The Emily Morgan San Antonio – a DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel is recognized by Historic Hotels of America for many reasons. Built in 1924, the 13-story Neo-Gothic building clad with ominous gargoyles overlooks the Alamo, and it is said to be home to ghostly figures who roam its halls and cause strange occurrences. Faint-of-heart travelers wishing to avoid phone calls in the middle of the night with no one on the other line, inexplicable sounds coming from unoccupied rooms, doors closing without being touched, and apparitions wandering the halls, can soon read up on the property’s haunted history via new Navigator 2.0 in-room tablets from Hotel Communication Network (HCN).
“Our AAA four-diamond hotel is the second most photographed building in Texas,” said General Manager Kole Siefken. “Named the third ‘Most Haunted Hotel in the World’ by USA Today, the asset originally served as the city’s Medical Arts Building with morgue, crematorium and psychiatric wing. Although I have not personally experienced any supernatural occurrences – such as nurses pushing gurneys down corridors, screams in the former psych ward, or soldiers loitering in the lobby as witnessed by guests – the Emily Morgan remains a great draw for ghost hunters and history buffs alike. It is also a big draw for leisure, business, and bleisure travelers seeking shopping and dining along the San Antonio River Walk and those needing to be close to the Henry B. González Convention Center just a few blocks away.
“While history is a great attraction for us, we do need modern technology to deliver a memorable and engaging experience that keeps guests coming back,” Siefken said. “We chose HCN’s Navigator 2.0 tablets to communicate the features and benefits of this hotel. Not only will the tablets give guests fingertip access to services and amenities, but they will enable our operations teams to connect interdepartmentally to improve our response times to customer requests. Today, we only communicate with guests in person or by text. But soon, Navigator 2.0 will become our digital directory, a 24 hour room service menu and ordering platform, and the place where guests can request late check out, activate do-not-disturb alerts, or opt out of daily room cleaning. Tablets are familiar to almost everyone, and we know our guests will be very comfortable using them – perhaps even to watch reality TV show Ghost Adventures that was filmed onsite.”
All-In-One Digital Device
The cloud-based Navigator 2.0 platform features real-time language translation to make two-way communication effortless. It’s a modern approach to guest engagement and revenue enhancement, giving operators the ability to update and self-manage content as often as needed throughout the day. With a Netflix-inspired user interface, the look of the content is compelling and draws people in to click around, discover on-premises services and amenities, and spend more money on site. Tablets sit on a Bluetooth pairable speaker base featuring high-quality sound, USB A&C charging points, and stunning HD graphics. The speaker base can also serve as a voice assistant, enabling guests to request services and amenities, and report problems by voice command.
“The design of the Navigator 2.0 is fantastic,” Siefken said. “It will look great in our rooms, and it integrates with Hilton’s OnQ property-management system. We plan to start small with tablet programming, keeping functionality at a minimum, but we plan to add more features over time.”
Personalized Welcome Video
One such tablet feature of future interest to the Emily Morgan is HCN’s “Welcome Messaging.” Via pre-recorded video, the General Manager or an AI Avatar can personally welcome each guest to the hotel and upsell property services and amenities. With the Avatar, the GM can change the welcome message at any time and even target the message to welcome specific groups with an exciting, personalized message that will differentiate the arrival process and set them above properties that don’t have this technology. It’s a digital option to the traditional welcome letter that pops up on screen the moment a guest touches the tablet for the first time. Based on historical data, when guests see the welcome message, 85%+ will pick up the tablet and use it to search for hotel information.
All Navigator 2.0 tablets can immediately replace in-room electronics, including inconvenient and time-consuming TV applications, costly voice solutions, outdated alarm clocks, and rarely used bedside phones. They can also be used to eliminate room clutter from printed compendiums and QR code table tents and inconveniently placed and easily damaged stickers promoting marketing messages and digital tipping.
“We look forward to bringing the Emily Morgan hotel online soon and demonstrating to management and staff just how easy it is to communicate effectively and drive ancillary revenues,” said Neil Schubert, HCN Chief Product Officer. “Guests will not only ‘remember the Alamo,’ but they will have fond memories of their spirited experience enhanced by HCN.”
