Hotels keeping up the pace with new technology

by Melanie Nayer on

iPod docking stations are so last year. Today, hotels are making a more concerted effort to upgrade their guest rooms and common areas with the newest technology that keeps guests connected, educated, and often times inspired, during their stay. While many hotels bring in iPads to keep their guests entertained, other hotels are getting super-sexy with some unique high-tech initiatives.

Check out the Royal Mansour in Marrakech. The property was created completely by Moroccan artisans and craftsman trained in the traditional arts of carving, silk weaving, and mosaics, but the hotel added cutting-edge technology throughout. For example, every guest room has a touch screen wall that enables guests to control lighting and temperature levels (tres chic!) and in case you tire of the personal butler service (although we can’t imagine why you would,) there is a ‘Do Not Disturb’ button on your wall for ultimate privacy.

Guest rooms at Pavillon des Lettres in Paris are perfect for the aspiring storyteller. Opening this autumn, Pavillon des Lettres is a small 26-room upscale hotel with a novel idea: guest rooms that are devoted to a letter of the alphabet that corresponds with a famous writer. (Think: H for Hugo or B for Balzac.) Passages from the writer’s books will appear above the bed and a hard copy of the book can be found on the nightstand. C’est magnifique! Closer to home, the quaint New England island of Nantucket is getting into the high-tech crazy. Nantucket Island Resorts offers Flip Video Camcorders for guests to use at each property, so you can record the sunsets, the hikes, the storms and the endless display of Nantucket baskets that parade around the island every summer. (Hint from this New Englander: Grab a seat at the White Elephant at sunset and capture the boats coming into the dock – it’s one of the best, and most unique, New England moments). You can enter a one-minute video clip in the Flip Out on Nantucket Sweepstakes for the chance to win a grand prize Nantucket vacation worth $15,000.

We couldn’t do a post about high-tech hotels without mentioning one of the newest and techiest hotels to hit the New York scene: Andaz Wall Street and the newly opened Andaz 5th Avenue. Thanks to technology, guests skip the front-desk altogether and use mobile tablets to check in with the hotel’s floating ‘hosts’. Have a rough day? Enjoy a glass of wine while you check-in. In a hurry? Check-in from the elevator on the way to your room. Guests just swipe their credit cards and a room key is created on the spot. Genius!

Gadling readers: What new technology would you like to see in hotels?

Are hotels ready for tattoos and piercings?

by Tom Johansmeyer on

Maybe it’s time to expect a little ink at the front desk. Hotel employee policies have traditionally been pretty strict when it comes to appearance. Suits are the norm, beards aren’t seen often and creases are always easy to spot. Notably absent, for the most part, are a few extra body piercings (at least the visible kind) and generous tattooing. It looks like the world might (finally) be loosening up a bit, though.

A decade ago, when I worked for a software company in the hospitality business, we generally had to mirror our clients’ wardrobe and grooming policies (at a minimum). Sporting a mustache was permissible only if you’d been with the company for a while and knew your stuff cold. And, it wasn’t allowed so much as tolerated. The reason for the company’s standards, of course, was salient as soon as you walked up to the front desk to check in: the employees needed to be able to relate to you quickly.
With attitudes toward tattoos and piercings easing up a bit, it seems as though hotels might be able to relax the standards a bit. According to USA Today’s “Hotel Check-in” column:

Piercings have become a fairly acceptable form of body decoration, at least outside the workplace, and some hotels have grown more comfortable with letting employees show a bit of personality. So I decided to reach out to my Facebook and Twitter friends to ask what they think about pierced hotel workers today, and found people on both sides of the question.

An informal poll found that guests have a wide range of attitudes on metal and ink on hotel employees, some of which include a bit of nuance. A few think it depends on the property, with those of the staid variety needing employees to dress the part, while fashion-forward properties can give their employees a bit more latitude.

The prevailing perspective, it appears, is that hotels need to adapt to the world around them. According to Michael Juell, a hotel consultant and former Four Seasons manager, employees should be presentable and clean … and not go to crazy with the adornments.

[photo by Just Jefa via Flickr]

Golf legend Arnold Palmer signs SpringHill hotel project

by Melanie Nayer on

Golf master Arnold Palmer can now add “hotelier” to his impressive resume.

Palmer is partnering with Concord Hospitality Enterprises to build a 109-key SpringHill Suites by Marriott hotel near his Latrobe Country Club in Pennsylvania. The hotel will be jointly owned by Palmer Hospitality LP, Concord and Keith H. McGraw, is slated to open late next year.

