As the hospitality industry adapts to changing technology to provide better a better guest experience, they are turning towards automation to keep the technology cutting edge. Technology like automation, and smart technology features are creating quite the buzz around the hotel industry, but they are also making quite the impact on travelers and hoteliers worldwide. According to reports from SmartWorld.com by 2021 smart technology revenue will grow to 18.1 billion: That’s a lot of technology! But, that’s not the most impressive aspect of hotel automation. As hoteliers know, there are many aspects to running a successful property; financial records, resource management, complimentary services offered to guests, overhead costs, operational costs, promotional costs, and so on. However, with as many executable functions as there are at a hotel, there are just as many automation programs to help facilitate process automation. So, why should your property become a smart hotel? Let’s find out: 

Improved Sustainability

Hoteliers are constantly looking for ways to increase their energy savings within their hotel rooms, and this can absolutely be achieved by turning their hotel into a smart hotel. For example, lights can be set to automatically dim or brighten based on the level of light in the room at any given time. Also, air conditioning and heating can be configured to maintain constant temperatures while the room is vacant and then activated once the room has been rented and the guest is ready for check in. Both drastically reduce energy consumption, leading to lower energy bills.  

Guest Personalization

Let’s face it, guests love to be called by name, right?  How do you think they feel when they walk into their rooms and their television is set to refer to them by name when they power it up? When converting your property to a smart hotel, televisions can be set to refer to guests by their name, and guests can access their personal Netflix or Amazon Alexa accounts from their rooms.  

Information Highway

Another major benefit for guests is the ability to gain access to information through the Internet. Guests can connect directly to Amazon’s Alexa or Apple’s Siri to ask questions through an Internet connection in their room and receive intelligent (or reasonably intelligent) responses to their questions. However, with an appropriate device, guests can also connect to other hotel services. For instance, guests may be able to use a smart hub to access information about the hotel’s restaurant availability. This smart hub may be connected to the restaurant’s booking system providing up-to-the-minute availability. Other smart hubs allow guests to connect to local activities, providing reviews, directions, and tourist attractions that shouldn’t be missed.  

Anticipated Maintenance

Hoteliers don’t like surprises when it comes to repairs. With smart hotel features, surprise repairs are a thing of the past. Smart hotels provide pre-emptive maintenance warnings through devices in real-time. This allows the hotel’s maintenance staff to act quickly, heading off any potential disaster at the property. Hotel owners are happy because they save money on emergency repairs, and guests are happier because they are not caught in the middle of a less-than-desirable situation.  

Wrapping Up

While flagged properties are mainly utilizing smart hotel features currently, that doesn’t mean that independent hoteliers shouldn’t also consider adding these cost saving features. All hotels should become smart hotels. In fact, smart hotel automation should be a priority as we move into the technology age of the hotel industry. Not only is the creation of a smart hotel a trend that is not likely going anywhere, but it can greatly improve the guest experience, make life easier for your staff, and it creates a big win financially for the owners.  

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InnQuest Hotel Software is a leading technology provider for the hospitality industry. For over 25 years, innQuest has combined hotelier experience with innovative technology to deliver an all-in-one solution that empowers hotels to attract guests, drive customer loyalty, and increase profits. Our flagship hotel management software, roomMaster, helps manage over 5,500 properties across 100 countries. InnQuest develops scalable solutions ranging from a Hotel PMS, Cloud PMS, Channel Manager, Hotel CRM and helps properties enable guests to Book Direct. We believe that everyone deserves a great guest experience, whether they’re staying at a small B&B, a thousand-room resort, or anywhere in between.

Call us today at 1.813.288.4900, or email us at sales@innquest.com. We will be happy to walk you through innQuest’s solutions.