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Innovate or die! Hotel amenities of the future

In the year two-thousand ... and sixteen, hotels are innovating like mad scientists, burning the midnight oil all in an effort to make staying in hotels about a 100 times cooler.

In the year two-thousand … and sixteen, hotels are innovating like mad scientists, burning the midnight oil all in an effort to make staying in hotels about a 100 times cooler.

We’re talking fully personalised rooms that reflect your own preferences, the introduction of new technology that decades ago was only found in sci-fi movies, and even ordering room service via emojis!

Here are five hotel innovations that are slowly being introduced in hotels around the globe.

 

1. Smart mirrors

mirrir

Comb your hair, apply your makeup, or just stare lovingly into your own eyes as you repeat the day’s affirmations (ha!) whilst getting the scoop on the latest headlines, weather, and sports scores.

That’s what you could soon do in a hotel room, thanks to these nifty little smart mirrors that may soon become standard.

Some hotels, such as Four Points Hotels by Sheraton, have already installed them.

 

2. Wake up calls with coffee

cofee

If the velvety tones of the morning wake-up call guy isn’t enough to stir you from your slumber, how about a good old cup of joe to kick you up the bum?

Hotels of the future may make it possible for you to program the in-room coffee machine to start prepping your brew at a time of your choosing, allowing you to roll out of bed, grab your coffee, and slowly come out of zombie mode.

 

3. Robot butlers

robot

Already a part of the Starwood experience, robot butlers may soon become the standard in the industry, delivering bathroom supplies – such as fresh towels or an extra toothbrush – and therefore freeing up time for human staff to focus on other areas of customer service.

The robot butlers use a combination of sensors and WiFi/4G connectivity to communicate with the hotel and the elevator software

 

4. Smart floor tiles

tiles

Checking into your room at reception is pretty straight forward wouldn’t you agree? However, finding the way to your room can be challenging at times, especially if the hotel sports hundreds of rooms sprawled across dozens of floors.

But coming soon, this may no longer be much of an issue at all, with a number of hotels, such as Starwood, currently experimenting with “smart floor tiles.” These tiles, which are implanted with radio-frequency identification technology, can be used to lead guests to their rooms upon exiting an elevator on their floor.

They can also be used to light the way to the bathroom for guests who wake up and need to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night.

 

5. Room apps

room

In the future, hotel rooms will be entirely customisable according to your preferences. Everything from room temperature, to lighting, and music ambience will be able to be controlled and set directly from you smart phone. How sweet is that?!

Starwood Preferred Guests are already able to open their rooms with their smartphones, with the SPG Keyless feature available on the SPG app.

Have you had the pleasure of experiencing some of this innovative new technology? Let us know in the comments below.