With airbnb competing for room nights with hotels you'd think they would all enable self-service and allow travellers to walk straight to rooms with smartphone key.
But no with some notable exceptions. Moat travellers want three simple things:-
- To be able to reserve a clean and tidy room where and when they want
- A really good shower
- A comfortable and clean bed
Self-service would mean I can achieve all that without needing to queue on arrival or departure. I will always want some service but only for the less predictable and frequent requirement.
Com'on hospitality industry. Catch up with other sectors
That pillar will surely soon fall. Hotels.com, an Expedia-owned online booking site, is currently testing a smartphone app that will allow users to check in and out and generate an electronic room key. (The site says it is early days in the project and it has no details to share.) Hilton allows its loyalty members to check-in online at around 400 of its hotels and use an app as a room key. Marriott, the world's biggest chain, is also trialling it. At the moment, though, chains are mostly dabbling. And often, even with online check-in, guests must still collect keys from the front desk or a kiosk, rather than using an enabled phone.
http://www.economist.com/blogs/gulliver/2016/12/how-avoid-hostile-reception?fsrc=scn/tw/te/bl/ed/
unknownx500
