Technology Players Make Moves in Hospitality

INTERNATIONAL REPORT—Hotels are utilizing technology to make both the guest experience and hotel operations more seamless. From a digital concierge to bracelets doubling as wallets and room keys, here are the latest happenings in technology:

Porter24’s Digital Concierge Network Expands to 100 Hotels Across the U.S.  

Porter24, interactive digital concierge and advertising provider, is now expanding to provide guests with on-demand experiences at more than 100 hotels, including Hilton and Marriott properties in Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego, Boston, Chicago and, most recently, New York City.

As guests increasingly expect digital options to elevate their travel experiences, hotels are turning to Porter24’s turnkey solution with touchscreen technology with a content management system in order to meet this demand. The interactive screens provide tourists access to tourism needs.

“Our digital concierge network addresses the needs of both the consumer and advertiser by targeting travelers upon check-in at their hotel and throughout their stay with curated content that the visitors view as a seamless extension of their hotel’s service,” said Daniel Ramirez, VP of Porter24. “Porter24’s unique experience and targeted content provides marketers with a unique opportunity to provide a value-add that consumers want to interact with.”

The screens come in various sizes, between 50-65 in., with custom builds to ensure every display aligns with each hotels’ personality. Users can also check the weather, track flights, learn more about what’s happening at their hotel and even take a selfie that can be sent directly to social media channels.  

Meliá Hotels Intros Bracelets to Replace Wallets and Room Keys

Meliá Hotels International and Oracle have developed a new bracelet, designed to serve guests as a room key and wallet during their stay. The bracelet uses Bluetooth and short-range connection capabilities to allow guests to unlock the door to their room just by placing the bracelet next to the lock, as well as enabling them to pay for hotel services such as meals in the restaurants and treatments in the spa.

The bracelet has been designed with resort hotels in mind, utilizing the Oracle cloud to facilitate payments across all resort services, and has a waterproof design, allowing guests to leave their wallet in their room. Bracelets are linked to the Meliá app, allowing users to track their spending throughout their stay. Guests are also able to set maximum credit limits, receive receipts or cancel services on the app.

M3 Upgrades Mobile App

Hotel industry software provider M3 is rolling out updates to its cloud-based mobile app this fall.

Launched as an extension of M3’s Operations Management software, the app is designed to provide real-time, mission-critical information to hoteliers. The app’s reporting module allows hotel management teams to see a snapshot of financial performance across multiple properties within a single portfolio, eliminating the need for paper tickets and physical logbooks and enhancing business insight from an occupancy and profitability standpoint.

The new upgrade, available to iOS users later this month, will include new activity reports, calendar navigation, user training walkthrough, app limits and “do not disturb” notifications. In addition, the app will offer new globalization support features, which will allow customers to view property data in the currency and date format of their choice. Current M3 users can download the M3 app in the Apple Store or Google Play Store and login using their credentials.

DigiValet and Amazon Alexa Team Up

DigiValet has teamed with Amazon Alexa to add an expanded range of voice commands to its in-room suite of services.

With the new Alexa integration, DigiValet offers guests the ability to change thermostats, lighting controls, TVs and other in-room features with their voice. Guests can even brew a cup of coffee through the in-room coffee machine by asking Alexa.

SalesBoost LLC Bolsters Team

SalesBoost, a software-as-a-service (SaaS) sales training and coaching technology solution for the hospitality industry, has promoted Andrea Christopherson to the company’s chief innovation and engagement officer, according to Gretta Brooks, founder and CEO of SalesBoost LLC.

SalesBoost is a web-based, on-demand sales development tool that provides unlimited sales scenario simulation and immediate feedback to improve sales effectiveness. The training is self-paced and designed in a micro-learning format, an adult learning technique that delivers role-based content in short segments.

Christopherson’s duties at SalesBoost include developing and designing the company’s sales training and coaching technology solution along with the continuous new course curriculum to ensure clients achieve their business objectives. She currently leads SalesBoost’s marketing and partnership strategies, overseeing SalesBoost’s 30 team members throughout the country.