NATIONAL REPORT—Contactless and personalized seem contradictory. How do you provide guests with low-touch products that still offer high-touch experiences? As the industry navigates this very question, technology companies are providing the latest in product offerings, made to not only ensure safety but a hospitality experience that guests are familiar with. Here’s a look at some of the innovations that came out of this year’s Cyber HITEC:
HIS Makes Advances in Contactless Guest Service, Entertainment Personalization
Hotel Internet Services (HIS) offered an opportunity for industry professionals to learn about the latest technologies capable of meeting new guest expectations for safer, more connected and personalized hotel experiences at this year’s Cyber HITEC. As an official exhibitor of the virtual event which took place Oct. 27-29 and with attendees able to visit the virtual booth until Nov. 25, HIS demonstrates how comprehensive in-room entertainment and guest service solutions such as BeyondTV can enhance social distancing and contactless interaction while maximizing convenience and satisfaction. HIS will further provide insight into how hoteliers can cost-effectively update their guest WiFi networks to meet demands for ever faster, more secure and always reliable online connectivity.
BeyondTV has helped the industry adapt a more guestroom-centric approach that takes guest concerns over germ exposure risks into full account. In addition to providing the ability to cast thousands of mobile-based apps without the need to enter in sensitive login details, BeyondTV offers guests instant access to ordering amenities or locating hotel information from the safety of their guestroom and without having to come into close physical contact with others. From being able to order room service and request additional pillows to finding out when a hotel serves breakfast, HITEC attendees learned how BeyondTV allows them to simultaneously continue addressing guest needs and maintain a vital source of alternative revenue while ensuring adherence to new cleanliness standards.
BeyondTV’s latest addition to safeguarding guests is the recent launch of the all-new myRemote feature. Available via QR code or by manual registration, myRemote provides guests with the contactless ability to control virtually all guestroom television and BeyondTV functions without having to handle a physical remote. Without requiring a WiFi connection, guests can use their personal devices to power televisions on or off, adjust volume, switch channels or access TV guides. Guests can also switch between apps on the television, change a TV’s language and color themes, make requests for hotel services, view their bill or checkout without having to visit the front desk.
With BeyondTV designed to provide total flexibility in catering to guest needs and preferences, Cyber HITEC attendees can also learn how the platform is also engineered to be fully voice control compatible. Through an integration with either Amazon’s Alexa or Google Nest, BeyondTV can further enhance a hotel’s contactless abilities by allowing guests to control solution and TV functions, make requests or find out hotel information using simple voice commands. This ability can extend to providing direct voice control abilities over other in-room amenities such as thermostats, lighting and drapes to provide guests with the ultimate in peace of mind and convenience, according to the company.
“Guests have undoubtedly shifted towards placing a priority on health, safety and enhanced cleanliness, however, that does not mean that they wish to sacrifice a hotel stay that is enjoyable, convenient and capable of still meeting their expectations for service personalization,” said Gary Patrick, CEO, Hotel Internet Services. “Cyber HITEC attendees visiting the HIS booth will be able to see firsthand how providers are adapting their offerings to not only overcome such seemingly incompatible demands, but with advanced platforms such as BeyondTV, can actually achieve even greater effectiveness in creating hotel environments that are automatically tailorable to the unique needs of each guest while providing instant access to services and amenities in a way that minimizes potential germ exposure.”
Oracle Deals an Ace in the Hole for Casino Group in Historic Downtown Vegas
For both the oldest and the newest casinos in downtown Las Vegas, prioritizing the guest experience is always the smartest bet. Derek and Greg Stevens, the brothers who own The D Las Vegas, Golden Gate Hotel & Casino and the recently opened Circa Resort & Casino are doubling down on this idea, using Oracle to modernize each casino to deliver a safe guest experience that blends the vintage Vegas feel with contemporary expectations.
“Hotel & Casino operators have always worked to provide guests with the best experience during their stay, and in these constantly evolving times, having a flexible and integrated infrastructure from Oracle enables hotels to quickly adapt to meet the changing needs of guests,” said Laura Calin, VP of strategy and solutions management, Oracle Hospitality. “The Opera Property Management & Simphony Point of Sale suite of solutions work better together through seamless integrated technologies that allow guests to enjoy their stay whilst staying safe. Now more than ever, having a safe and relaxing stay is paramount to guests and self-service technology, from contactless check-in through to ordering room service through an app, can ensure that hotels & casinos deliver the best experience a guest could desire. With Oracle Hospitality’s partner ecosystem, these guest requirements can be met through pre-built and certified integrations, enabling hotels and casinos to adapt to ever-changing world and provide a safe, enjoyable and memorable stay.”
