Optimal Hospitality Technology: Getting Closer, but Certainly Not There Yet
More Efficient Solutions Exist, but Tech Transitions Can Be Challenging
A definitive shift from legacy hospitality technologies — which rely on the replication of like-type data across numerous primary business systems — to a better, proven approach is...
Digital Credentials Aren't Just for Vaccines
Hotels Have Collected Guest Data for Years
The current legal tussle between the state of Florida and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control may have caught your eye.
Is There a Robot in Your Hotel’s Future?
Pandemic Has Revived Interest in Automating Tasks Such As Sterilization
Hotel companies have been dabbling in robotic service providers since at least 2014, when Starwood’s Aloft brand — now part of Marriott International — introduced robotic butlers a...
Counting the Touchpoints in the Average Hotel Stay
There are many physical touchpoints associated with a hotel guest’s stay including the arrival, the stay itself and the departure.
Frictionless hotel arrival, stay and departure experiences have been touted forever, and technology has been a great enabling partner in that aspiration.
The Proper Use of References
This is part four of an article series focusing on the basics of hotel system selection. This installment looks into how to use references and the challenges that might come up.
This series of informational articles on the basics of system selection serve to provide a baseline understanding of the principles and fundamental strategies involved in making an...
How to Use Different Processes for Sensible Purchasing
When buying systems for a hotel, the request for proposal and its cousins, the request for information and request for quotation, can help ensure the investment is right.
A proper RFP (request for proposal) is the reference standard for a disciplined, documented, traceable and unbiased system selection effort. Formal RFPs are generally required by l...
Needs Analysis: The Next Step in System Selection
Needs analysis involves breaking down your requirements for a new system, defining and documenting them.
This series of columns on the basics of system selection provides a baseline understanding of the principles and strategies involved in making an informed purchase decision. Althou...
The Basics of System Selection
For better or worse, picking the right hotel systems can be hugely impactful, and the process requires the right preparation and mindset.
Choosing a system for your hotel or hotel company is an important decision, and the consequences of a poor choice can be severe, impacting operations, profits and guest service neg...
No Wonder Hotel Loyalty Programs Can Break
The promise of a hotel loyalty program is pretty simple, but the underlying technology gets devilishly complex pretty quickly.
Loyalty programs are as simple as: You book, you stay, you get points, and when you have enough points, you get free stuff—usually hotel rooms, but often gift cards, other travel p...
Beyond Bitcoin: Blockchain Applications in Hospitality
While blockchain adoption in hotels is still in the very early days, the industry has already seen some benefits from implementation in areas of loyalty, intermediation and relationship and identity management.
The casual reader of the financial press will see a wealth of hype-laden articles on the latest steep fluctuation in the dollar value of bitcoin or its cryptocurrency cousins, of w...
Hoteliers Can Get Booking Edge With CRS Innovation
Central reservation systems continue to evolve and include more innovation as technology advances. Here’s a look at what the CRS of tomorrow could look like, and how it could help hotel companies compete in the world of OTAs.
Those of us that rely on central reservations systems to facilitate the bulk of our guestroom business remain impressed at the pace of innovation and development in the industry, a...
As Hotel Phone Systems Age, Look to the Cloud
Once a revenue generator, in-room phones now represent an unwanted expense for hoteliers and are largely ignored by tech-savvy guests. Cloud PBX systems could offer some relief.
In 1998, the first cellular telephone plans offering nationwide coverage without roaming charges landed on the market. The regulatory, commercial and technological evolutions that ...
The Never-ending Cost of Internet at Hotels
Costs for implementing high-speed Internet at hotels will not stop increasing, so the funds need to come from fees or out of owners’ earnings.
One of the things that drives many hoteliers crazy is the incessant, pounding, punishing drumbeat that high-speed Internet access in hotels should be free—like water or electricit...