Hotels are more and more relying on customizing experiences for guests on BYOD ( Bring your own device) options.
Mobile technology has the potential to make many things in today’s hotel room drastically different, if not obsolete. In the near-future, you could be interacting with your hotel room in ways you haven’t even though about – all because of your mobile device.
Here is just a few that are already in new-age hotels attracting the new-gen:
- Currency –Some banks, mobile developers and credit card companies are already creating a mobile wallet, allowing you to pay for your room and more by picking which credit card you want to use and securely delivering the transaction to the hotel’s computer —all from your mobile device. There’s no need to carry a separate wallet or cash. This can happen on a i-watch as well when in sync with the i-phone.
- Hotel Room Keys – Technologies already exist that allow guests to safely use their mobile device as a room key by sending an encrypted signal to the guest’s cell phone that is unique to each user.
- In-Room Phone – Almost everything you can do on a standard hotel room phone can be accomplished on a smart mobile device. Once hotels find a way for guests to contact the front desk in case of emergency (either a text messaging system or an intercom could work), then those bulky phones could be history.
- Concierge Desk – With virtual concierges available wherever you are on the property, there will be no need to go downstairs to the lobby to have a concierge make your dinner reservations, tell you about the museums in the area or help you plan a romantic night for your date.
- Room Service – With the use of apps, you won’t be tethered to your room in order to get room service. Using the GPS locator on your mobile device, room service is able to deliver your order to you anywhere on the property.
- Front Desk Attendant – This hotel staff’s position could soon change as guests adapt to using their mobile device as a hotel room key and with hotels able to send a room bill via e-mail.
- Printed Hotel Promotional Material – Hotel marketers can stop worrying about outdated printed material in each room. Guests can scan a QR code using their mobile device and learn the latest happenings at the hotel and in the area. Hotels only have to update one thing when there is a change – the web page.
- Mobile apps– Who needs a separate alarm clock when you have your trusty mobile device to wake you up? The mobile apps will also remind you to breathe deeply as soon as you wake up and give you a fitness schedule depending on your vital measurements like BP, pulse rate, sleep hours etc
- In-Room Entertainment – Today, hotels are offering entertainment options on the mobile devices , be it tablets or even hotel mobile apps which are connected to the TV ‘s for a large screen experience. This is already seeing a hit, as hotels are finding that guests would rather use up bandwidth to watch a movie or play a game on their mobile device than spending extra money on the hotel’s in-room entertainment. There is an option to mirror your phone on to a smart TV via a blue tooth so that you can have a large screen experience while watching movies or gaming.
- Thermostats, Light Switches and more – All-in-one systems are configured on your mobile on an app allowing guests to have central control of media, lighting, temperatures and even to control the room’s motorized curtains/ screens .
- Power Cords – Have a rat’s nest of mobile device cords in your suitcase? Not anymore. Wireless power charging stations allow you to charge your mobile devices without all those pesky wires getting in your way and tethering you to an outlet.
So, next time you go to a hotel ask them if they any of this technology already which would make your stay so much more rich and rewarding.
This post originally appeared on guestsaregods.com and can be read here.
