In a first for the hospitality industry, Hilton Worldwide today
announced its guests will have unprecedented choice and control over
their entire hotel stay with the ability to check-in and choose their
exact room from digital floor plans, as well as customize their stay by
purchasing upgrades and making special requests for items to be
delivered to their room, on their mobile devices, tablets and computers.
Guests also will be able to check-out using these personal technology
devices. By the end of 2014, digital check-in and room selection will be
available at more than 4,000 Hilton Worldwide properties across 11
brands in 80-plus countries via members’ Hilton HHonors accounts.
Hilton Worldwide gives guests choice and control over their entire hotel stay with the ability to check-in and choose rooms from digital floor plans, purchase upgrades and make special requests for items by using their mobile devices, tablets or computers. By the end of 2014, room selection will be available globally for 650,000-plus rooms at more than 4,000 hotels across Hilton's portfolio of 11 brands. (Photo: Business Wire)
“For nearly a century, our guests have counted on us to consistently
deliver exceptional experiences around the world, and in today’s
digitally connected culture, that means providing them with more choice
and control over their hotel stay through technology,” said Christopher
J. Nassetta, president and chief executive officer, Hilton Worldwide.
“The tremendous scale of our world-class operating platform enables us
to quickly and nimbly introduce exciting enhancements for our guests at
all of our hotels worldwide.”
Today’s announcement represents the latest industry-first in Hilton’s
rich history of innovation. The company piloted an initial version of
digital check-in more than five years ago, and in 2012 it launched
Conrad Concierge, the first hospitality software application that
enables guests to customize their hotel experience through their tablets
or smartphones. Going forward, Hilton anticipates delivering further
digital advancements to guests every six to eight weeks.
“We analyzed data and feedback from more than 40 million HHonors
members, as well as guest surveys, social media posts and review sites,
and it’s clear that guests want greater choice and control,” said
Geraldine Calpin, senior vice president and global head of digital at
Hilton Worldwide. “In fact, in a recent study, 84 percent of business
travelers surveyed said they wanted the ability to choose their own room1.
We are giving our guests the ability to do just that by enabling them to
select not just their room type, but the exact location in the hotel,
all the way down to their room number.”
Simple and Streamlined Process
Once a room is booked, the process for guests to manage their stay is
simple:
-
Room selection: At 6 a.m. the day before a booked stay, Hilton
HHonors members can sign into their account via their mobile device,
tablet or computer to check-in and choose their preferred room through
floor plan maps or lists populated from the hotel’s available
inventory. Photos of rooms are also available to help with their
selection. Hilton’s digital lobby function is updated in real-time, so
guests no longer have to wait until they are physically in the hotel
lobby to be assigned a room.
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Special requests: After choosing a room, guests can further
customize their stay at full-service hotels by purchasing upgrades and
requesting specific amenities to be delivered to their room before
arrival.
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Room key: Next year, the company will begin to equip its hotel
rooms with the technology for doors to be unlocked with guests’
smartphones, enabling them to go straight to their rooms upon arrival.
For now, once they arrive on property, guests simply pick up their
room key from the front desk, a streamlined process since the guest’s
payment information and other details are already verified through
their Hilton HHonors account prior to arrival.
-
Check-out: Guests can bypass the front desk upon departure as
their bill will be automatically sent to their email address.
The Future of Room Keys at Hilton
As part of its digital strategy, Hilton has made a commitment to enable
all of its hotel rooms worldwide with technology that will allow guests
to use their smartphones as keys.
Said Nassetta, “Travelers can use their smartphones as boarding passes
to get to their seats on an airplane, so it is only natural that they
will want to use them as a way to enter their hotel rooms. We have spent
the past few years testing a number of different options to make this
vision a reality, and we are developing proprietary technology that is
safe and reliable for our guests to use, and cost-effective for our
hotels to install.”
Rapid Roll Out Across Hilton Properties Globally
Hilton is rolling out these digital enhancements globally over the next
several months:
-
By the end of this summer, Hilton HHonors members can check-in and
choose their room from digital floor plan maps online or via the Apple
and Android HHonors apps across the following U.S. brands: Waldorf
Astoria Hotels & Resorts, Conrad Hotels & Resorts, Hilton Hotels &
Resorts, Hilton Garden Inn, Homewood Suites and Home2 Suites.
-
The functionality will also be available at DoubleTree by Hilton and
Embassy Suites Hotels properties within the U.S. this fall.
-
By the end of 2014, room selection, either from digital floor plans or
lists, will be available globally for over 650,000 rooms at more than
4,000 hotels across Hilton’s portfolio of 11 brands.
-
Digital check-out, currently available at all U.S. hotels, will be
rolled out globally by the end of 2016.
-
In 2015, Hilton will introduce technology that enables smartphones to
be used as room keys, and all U.S. hotels across four of its brands
will have this capability by the end of that year. By the end of 2016,
the majority of its rooms system-wide will be equipped with this
functionality.
About Hilton Worldwide
Hilton Worldwide is a leading global hospitality company, spanning the
lodging sector from luxury and full-service hotels and resorts to
extended-stay suites and focused-service hotels. For 95 years, Hilton
Worldwide has been dedicated to continuing its tradition of providing
exceptional guest experiences. The company's portfolio of eleven
world-class global brands is comprised of more than 4,100 managed,
franchised, owned and leased hotels and timeshare properties, with more
than 685,000 rooms in 92 countries and territories, including Hilton
Hotels & Resorts, Waldorf Astoria Hotels & Resorts, Conrad Hotels &
Resorts, Curio - A Collection by Hilton, DoubleTree by Hilton, Embassy
Suites Hotels, Hilton Garden Inn, Hampton Hotels, Homewood Suites by
Hilton, Home2 Suites by Hilton and Hilton Grand Vacations. The company
also manages an award-winning customer loyalty program, Hilton HHonors®.
About Hilton HHonors
Hilton HHonors, the award-winning guest-loyalty program for Hilton
Worldwide’s 11 distinct hotel brands, offers approximately 38 million
members more ways to earn and redeem points than any other guest-loyalty
program, enabling them to create experiences worth sharing at more than
4,100 hotels in 92 countries and territories. HHonors members can now
redeem points for any room, anywhere, anytime, including the most
luxurious suites, using any of four room rewards: Premium Room Rewards,
Room Upgrade Rewards, Points & Money Rewards and Standard Room Rewards.
In addition, HHonors members can use points to purchase unique
experience rewards, merchandise and vacation packages, make charitable
contributions and more. HHonors is also the only guest-loyalty program
to offer ‘No Blackout Dates’ and ‘Points & Miles’ for the same stay at
its properties worldwide, including participating Hilton Hotels &
Resorts, Waldorf Astoria Hotels & Resorts, Conrad Hotels & Resorts,
Curio - A Collection by Hilton, DoubleTree by Hilton, Embassy Suites
Hotels, Hilton Garden Inn, Hampton Hotels, Homewood Suites by Hilton,
Home2 Suites by Hilton and Hilton Grand Vacations. Membership in HHonors
is free, and travelers may enroll online by visiting www.HiltonHHonors.com
or connect with Hilton HHonors at news.hiltonhhonors.com.
Members can now also book reservations, manage their accounts and redeem
special offers with the new Hilton
HHonors mobile app for iPhone.
1 *The Hilton survey was conducted by Edelman Berland among
1009 total participants (529 female and 480 male U.S. census
representatives over 18 years of age) using a five-question online
survey between July 7-11, 2014. The margin of error (MOE) for the
audience (n=1009) is + 3.1 percent at the 95 percent confidence level.
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