Wow! Hotels and Resorts - Tomorrow Come Today!

With technology getting obsolete by the seconds, one wonders if the term future has any relevance any more. Especially for the trendy hospitality industry where the race is to compete in fulfilling guest expectations, in product, its character and personality. Hotel chains spend a lot of time and money in researching implementable user friendly technology in the hotels to remain competitive and to address the needs of the hi-tech travellers. Hotels are going hi-tech in every area of guest experience.

A quick review of some of the hotels reveals an interesting conclusion – while hotels which do not keep pace with technology may lose their premium, even the traveller who doesn’t keep himself updated with technology may feel out of place in to days hotels. Most of the city hotels, especially in Metros, are well equipped with latest, state of the art technology, but, the future hotels in these metros might see hotel rooms with much more.

A number of hotels are now adopting biometrics technology. This technology uses voice, fingerprints or ones retina scan for personal identification. This technology will replace the room keys and in-room safe settings. One has to glare at the door to get it opened or, touch the biometric sensor to open the safe.

While most of the hotels now have HDTV, the advent of 3D revolution is forcing the forward looking hotels to switch to the new technology. The guest may be able to view the 3D TV without using any special glasses. The same technology is also being opted for tele and video conferencing to enhance the experience. 

Guest room touch screen telephones, compressor free mini bars, in-room environment control, electronic do not disturb signs etc have now become as part of granted technological features.  The advent of Control4 for hotels is going to further revolutionize the use of technology in hotels. Imagine one walking to the door of the room, the system detects you, turns on the lights, TV, sets your desired room temperature and awaits your presence at the door. The TV also starts either a welcome message or introduces the room features to you. The system also manages your wake up calls and do not disturb system.

The future generation hotels are going to use the window glass as a TV screen .A switch will make the glass opaque and a projection system from the ceiling will start your favourite programme on the screen with surround sound digital speaker system.

Most hotels now offer high speed wireless broad band internet connectivity in the guest rooms with interface to the room TV. Some advanced hotels however offer wireless internet in the entire hotel, in every nook and corner. One can hook the lap top any where. Hotels also offer colour printing facilities from the laptop via wireless at a central guest printer in the Business Centre.

In room motion and body sensors scan the room for motion and body temperature and set the room fixture to the desired level. If the sensor does not detect motion, it turns off the air-conditioning, lights and TV. The only down side of the motion sensors being, if the sensor timings are not set properly. In one of the hotels I experienced this while using the bathroom. The lights went off as there was no motion for almost three minutes. Technology must therefore be used intelligently.

For those who need to relax their muscles, top line hotels offer the Panasonic massage chair in their rooms. No need to go to the spa for time strapped guests needing a quick fix.

For satisfying the demanding hi-tech traveller of today, the art is to anticipate his demands and tailor the product with such elements that satisfies these needs. A few years back an hotelier could not have imagined a traveller travelling with his virtual office in his lap top, or carry his music system in his iPod or MP3. Well today he does. Hotels are therefore providing connectivity of these gadgets to TV and sound system in the room and are providing connectivity cable from digital cameras to the TV screen so that the guest can view the quality of shots in the privacy of his room.

The bathrooms in hi-tech hotels are a delight to the eye and experience. Most hotels now have frost free mirrors, Multi Volt shaver sockets, temperature controlled Jacuzzis with rain shower and aqua massage system. Heated seats for WC and bidet. A small colour TV at the foot of the Jacuzzi and extension of room telephone. What we could see in the future hotel bathrooms is that the mirror will double as your computer screen and you could watch your mails while soaking in the bath tub, sounds interesting!.

The biggest challenge for the hotelier today is two folds, to keep pace with the technology in a cost effective manner and to know where to draw the line. While Hi-Tech sounds good and has a feel good factor, one must understand what all and how much can be adopted in a hotel room.

While this is a glimpse of various shades of technology being used or about to debut in many advanced hotels across the globe with guest interface. There is yet another side of the coin which remains totally hidden behind the scene, yet adds to the overall comfort during the stay or visit of the guest. These are back of the house equipments and plants, all with state of the art technology.

It is amazing to realise that a hotel is a product where so many diverse technologies make or mar the ultimate quality of the experiences and degree of satisfaction of hundreds of guests and visitors daily. The smallest glitch in the system is enough to ruin the experience. It is here that those involved with the development of a hotel have to live their today in tomorrow to anticipate the needs of the guest and provide them now always leaving one to wonder what happens the day after…….

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Ram Gupta is a professional hospitality consultant with over four decades of experience in Asia, Far East, Middle East and Europe. He has been associated with over two dozen hotel projects. His web site can be viewed at http://www.bcgglobal.com and can be contacted at ramgupta@bcgglobal.com