satisfaction, loyalty, and profitability are directly impacted by use of collaborative technologies and networks that put the customer first.”

For example, Parmiter writes about a New York-based hotel that employs a robot concierge:

“A robotic concierge will store your luggage if your room isn’t available yet, or if you are checking out and need a place to store your luggage. The robot, named YOBOT, sits behind a large glass panel where guests can view its movements. Using a touchscreen, guests enter the number and size of their bags, and YOBOT stores the luggage. The robot then issues the guest a receipt with a barcode for later retrieval.”

Check out the full article linked below for photos and further explanation of tech innovations that may be niche now, but could someday become commonplace in the hotels of the future.