Oracle Hospitality Opera 5 Property Management serves as the technology foundation for all three properties. Opera is complemented by Oracle Micros Simphony Cloud and Oracle Micros tablets and portable workstations. In addition, Oracle NetSuite provides visibility and control over financials and streamlines HR processes for the group.
“Our top priority is to keep our customers as happy as possible and that starts with making sure we have the best systems and technologies in place,” said Greg Stevens. “This is why we selected Oracle as the foundation to future proof and support our hotels, restaurants and back-office operations.”
Oracle Hospitality offers a complete range of casino and gaming property management and central hotel solutions, as well as restaurant management solutions. This integration enables continuous communications between gaming systems and hotel operations, from hotel check-in and checkout to food and beverage, retail and everything in between. In addition, it provides staff with access to 360-degree guest profiles, giving them detailed information about guests’ preferences and behavior anywhere across properties.
Stevens added, “Because everything is connected, we can see if a guest staying at The D goes to Saginaw’s Delicatessen at Circa for one of its famous Reuben sandwiches, and then heads on over to Bar Prohibition at the Golden Gate Casino for a Rat Pack Manhattan. This level of detail helps us to tailor a more personalized experience based on each of our customer’s specific preferences.”
According to findings from the global study conducted by Oracle and Skift media, A Data-Driven Look at Hospitality’s Recovery, consumers reported that they want hotels to offer contactless and self-serve technologies such as mobile keys, check-in via a kiosk and digital messaging services to handle their requests such as food and beverage ordering and concierge services.
“Las Vegas offers travelers an experience like none other. But now, more than ever, there’s an urgency for hoteliers to deliver new and innovative services to provide a touchless or low-touch guest journey that keep employees and guests safer,” said Scott Lampman, VP casinos, Oracle Hospitality. “With Oracle’s open architecture and APIs, the Stevens brothers have access to the latest innovations built to seamlessly integrate with Oracle Hospitality’s suite of solutions.”
Nuvola Launches Complimentary Hotel Health and Safety Tools
Nuvola, developers of hotel optimization and guest engagement software, has a new StayClean initiative to provide hoteliers with tools designed to support post-COVID-19 hotel operations and enhance the guest experience. Checklists and Checkpoints, the first set of resources now available to prepare hotels for reopening, work together as a digital assistant in managing and implementing new cleaning protocols. Both modules are free to deploy through the end of 2020.
“Aiming to do our part as former hoteliers in helping the industry navigate the new state of travel, we saw the need to develop free and easy to use solutions to assist in the reopening process,” said Juan Carlos Abello, CEO/founder of Nuvola. “Checklists and Checkpoints is the first immediate solution we are able to provide hoteliers and their staff as they look for support in maintaining health and safety measures. As we continue to rollout the StayClean initiative, our focus will be on providing digital solutions that enhance the overall guest experience in the new travel climate.”
Checklists, a customizable solution that can accommodate the needs and size of any property, streamlines a hotel’s standard operating procedures (SOP) with new safety protocols and ensures cleaning measures meet all hygiene requirements. Whether it be a checklist for providing instructions on a new health & safety SOP, a daily lineup, a security walk through, a room inspection, managing cleaning supplies, or otherwise, the program provides a user-friendly desktop and mobile experience for all staff members and supervisors. To begin using the module, hotels can select a pre-existing list provided by Nuvola, upload any checklist from a certified source, or create a new list based on their specific needs.
Checkpoints allows a hotel to schedule and track cleanings using a contactless QR code. Created to serve as a digital assistant, Checkpoints helps staff organize and manage proper sanitization methods of high touch point surface areas and locations with high foot traffic and ensures that CDC-approved cleaning products are used throughout the hotel where designated.
“We understand that our industry partners are working through a lot of new processes to get their properties back up and running,” continued Abello. “Checklists and Checkpoints is a quick and efficient way hoteliers can ensure they provide a safe and clean environment for their staff and guests.”
Angie Hospitality Demonstrates Contactless, Smart Hotel Technologies
Angie Hospitality by Nomadix, a provider of voice-activated and contactless technology solutions for hotels, has debuted new touchless technologies.
Angie’s 24-hour multilingual guestroom assistants help fulfill guest requests, answer common questions about the hotel and nearby attractions and provide a seamless, next-generation hotel experience. These devices upgrade outdated equipment, including alarm clocks and phones, and improve the guest experience. The devices can also offer smart hotel functionality to control lighting, change TV channels and adjust the thermostat.
The Angie “On-The-Go” App personalizes the guest experience, facilitates touchless guest interactions and eliminates contact points, while increasing guest engagement, customer retention and incremental revenue. It offers check-in/checkout, mobile keys and concierge chat capabilities to provide a seamless branded experience from pre-arrival to checkout.
