First hospitality company to enable room selection and customization via mobile and web-based floor plans (image: Hilton Worldwide/ BusinessWire)
MCLEAN, Va. July 28, 2014 (Korea Bizwire)–In a first for the hospitality industry, Hilton Worldwide today announced its guests will have unprecedented choice and control over their entire hotel stay with the ability to check-in and choose their exact room from digital floor plans, as well as customize their stay by purchasing upgrades and making special requests for items to be delivered to their room, on their mobile devices, tablets and computers. Guests also will be able to check-out using these personal technology devices. By the end of 2014, digital check-in and room selection will be available at more than 4,000 Hilton Worldwide properties across 11 brands in 80-plus countries via members’ Hilton HHonors accounts.
“The tremendous scale of our world-class operating platform enables us to quickly and nimbly introduce exciting enhancements for our guests at all of our hotels worldwide.”
“For nearly a century, our guests have counted on us to consistently deliver exceptional experiences around the world, and in today’s digitally connected culture, that means providing them with more choice and control over their hotel stay through technology,” said Christopher J. Nassetta, president and chief executive officer, Hilton Worldwide. “The tremendous scale of our world-class operating platform enables us to quickly and nimbly introduce exciting enhancements for our guests at all of our hotels worldwide.”
Today’s announcement represents the latest industry-first in Hilton’s rich history of innovation. The company piloted an initial version of digital check-in more than five years ago, and in 2012 it launched Conrad Concierge, the first hospitality software application that enables guests to customize their hotel experience through their tablets or smartphones. Going forward, Hilton anticipates delivering further digital advancements to guests every six to eight weeks.
“We analyzed data and feedback from more than 40 million HHonors members, as well as guest surveys, social media posts and review sites, and it’s clear that guests want greater choice and control,” said Geraldine Calpin, senior vice president and global head of digital at Hilton Worldwide. “In fact, in a recent study, 84 percent of business travelers surveyed said they wanted the ability to choose their own room1. We are giving our guests the ability to do just that by enabling them to select not just their room type, but the exact location in the hotel, all the way down to their room number.”
Simple and Streamlined Process
Once a room is booked, the process for guests to manage their stay is simple:
- Room selection: At 6 a.m. the day before a booked stay, Hilton HHonors members can sign into their account via their mobile device, tablet or computer to check-in and choose their preferred room through floor plan maps or lists populated from the hotel’s available inventory. Photos of rooms are also available to help with their selection. Hilton’s digital lobby function is updated in real-time, so guests no longer have to wait until they are physically in the hotel lobby to be assigned a room.
- Special requests: After choosing a room, guests can further customize their stay at full-service hotels by purchasing upgrades and requesting specific amenities to be delivered to their room before arrival.
- Room key: Next year, the company will begin to equip its hotel rooms with the technology for doors to be unlocked with guests’ smartphones, enabling them to go straight to their rooms upon arrival. For now, once they arrive on property, guests simply pick up their room key from the front desk, a streamlined process since the guest’s payment information and other details are already verified through their Hilton HHonors account prior to arrival.
- Check-out: Guests can bypass the front desk upon departure as their bill will be automatically sent to their email address.
The Future of Room Keys at Hilton
As part of its digital strategy, Hilton has made a commitment to enable all of its hotel rooms worldwide with technology that will allow guests to use their smartphones as keys.
Said Nassetta, “Travelers can use their smartphones as boarding passes to get to their seats on an airplane, so it is only natural that they will want to use them as a way to enter their hotel rooms. We have spent the past few years testing a number of different options to make this vision a reality, and we are developing proprietary technology that is safe and reliable for our guests to use, and cost-effective for our hotels to install.”
Rapid Roll Out Across Hilton Properties Globally
Hilton is rolling out these digital enhancements globally over the next several months:
- By the end of this summer, Hilton HHonors members can check-in and choose their room from digital floor plan maps online or via the Apple and Android HHonors apps across the following U.S. brands: Waldorf Astoria Hotels & Resorts, Conrad Hotels & Resorts, Hilton Hotels & Resorts, Hilton Garden Inn, Homewood Suites and Home2 Suites.
- The functionality will also be available at DoubleTree by Hilton and Embassy Suites Hotels properties within the U.S. this fall.
- By the end of 2014, room selection, either from digital floor plans or lists, will be available globally for over 650,000 rooms at more than 4,000 hotels across Hilton’s portfolio of 11 brands.
- Digital check-out, currently available at all U.S. hotels, will be rolled out globally by the end of 2016.
- In 2015, Hilton will introduce technology that enables smartphones to be used as room keys, and all U.S. hotels across four of its brands will have this capability by the end of that year. By the end of 2016, the majority of its rooms system-wide will be equipped with this functionality.
About Hilton Worldwide
Hilton Worldwide is a leading global hospitality company, spanning the lodging sector from luxury and full-service hotels and resorts to extended-stay suites and focused-service hotels. For 95 years, Hilton Worldwide has been dedicated to continuing its tradition of providing exceptional guest experiences. The company’s portfolio of eleven world-class global brands is comprised of more than 4,100 managed, franchised, owned and leased hotels and timeshare properties, with more than 685,000 rooms in 92 countries and territories, including Hilton Hotels & Resorts, Waldorf Astoria Hotels & Resorts, Conrad Hotels & Resorts, Curio – A Collection by Hilton, DoubleTree by Hilton, Embassy Suites Hotels, Hilton Garden Inn, Hampton Hotels, Homewood Suites by Hilton, Home2 Suites by Hilton and Hilton Grand Vacations. The company also manages an award-winning customer loyalty program, Hilton HHonors®.
About Hilton HHonors
Hilton HHonors, the award-winning guest-loyalty program for Hilton Worldwide’s 11 distinct hotel brands, offers approximately 38 million members more ways to earn and redeem points than any other guest-loyalty program, enabling them to create experiences worth sharing at more than 4,100 hotels in 92 countries and territories. HHonors members can now redeem points for any room, anywhere, anytime, including the most luxurious suites, using any of four room rewards: Premium Room Rewards, Room Upgrade Rewards, Points & Money Rewards and Standard Room Rewards. In addition, HHonors members can use points to purchase unique experience rewards, merchandise and vacation packages, make charitable contributions and more. HHonors is also the only guest-loyalty program to offer ‘No Blackout Dates’ and ‘Points & Miles’ for the same stay at its properties worldwide, including participating Hilton Hotels & Resorts, Waldorf Astoria Hotels & Resorts, Conrad Hotels & Resorts, Curio – A Collection by Hilton, DoubleTree by Hilton, Embassy Suites Hotels, Hilton Garden Inn, Hampton Hotels, Homewood Suites by Hilton, Home2 Suites by Hilton and Hilton Grand Vacations. Membership in HHonors is free, and travelers may enroll online by visiting www.HiltonHHonors.com or connect with Hilton HHonors at news.hiltonhhonors.com. Members can now also book reservations, manage their accounts and redeem special offers with the new Hilton HHonors mobile app for iPhone.
1 *The Hilton survey was conducted by Edelman Berland among 1009 total participants (529 female and 480 male U.S. census representatives over 18 years of age) using a five-question online survey between July 7-11, 2014. The margin of error (MOE) for the audience (n=1009) is + 3.1 percent at the 95 percent confidence level.
Source: Hilton Worldwide (via BusinessWire)
