Hilton hotels is releasing a new mobile app that allows guests more control over their future hotel stays, including using their smartphones to bypass the check-in desk by using their phones as room keys.
The app upgrade will allow guests unprecedented access to their future room stays by offering a digital floor map. Hilton HHonors members will be able to not only check-in to their rooms, but also select which room they wish to stay in on their smartphones, tablets and PCs. This particular technology will be available by the end of 2014 to more than 4,000 Hilton-owned 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 CEO of Hilton Worldwide.
Hilton is no stranger to embracing technology. In 2012, the company released their Conrad Concierge app for smartphones and tablets that allows guests access to luxury services, such as dining and room service.
The new Hilton app streamlines the process for guests wanting to control every aspect of their hotel stay. The day before a booked stay, Hilton HHonors members can access their account via the app and choose their hotel room before digitally checking in. Guests can also make any special requests for their stay during this process. Eventually, by 2016, guests will be able to get their room key delivered digitally, letting them skip the hotel lobby and getting them direct access to their room immediately upon arrival. Guests can also bypass the hotel lobby when checking out by doing so on the app.
The digital room key will launch in 2015, and Hilton hopes to have most of its hotels upgraded to handle the technology by the end of 2016.
“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,” said Nassetta. “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.”
Starwood Hotels also recently announced that its company was developing a smartphone room key system. Other hotels are sure to follow.
