Delhi CEO captures 'peak Bengaluru moment' in hotel; netizens divided

A CEO from Delhi checked into a hotel in Bengaluru and was met with an unexpected surprise -- there was no front desk staff to be seen.

Ananya Narang discovered instead a virtual receptionist managing all guest services remotely, which she described as her own "peak Bengaluru moment".

In a post on LinkedIn, Narang shared a photo of the virtual receptionist displayed on a laptop screen at the hotel’s front desk.

“Once I checked in, I realised the hotel had no staff apart from two security guards and a couple of technicians,” she said.

The trained hospitality personnel, operating remotely from the head office, were able to manage multiple properties simultaneously through video conferencing.

 

“Everything was coordinated by trained hospitality staff at their head office, managing several properties at once,” Narang noted in her post, adding, “You won’t find this anywhere else in India yet, apart from Silicon Valley.”

Reacting to the LinkedIn post, one user wrote, “Wow, that's amazing! I suppose hotel staff are now just a click away. Who needs a physical receptionist when a virtual one can take care of things? Welcome to the future of hospitality.”

Another user commented, “Wow, that's genuinely innovative! Virtual receptionists are transforming the hospitality industry – a true game-changer. Hats off to the team behind this.”

However, for many users, the concept of virtual receptionists was not only fascinating but also posed challenges to traditional views of the hospitality sector.

“This is zero hospitality,” one user expressed, while another remarked, “People need to recognise that the most vital element of hospitality is the human connection. This is a clear example of forcing technology into a situation where it doesn’t quite fit.”

Olive's response

Responding to Delhi-based CEO Ananya Narang’s recent experience at an Olive by Embassy property in Bengaluru, Olive by Embassy’s Co-founder and CEO Kahraman Yiğit said, “The pandemic pushed us to innovate, leading us to craft our own High Tech-High Touch approach, which allows us to operate smaller hotels efficiently through remote assistance and technology integration. A key advancement is our remote hotel management system, for which we have recently applied for a patent. This breakthrough makes Olive by Embassy one of the first to implement such technology at scale, enabling seamless, remote hotel operations while maintaining high service standards.”

He added, “The hospitality industry is facing major manpower shortages, post-pandemic enrollment in hospitality colleges dropped significantly. Our virtual receptionist service has become the solution and a cornerstone of operations, providing safe, 24/7 support. Its scalability and flexibility make it ideal for our hotels with low room counts, allowing us to focus on enhancing guest experiences while streamlining operations in the background.”

Bengaluru continues to 'peak'

Earlier, Bengaluru captured public attention with its innovative use of technology. Just last month, a social media user shared a screenshot of a conversation with an intern at his company, remarking that it was something that could happen “only in Bengaluru”. The Internet seemed to concur!

In a post on the microblogging platform X (formerly Twitter), Karthik Sridharan revealed that the intern would no longer be working at his company, as his own artificial intelligence (AI) startup had secured funding.

This only happens in Bangalore - pic.twitter.com/KtfB6dhJl5

— Karthik Sridharan (@KarthikS2206) September 1, 2024

The screenshot of their brief exchange showed the intern being asked why he was absent from the office on Friday. He replied, “Hey, sorry I took a leave because I had a meeting with a VC. My AI startup got funded. I don’t need the internship anymore.”

In yet another "peak Bengaluru moment" from May this year, a woman was spotted attending a team meeting on her laptop while shopping in a shoe store.

“Today in ⁦Peak Bengaluru⁩. I saw a person shoe shopping while attending a team meeting on her laptop,” wrote Karthik Bhaskara on X.

Today in ⁦@peakbengaluru⁩, I saw a person shoe shopping while attending a team meeting on her laptop. pic.twitter.com/qHQ2omYDIl

— Karthik Bhaskara (@Kaey_bee) May 22, 2024

The image depicts a woman holding a laptop while browsing slippers displayed on a rack. While many netizens lamented the city's hustle culture, one thing is certain – the list of 'peak Bengaluru moments' continues to expand.