Take a spin back to 1950, and you’ll be sure to find a well written and animated article on the subject Ð the hotel room of the future. It’s an interesting subject for players in the hotel space, a culmination of unhinged literary creativity, and fairly logical projections based on the trends and technology of the day.
More than ever, hoteliers will in the future strive to offer unique and personalised experiences to the guest, and to immerse him in an environment that is closest to his ideal throughout his stay. The changes and advancements in the hotel business have always been driven by this quest, and with technology, the leverage is greatly increased.
In the hotel business, there is such a race towards automation and robotics that in a couple of decades from now, hotels are expected to re-introduce human concierges and attendants. This will be in a bid to revive the personal touch that will be missing from a lot of service provisions. One can hence expect, that the stoic, friendly, discreet, and polite hotel attendant will be a character that is re-introduced after robot butlers become less popular.
It’s not all bad news for technology however, as it’s expected that technology drives augmented reality which in turn drives seamless guest-specific customisations. The hotel will eventually evolve past one block of rooms with similar themes into a grouping of less dependent room units that are differently customised on an as-needed basis to have themes and settings required by the guest.
Interactions that guests traditionally have with rooms are driven by sight, smell, and touch. In the future, these interactions will be redefined with at least a fourth added Ð sound. Window panes will be transformed into a gateway to the guests imagined destinations Ð a stretch of the Sahara, or the heart of the Amazon… The walls will change colours through light to match the guest’s mood and temperament. The boring mirror will be transformed to an interactive surface through which guests can input room commands or access the internet. The guest is expected to be immersed into a realistic augmented environment where theme-specific ambient sounds, smells and feel are programmed to his taste.
The gym experience should also be affected as rooms are even today, being merged with the gym. Simple set-ups like the treadmill or the workout bike can be coupled with augmented reality to provide outdoor-like experiences for the guest as they exercise Ð a walk, jog, or run through Thames Park, Central Park or the Harbour of Sydney Ð all from atop a mechanical contraption.
The bed. This is the single most important and prominent feature of any hotel room. One imagines that in years to come, the science of levitation is fully mastered and that guests will be treated to resting on floating masses of warmth and softness, with an ever so gentle rock now and then as guests retire for the day.
Voice control, a novelty of sorts today, will tomorrow be a norm. All functions and room settings that are typically controlled by a button or a tap will be controlled hands-free in tomorrow’s hotel room, all with a voice command or two. Already, Starwood line of hotels such as Sheraton Hotel, and Le Meridien Resort are already experimenting with this feature.
Several other impressive and guest centric features that revolve around technology will define the future of the hotel room. All the advancements will be geared towards making the guest king, a customer to be tended to and fted on one hand, a guest who knows what he wants and is unafraid to take charge on the other hand.
It will be all about the guest, givingÊthem control, providing him impeccable services, and customising every aspect of his stay to the closest that technology’s complex algorithms will allow.
By Amal Abdul Rahman
AmalÊAbdul Rahman is Content Manager at Hotels.ng.ÊAmal is the Managing Director of Amalgamy Productions, based out of Lagos, Nigeria, through whichÊshe provides various consultancy services in The Philippines. Amal is a team leader, who brings extensive experience in sales andÊmarketing, customer service management, F&B/service delivery training, conferencesÊand events management, executive level hotel management, business developmentÊand expansion, branding, training, recruitment, social media consultancyÊand optimization and media/public relations in the hotel/hospitality industry, luxury real estate, among others.ÊAmal has in-depth global exposure through her experience with Starwood Hotels & Resorts,Êand a “hands on” approach in several industries in overÊsix countries spanning the past 15 years. She has ensured a multi-cultural awareness essential to managing, mentoring and leading diverse teams.
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