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by lockhouse 1070 days ago
Honestly, I could use with more smart tech in my hotel experiences.

Why can't my hotel chain of choice's app let me do the following all within the app:

- Book the room

- Check in (geo-locate to verify if necessary)

- Be my room key

- Be my TV remote

- Help me pay for any additional purchases I make (over the counter medicine, toiletries I forgot, mini bar, room service)

- Let me request extra towels/pillows/etc.

- Check out

My ideal hotel stay would involve very minimal interaction with humans.
3 comments
reaperducer 1070 days ago
Why can't my hotel chain of choice's app let me do the following all within the app:

Sounds great for a Motel 6 setup.

But making me download an app, sign up for an account, verify my email address, sync with my current reservation, and learn his to use a new app just to ask a question or get she extra pillow isn't luxury. If I wanted to do things myself, I'd get an Airbnb or go to a campsite. I'm paying for a hotel because I want a hotel.

Or worse: I don't even get to choose the hotel because my employer is paying for it, or I'm at a convention.

It's taking the "hospitality" out of the hospitality industry.

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lockhouse 1070 days ago
Both a highly capable app like I described and a hotel staffed with friendly and hospitable humans can coexist to accommodate any type of guest.
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NoZebra120vClip 1070 days ago
If you try that, you will eventually converge on one of two outcomes: the staff will all be using the same app as the guest, for better or worse; or the staff will begin to earnestly recommend that every guest install and use the app, especially when busy or unavailable, because that's how it works now.

Also, remember how HR and accounting work regarding efficiency. If they detect that the human touch is redundant to a fully-functional app, one of them's gotta go.

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Terr_ 1070 days ago
I'd first want to get some estimates for the cumulative costs of somehow supporting the likely X% of guests where The Dang Thing Just Doesn't Work, or individuals who don't own a smartphone or groups without "enough" smartphones.

If every location is gonna keep a big basket of backup keys and backup remotes anyway... Well, having a single consistent lower-tech approach might well be cheaper.

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supportengineer 1070 days ago
Sounds like the Hyatt app.
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