What can guests expect? A lot of green. Palmer’s golfing career will be the inspiration for the hotel’s design, which will feature everything from his awards to golf memorabilia. The hotel will be a LEED-certified prototype that was pioneered by Concord in conjunction with Marriott.

The all-suite concept will offer separate areas for sleeping, working and relaxing, and will feature complimentary daily breakfast buffet, in-suite microwave and mini-fridge, pull-out sofa bed, free high-speed Internet access, swimming pool and whirlpool, fitness room and on-site business services.

We’re pretty sure the SpringHill Suites will offer shuttle service to the golf course, too.

Hotels making a move on social media, with targeted help

by Tom Johansmeyer on

The hotel industry has plenty of faith in the social media world – and no reservations about using it to gain reservations. But, it’s struggling to take control of the medium. A survey by Wine and Hospitality Network indicates that most respondents (in the business) spend only two hours a week managing their Facebook fan pages – with 14.2 percent having no such page to manage. Forty-two percent don’t use Twitter, and 25 percent tweet for less than an hour a week (they should reach out to @Colonnade for tips).

But, it isn’t for lack of trying. The internet is littered with the corpses of abandoned social media marketing initiatives, inside the travel industry and out. Notes online marketing publication ClickZ:

“Before hoteliers even consider a social media initiative, they should be aware that social media is a very engaged, hands-on marketing format. The social networks are a graveyard of abandoned hotel profiles and fan pages by hoteliers who did not realize the complexity of social marketing,” said Margaret Mastrogiacomo, social media specialist with Hospitality eBusiness Strategies, a strategic services and design firm.

Several properties are getting in on the action, committing resources and genuinely seeking returns. New York’s Roger Smith Hotel has made a clear social media play, according to ClickZ, by adopting Revinate, a tool to facilitate active social media management specifically for the hospitality business. Kimpton has adopted this platform as well.

ClickZ continues:

The focus on hotels pays off for the Roger Smith’s Simpson, who used to spend hours using search and setting up news alerts on competitors. While Revinate doesn’t include some of the hot new social media startups he keeps an eye on, like Bizzy and Pegshot, he says it covers the major sites, especially TripAdvisor, the most important. The ability to compare his hotel’s buzz with competitors is also unique. “It’s one thing to do it manually for your own establishment, but for me to do that for surrounding hotels or for what other people we have an interest in are doing, that becomes more laborious.”

So, what does this mean for the average traveler? Your opportunities to engage with the hotels you’ll call home, if only temporarily, are set to increase. Think beyond deals (though they are important) to every other reason you’d contact and open dialogue with a hotel. The possibilities are immense, and hotels, a bit slow to move in social media, appear to be on the brink.

Survey says: Hotel guests generally happier with their stays

by Melanie Nayer on

It’s no surprise the hotel industry is making a strong comeback. When travel started to falter in the down economy, hotels kept the spirit alive with the ‘staycation’ craze. Now, as more people start spending money on much-needed vacations again, the hotel industry is once again at the forefront of recreating the ultimate customer service experience and according to travelers, hotels are doing a pretty good job.

The latest survey results from J.D. Power and Associates says guests have generally been happier with their hotel experience over the past year. The study finds that the proportion of hotel guests making reservations online has increased in 2010. Not surprisingly, a drop in hotel prices had a little something to do with this, but we’ve heard from more hotels that customer service and personalized guest programs have been at the forefront of their efforts over the past year.

So, how has your hotel stacked up against its competition? The latest study measures how well hotel chains satisfy their customers and ranks the hotels by economy-budget to upscale-luxury. The study leaves out independent chains and hotels, but more well-known brands like Four Seasons, Ritz-Carlton, Marriott, Embassy Suites and Hilton are part of the survey. Drury Inn & Suites, Hilton Garden Inn, Homewood Suites, Microtel Inns & Suites, Omni Hotels and The Ritz-Carlton rank highest in customer satisfaction.

The following hotel brands rank highest in guest satisfaction within their respective segments:

Luxury: The Ritz-Carlton
Upscale: Omni Hotels & Resorts
Mid-Scale Full Service: Hilton Garden Inn (for a second consecutive year)
Mid-Scale Limited Service: Drury Inn & Suites (for a fifth consecutive year)
Economy/Budget: Microtel Inns & Suites (for a ninth consecutive year)
Extended Stay: Homewood Suites

We’re curious: Do you agree with the results? Were you satisfied with your most recent hotel stay?