Hilton rolls out checkin via app and select your room

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markis10

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Should be on offer across all their hotels by year end.

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MCLEAN, Va. - 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.


"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 room[1]. 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.
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.
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.
 
I'd say a cautionary......nice one.

Concerns I have are:
- losing unpaid upgrades or upgradable rooms becoming fewer due to people having a easier temptation to upgrade.
- losing the personal contact with the front desk. I occasionally wonder how many times I've received a slightly better upgrade because of a warm interaction with the front desk staff.
- better rooms being snapped up by those willing to jump in exactly at 6am USA time.
- not knowing whether the preselected room is actually available on arrival or whether there is some belligerent overstayer still firmly planted yet the room next door may be available then and there.
- security of the room if the phone is lost/stolen
- room descriptions not being optimal. The Hilton site annoys me to a small degree by not even listing the room sizes for all properties making an appropriate selection at unfamiliar hotels difficult. They certainly advertise the larger room sizes but many are not mentioned at all, so I wonder if the floor plans are going to be anything like accurate, or an artists impression of utopia in a box.

Overall, it would seem to be a positive step forward. I just hope it is not a sugar coating for some HH "enhancements"*, particularly with upgrades. I also hope they can actually manage it. The HH priority lines at all Hilton properties I've stayed at are an absolute joke, so I just hope this concept has a bit more thought paid to it that those HH priority lines! I also hope that if we choose not to use this feature (particularly if it doesn't work well) that we're not disadvantaged by being stuck with the dregs.

* QF meaning of the word "enhancement"
 
Anything stopping us from booking some cheap and nasty US property in the middle of nowhere for <$50/night and using the virtual checkin/out to accrue additional stay credit toward Diamond status? Without the need to physically be there to collect the room key it does seem feasible.
 
Anything stopping us from booking some cheap and nasty US property in the middle of nowhere for <$50/night and using the virtual checkin/out to accrue additional stay credit toward Diamond status? Without the need to physically be there to collect the room key it does seem feasible.
Oh yes, it does!
 
Anything stopping us from booking some cheap and nasty US property in the middle of nowhere for <$50/night and using the virtual checkin/out to accrue additional stay credit toward Diamond status? Without the need to physically be there to collect the room key it does seem feasible.

Pretty sure the software would be smart enough to know whether someone actually accessed the room or not!
 
Yeah you'd think so. But I wonder if the property doesn't care since they just get the revenue. Or maybe there's a new T&C when it's rolled out that doesn't specifically state that you must enter the room on day of checkin.
 
I'd say a cautionary......nice one.

Concerns I have are:

- losing the personal contact with the front desk. I occasionally wonder how many times I've received a slightly better upgrade because of a warm interaction with the front desk staff.

I agree with this one. I think I have done well with upgrades quite a few times with a big smile and some friendly interaction with the staff member checking me in.

terry
 
Won't be very practical for HH elites unless the member is happy with the upgrade given by the system.
I predict many will still use old fashion check in to try and get the best room available.
 
Won't be very practical for HH elites unless the member is happy with the upgrade given by the system.
I predict many will still use old fashion check in to try and get the best room available.

At least until proven better! I've never once used the on-line check-in so I doubt I'll be a quick starter off the blocks with this one either.
 
- security of the room if the phone is lost/stolen

Or your phone battery dies after a long night out :shock:

Won't be very practical for HH elites unless the member is happy with the upgrade given by the system.
I predict many will still use old fashion check in to try and get the best room available.

I would think one would have a look at what's available and then make a decision to accept and check in or wait until arrival.
 
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Has anybody had experience with online Check in?
I enjoy using this benefit at other hotels, except Hilton where I have gold. I tried to check in for my stay in Sydney last week, but chickened out because they didn't allocate me an online upgrade ( which they did at the hotel using traditional check in)

Anyone recommend online/recommend continuing to avoid it?
 
i used it at Adelaide - always booked the cheapest room and they always provide an executive room - 24 stays last year and not one failed to upgrade - anyhow, i select my usual room on level 17 and the maps were incorrect.

upon collecting the keys they apologised and said for some reason they had incorrect maps on the app and proceeded to cut new keys for a suite... not a bad problem to have for a lowly gold :)

used it at perth too, no hiccups (no upgrade though)
 
I used online check-in a couple of days ago at Hilton SYD.
Had pre-booked a Relaxation room and online check-in showed me a range of high floors 36-42 to choose from.
We ended up in a King Suite on level 42.
 
I used online check-in a couple of days ago at Hilton SYD.
Had pre-booked a Relaxation room and online check-in showed me a range of high floors 36-42 to choose from.
We ended up in a King Suite on level 42.

My upgrade to s Relaxation Suite was very impressive. I can only imagine what a King Suite would be like :):)
 
I used online check-in a couple of days ago at Hilton SYD.
Had pre-booked a Relaxation room and online check-in showed me a range of high floors 36-42 to choose from.
We ended up in a King Suite on level 42.
Err, can you please repeat that whilst I pick myself up from the floor? I thought you said a level 42 King Suite from OLCI.....:shock:
 
Err, can you please repeat that whilst I pick myself up from the floor? I thought you said a level 42 King Suite from OLCI.....:shock:

OLCI I got the room booked. Upon arriving at the hotel we were given a level 42 King Suite.
Shrek arrived at the hotel long before me and didn't even mention upgrades to the front desk (he always assumes I book the big rooms :D )
 
I might try this out at Hilton Perth next month.

Princess Fiona, are they big footprints on the floor in the first two photos, or just some camera aberration?
 
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