Hotels of the future

Smartphones as door keys, tablet room controls, touchscreen check-in terminals, zero gravity beds and self-darkening windows or glass panels are just some of the ideas travel experts are predicting will transform the hotel rooms of the future, and the unusual updates could be closer to becoming reality than we think. Prototype touchscreen coffee tables have already been developed, allowing guests to play music and videos and look up information about their location from the comfort of the sofa. Three new applications have also been released, enabling holidaymakers to order room service and make special requests to the front desk using their mobile phones. The advances in technology will be encountered especially in mega hotels / resorts and boutique hotels aiming to cater to both discerning and hip guests Hotels have jumped on the mobile app bandwagon and with good reason. Why? Let’s take a look at some examples. As a hotel owner, you are asking yourself ‘what will a mobile app do for my business?’ These are the key benefits of a mobile app for your guests:

• Guests have the convenience of making payments via their mobile device which improves your bottom line.
• Guests can find your hotel on a map and see photographs of the hotel.
• Guests can contact you from anywhere.
• Guests can check availability, make bookings, and reserve a table in the hotel restaurant all from their mobile phone.
• Guests at several hotel chains around the world can use apps on their mobile phones to check in and open their room doors, meaning they don't have to carry a key and can avoid lengthy queues at reception.

The other good news about the new systems is the elimination of those horrible card keys; you know the ones you have to swipe several times to get to work – that is, if they haven’t demagnetized and stopped working altogether. While permanent keys use RFID technology that tracks the key every time it is used, cell phone keys work differently. The guests receive their hotel room number via text message and a phone number to dial.  Once they are outside their room, they dial that number and place their cell phone next to the lock. A short, audible tone emits and the door unlocks. The use of one’s app to check in and be able to open the room door is a blessing - especially for those travellers who arrive at the hotel reception, at midnight, tired after a nonstop ten hour long flight, wait patiently in queue and when attended to, hear the receptionist say those dreaded words “I’m sorry sir we don’t seem to have your reservation”. Now at least, one can battle it out on the way to the hotel from the airport.

However, on a note of caution, I’m still to figure out how apps that enable one to open the room door can prevent opening a room that is already occupied – afterall, some of us at some point in time have been given a key to a room that was already occupied.

Hotels are also beginning to implement technology to improve their environmental efficiency and promote sustainability. One method within guest rooms uses sensors to detect when a guest is entering or leaving. Upon arrival, these sensors are able to set the thermostat to a comfortable temperature depending on weather conditions. Likewise, when the guest leaves, the sensor can adjust the thermostat to a different energy efficient level.

But new hotel technology will not just be about improving the customer experience, but also better monitoring what people do in their rooms. Minibars are likely to have sensors, meaning they can detect when a drink has been taken and automatically add it to your bill. You'll be given a set amount of time to return the item if you change your mind about it, but once that time has lapsed you will have officially bought it. Hope it can detect those bottles taken out by artful dodgers who re-fill with tap water before putting them back? I am baffled by the continued self-inflicted affliction of many hotels to provide Minibars in rooms. Almost everyone who travels is aware that items in the minibar are grossly overpriced. Parents who travel with children yell out ‘Don’t touch the minibar’ as soon as they enter the hotel room.

Automated toilets could soon lift the lid as soon as they detect a person nearby and automatically flush and close when the person leaves. Can someone also please invent a swiveling toilet seat to overcome the sometimes physically unreachable toilet roll or handheld bidet shower sprayer? Whilst on the subject of bathrooms, here are my key contentious ‘issues’ with hotel bathroom designs:

• A Bathtub that is not too high to step in to unless you're a Olympic high jumper.
• Why can’t the shower head be mounted at least 80 inches from the floor level? At this height gravity alone will ensure a gushing flow.
• Install the towel rack within reach of the shower – rather than having to sprint out, grab a towel and rush back.
• Tiny font size lettering on the amenities bottles. One has to reach for the reading glass to read the label and text. Just make the product readable!
• One ounce soap bars wrapped in two ounce paper wrappers and enclosed within three ounce board boxes are a joke. Those Brands that do just that need to look out of the box, nay throw the box…!

Privacy will also be a major consideration in the hotels of the future, with iGlass windows allowing guests to change them from transparent to opaque at the touch of a button. Its goodbye curtains and blinds. Good news for those interior designers who delight in transparent toilets. As people become increasingly comfortable with using technology, it will make its way into every aspect of living, working, and playing. When technology and design are carefully and thoughtfully implemented, it adds to the experience of the guest. Hotel design will become more interactive in every sense of the word making it an exciting time to be an architect, a designer, a guest and a hotel employee.

HSL

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