2 min read

Hotels Get Smart(er)

Tyler Wilcox : April 06, 2018

Where digital meets travel + lifestyle … A collection of can’t-miss news from this week. Sign up to get the TURNER Weekly Download in your inbox every Friday.

Hotel Rooms Get Smart

With devices like Amazon’s Alexa and Google Home making their way into more and more homes, it was only a matter of time before the hospitality industry started getting into the game. We’re talking about voice-controlled features and amenities that can be connected to your smartphone or tablet. But the smart hotel room is not as easy to create as it sounds. “The answer is finding the sweet spot for how can we take the right pieces from the consumer technology experience, versus just saying, ‘Hey, everybody has got a smart speaker at home, so let’s plop one in a hotel room and there’s our solution for voice,'” Josh Weiss, Hilton’s vice president of brand and guest technology, told Skift. “That’s not how it works.” Alexa, stay tuned.

Artists In Residence

Of course, not all hotel trends need to be high-tech. Many hotels are rolling out artist-in-residence programs that bring local culture right to their guests. Successful Meetings’ Matt Alderton writes: “Although viewing art is often a passive, solitary endeavor, art-forward hotels have found a way to make it hands-on and social. By hosting ‘artists in residence’ they have activated art in a way that makes it more accessible and interesting.” We particularly like Milwaukee’s Pfister Hotel, which hosts local artists at least 30 hours a week, giving guests a chance to interact with and experience creativity firsthand.

The Family Vacation Elevated

Hotels should also be looking to make kids happy – because when kids are happy, parents are happy! Travel + Leisure has some of the best recent innovations in family-friendly accommodations. One of the most interesting is Ritz-Carlton, Philadelphia’s forthcoming VIK (Very Important Kid) package, which includes “an indoor campout, complete with fancy linens and feather beds, as well as a teddy bear, coloring book, and special camplight.” Sounds good to us – are they sure it’s only for kids?

Fitness Amenity

Another thing that makes hotel guests happy these days? Wellness. “More recently, I’ve been choosing the hotels I stay in based on their fitness offerings, a lot of which include partnerships with local boutique studios,” Kellie Shoten, vice president of marketing for the fashion brand Nicole Miller, told Well + Good. Hotels that can help guests keep up their fitness regime – or even expose them to a new concept altogether – are bringing a new level to the overall experience. In other words, it’s easier than ever to prioritize your health an wellness goals while traveling.

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