Digital check-in, mobile key: Your luxury hotel is no longer the same

Luxury brands bring digital check-in, mobile key and other innovations

Upset about the waiting time to complete the check-in and check-out at the hotel after paying big bucks for your luxury stay? Things are changing for the better. Hotel chains like Hilton, InterContinental and Four Seasons among others are changing the guest experience of the way they check in and out, clear their bills and interact with the hotel for room service, etc. 

American hospitality major Hilton has already rolled out the digital key for its two hotels in India this year: Conrad (Bangalore) and Hilton Garden Inn (Lucknow). “Our digital key allows guests to use their smartphones as a room key, bypassing the front desk check-in. At the Bangalore Conrad, we also offer a digital check-in, the industry’s first-and-only opportunity for guests to select the exact room they want, based on interactive floor plans and Google maps API,” said a Hilton spokesperson. These features will gradually be rolled out at more Hilton hotels in India.

Hilton is also piloting a feature called Connected Room which aims to deliver a personalised, mobile-first room experience for the guests. “This will empower them to tailor all elements of their stay from the palm of their hand, from streaming their favourite television channels, controlling room temperature and light settings, to ordering extra pillows and towels. We are now testing the Connected Room beta technology in a handful of hotel rooms, and will launch this first in the US, followed by the rest of the world,” the spokesperson added.

Intercontinental Hotels Group (IHG) is also working to bring these new features to India. “In the future, you will be able to check-in online like you do with airlines, check-out online, and select a particular room online. It opens a new world of technology. You just take the key...or it may be it will be sent to your mobile. It is definitely the future,” Pascal Gauvin, managing director, India, Middle East and Africa, IHG told Business Standard. The British hospitality firm operates 31 hotels in India under brands like Crowne Plaza and Holiday Inn.

Gauvin said he does not have a date yet for the introduction of these in India but he said it will be rolled out in near future. “There is a trial going on in the US”, he added. Gauvin, who oversees operations of 132 hotels for IHG in India, Middle East and Africa, from his Dubai office, questioned the need for large check-in counters in the lobby. “May be we need to be softer with that. People don’t like to queue anymore for check in and check out. Our industry needs to adjust to changing needs of the customers,” he said.

Luxury hotel chain Four Seasons has rolled out a new digital service, Four Seasons Chat, enabling guests to send and receive instant messages with property teams before, throughout and after their stay. This feature, rolled out globally in October last year, is now available for guests staying at the Four Seasons hotel in Mumbai and will be available to guests at the upcoming Four Seasons hotel in Bangalore. 

Guests can use multiple channels – the Four Seasons App, Facebook Messenger, WeChat or SMS- to interact with the hotel and the responses are not generated by hotel staffs and not chatbots. The chat facility can be used to seek driving directions, order a drink or food from any corner of the hotel or make reservations for the dinner and so on.

“The Four Seasons Chat has an ability to translate more than a hundred languages efficiently and in real time. Our best-in-class response times are in minutes, if not seconds, well below industry averages of twelve minutes. The result is a seamlessly integrated conversation that creates uniquely tailored hospitality experiences, facilitated digitally but delivered with a distinctly human approach,” a company statement said.