It’s year 2032 and as I approach my hotel room in Manhattan, the door automatically unlocks. As I make my way through the door, the lights gradually come on, the curtains retract and courtesy of Virtual Reality, I can select my preferred location – the Caribbean, Lake Loch Ness or the Himalayas. I pause to take a glance at the gesture controlled interactive wall behind the bed as a robot butler arrives with my welcome drink. The next morning I adjust the shower water temperature from the bed through an iPad and, as soon as I get in the shower stall, water starts pouring in at the temperature that I configured.
This is exactly how numerous magazine posts predict the hotel room of the future will be. From using a smartphone app to control lights and TV to interactive mirrors to voice activated commands, technology has already started influencing everything around us.
And craziest of them all, a sleep inducing machine that transmits sound and light at a frequency which resonates with the neurons in the brain to make you sleep. Don’t ask what happens the day the machine is out of order – a sleepless night perhaps!
In the nutshell, the guestroom of the future may be so technologically advanced that guests may feel as if they are in a scientific laboratory. And with certain room technologies are so complicated, that by the time one gets the hang of it, it’s time to leave the hotel.ÊIn a not-too-distant era of self-driving cars, flying taxis, robots and holidays to the moon,Êa hotel room will be more dynamic than ever and won’t just be a brick and mortar asset.
There have been numerous studies highlighting the negative impact of a gadget overdose. It’s about time we restore the right balance between machines and real world things in our lives, and a hotel room is no exception.
But no matter how technology influences lives inside a hotel room, eventually it will all come down to the basics. As the in-room technologies become affordable, they are bound to become more ubiquitous. The only way to stay ahead of the competition will be to master and constantly innovate the basics.
Things like a comfortable bed for a good night sleep, a relaxed chair, a spacious and well organized walk-in closet, a powerful shower, an ergonomic bathtub and an acoustically well-appointed room will again take center-stage and more importantly, service shall be a key differentiator between a good and anÊoutstanding product. These are, and will remain, things that matter the most to a guest.
In the years to come, we shall witness innovation inÊcustomization of the room amenities depending upon the guest profile, innovation in the way a guest is welcomedÊand treated, room toilets designed as mini spas and much more. As an example, Hilton has designed a new room category for its full service brands that brings the fitness center into the guestroom for the health conscious guests. Tomorrow it could be the business center which is designed as an extension of a guestroom. We are in an era where meetings take place in a caf over a cup of coffee, so what would be better than having meetings in your own suite equipped with state of the art equipment on a business trip?
The experience of dictating the in-room dining order to a human cannot be delivered by ordering through a gadget. A hotel with an exceptional design and service shall surely have an edge in a technology dominated environment. I heard someone praising a hotel chain recently; that you ask for a pencil and they return with a stationary box. That’s an experience that makes your stay at a hotel special. Technology alone cannot deliver that experience, and too much focus on it at the expense of overlooking things that really matter is counter-productive.
We are already witnessing an era where certain hotels offer ‘digital detoxification’ packages where the guests are asked to deposit their gadgets to enjoy a tech-free holiday. There is no Wi-Fi, telephone or TV in the room. ÔDisconnect to reconnect’ is the mantra!
In Los Angeles, a restaurant offers diners a 5 percent discount for depositing their phones with the receptionist. There are hotels which are branding themselves as Ôtech free’.
Without doubt, technology is going to play a much more important role in the future hotel room than what it does today. The ideal hotel room of the future shall however have a perfect mix of technological advancements and strengthened basics. It needs to be craftedÊwith a more humane touch thanÊjust scientificÊandÊshould provide the best of both worlds, virtual and real.
ÒThe most exciting breakthroughs of the 21st century will not occur because of technology but because of an expanding concept of what it means to be a humanÓ -ÊJohn Naisbitt
About the author
Himank Goswami is an architect and luxury hospitality design professional presently associated withÊEmaar Hospitality Group, Dubai. Himank leads the group’s part portfolio of luxury and boutiqueÊhotels worldwide. Emaar Hospitality Group is a wholly owned subsidiary of Emaar Properties, a global property developer with a market cap of US$ 14.6 billion and revenue of US$ 4.32 billion. Previously, he spent ten years with Oberoi Hotels & Resorts and lead the chain’s global part portfolio of luxury hotels. Himank has been actively writing and speaking on hospitality design matters. He can be reached atÊhimank.goswami@yahoo.comÊor on LinkedIn.
