Essay on New Hotel Techs to Boost Guest Experience: Digital Keys, Smart TVs, and More

Introduction

Hotel technologies refer to any technological tool or system used in the hospitality and hotel management industry to attract and boost the experience of hotel guests. The conventional technology tools that virtually every luxurious hotel incorporate are digital keys, smart televisions with screencasting feature, smart thermostats, high-speed Wi-Fi and light sensors ("10 New Hotel Technologies for Modern Rooms," 2016). Other devices include smart cards for automated check-ins and check-out, modern entertainment systems such as large high definition flat screen televisions, online room booking systems, and room security systems. This paper explores the use of guestroom technology in modern hotels, how its cost affects profitability and its advantages and disadvantages.

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Technical Aspect of Installation

Guestroom technology gadgets are often new to the market and require specialized installation services, and more often than not, even if it does not require skilled personnel for installation, the service is expensive. For instance, installation of high-speed Wi-Fi requires a costly network specialist, and subscribing to a view on demand channel such as Netflix, although it does not require much technical assistance, it is expensive. Some systems also need to be backed up human beings in case they fail and also for constant maintenance after installation. The installation process of guestroom technologies might be lengthy and costly, but at the same time beneficial to hotels because at the end of the day, they will ensure quality services to customers and a good reputation in public.

Cost

Different hotels put different levels of effort in hotel technologies depending on their size, popularity, target market and hotel's ability to install the technology at existing costs without running at a loss. It is arguably true to say that most hotels invest in guestroom technology well, just as good as they earn. For instance, if a five-star hotel with ten thousand guest rooms wants to upgrade the TV systems in each room to OLED curved screen LG TV each going at the U.S. $ 2,796.99, the management would have to part with $2,796,990, which is expensive but affordable to them. The upgrade is accessible to them because most five-star hotels in the U.S., and New York as an example, charge each guest around $350 to $1000 per single night and their customer base is large. An example of such hotels is Starwood Hotels & Resorts which in 2015, had a startling $143 million net income, with more than 14,400 guest rooms ("3 Most Profitable Luxury Hotels," 2015). Most technology upgrades cost so much money that if a hotel company is not making significantly good profits, the company will be unable to keep up with the technology growth trend. Therefore, hotels have to continually invest their money on their services to make more money, by attracting more customers regionally and worldwide. Although purchasing and installing of guestroom technologies is costly, one installation of a new device does not mean it is the final installation since technology doubles every eighteen months and, companies will want to keep up with it. In other words, guestroom technology is repetitive as long as a hotel remains operational and wants to compete favorably with other hotels.

Benefits of Guestroom Technologies

Guestroom technologies come with several benefits, both to customers, the organization's management and the organization's image to potential customers and the public at large. For instance, the introduction of smartcard technology improves not only guest security but also guest experiences by allowing access to various resources in the hotel. Entertainment systems such as televisions and music systems give guests a home away from home experience; therefore, guests are as comfortable as possible during their stay in hotel rooms. The guest comfort level is also elevated through personalization, where hotel rooms get customized to customer tastes and preferences. In this way, personalization can be seen as a marketing strategy since dramatically improves customer experience, giving the customers a favorite hotel they can visit the place they can visit every time they travel to the time it is located. Online booking systems give hotels an online existence and allow customers to view, select and book rooms that suit their preferences remotely. This method saves time, and also saves guests from the frustration of walking to hotels to find all rooms fully booked. Most hotel guests are travelers or people on business trips and vacations and, to them apart from luxury, security is a prime aspect to look at in when choosing hotels. 24/7 security surveillance and guestroom technologies such as digital keys allow access to the room to only the client. Hence the security they need is guaranteed. Surveillance systems also help to uncover cases of crime inside and outside hotel rooms, which might not be too crucial to guests unless they are directly affected, but vital in safeguarding the hotel's property (HO, Zhao & Brown, 2009).

Disadvantages of Guestroom technologies

Although many would argue that guestroom technologies are the best things when it comes to building an everlasting positive impression of a hotel, the techniques also come with multiple disadvantages to the hotel management and guests. For instance, the integration of booking systems, modern security systems, and installation of latest entertainment unit becomes a costly expense to the administration. Secondly, if hotels rely mainly on technology, the entire business will be crippled in case of power failure, or computing systems failure where there are no working backups. For most guests, too good entertainment systems might affect sleeping patterns which in turn results in sleeping disorders and mild health complications such as impaired creativity. According to Lexology (2016), some guests also feel like the hotel spies on because various security measures such as camera surveillance, tracking of online activities of people connected to hotel Wi-Fi and keeping records of every person who checks in are a violation to privacy.

Although guestroom technologies give a memorable customer experience, they tend to make the prices of accommodations increase to unreasonable extents that might not be affordable to most people. This pricing is beneficial to hotels because they end up generating more revenue than what they spend in the creation of a luxurious environment for guests, but not advantageous to the actual guests because the guests end up paying more for services they already have at their homes.

Guestroom Technologies of Tomorrow

The most probable technologies to expect in the future are robot services such as meal delivery and voice-activated functions such as bubble baths (Jet, 2018); therefore, Artificial Intelligence (AI) will play a significant role in the hotel industry in days to come. Artificial intelligence will enable the provision of personalized services and also help to understand and remember returning customer's preferences such as pillow size, favorite drinks, and meals, to facilitate customization of hotel rooms before customers check-in. AI also expected to allow communication between human beings and robots through voice assistants such as Amazon's Alexa and Google personal assistant. Although the voice assistant services are already in use in most high-rated hotels, they are expected to be improved and made compatible with more devices to reduce dependency on the traditional customer service in hotels ("Hotel of the Future," n.d.).

With the growing levels of self-service in the world due to smartphone technology, hotel technology envisions an era where room reservations, security authentication at check-in points and guest identification systems will be fully automated. Many investors also see the possibility of integrating virtual reality systems, such as holograms, in the hotel industry to offer personal assistance to hotel guests, and definitely in the entertainment sector. Also, more secure modes of payment are yet to come, to increase convenience and ease of payment to attract more customers ("Hotel of the Future," n.d.). The current methods are excellent and reliable; although a few threats of cyber fraud face them, the next ones could be faster and better.

Conclusion

The growing level of technology incorporated in hotel management and the provision of quality guest services has led to a corresponding growth in the hotel industry at large. This growth has occurred over the past decade because technology has availed more information about what different hotels offer, their charge rates and their availability to the public, making them more marketing. Guest experience has also played a significant role in hotel marketing because if a customer enjoys serves, it is likely that the customer will return, and possibly tell others about it.

References

3 Most Profitable Luxury Hotels. (2015, August 6). Retrieved from https://www.investopedia.com/articles/investing/080615/3-most-profitable-luxury-hotels.asp

10 New Hotel Technologies for Modern Rooms. (2016, December 2). Retrieved from https://www.hospitalitynet.org/news/4079748.html/

Ho, T., Zhao, J., & Brown, M. P. (2008). Examining hotel crimes from police crime reports. Crime Prevention and Community Safety, 11(1), 21-33. doi:10.1057/cpcs.2008.17

Hotel of the Future. (n.d.). Retrieved April 18, 2019, from https://hospitalitytech.com/hotel-future-0

Sleep with an Eye Open: The New Age of Hotel Privacy Intrusion. (2016, September 29). Retrieved from https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=7cfe1520-8752-4bd9-bf4f-2ab092f4c30b