Zeeb

I've run into them at a recently renovated Embassy Suites and agree, RFID cards work great.

Miesque

Are RFID cards the ones that you just place by the door lock and it unlocks (aka without inserting in a slot, like Conrad NY and many Hyatt Regencys) or am I thinking of something else.

arlflyer

Sorry, less smartphone stuff please. I don't take my smartphone to the beach, I don't take it to the gym or the pool, and I often don't take it to dinner. Hilton's IT resources are down about 50% of the time; I don't want to be locked out of my room because of that. This is not a generational issue - I am under 30 years old - this is a common sense issue.

I cannot see a scenario where elite upgrades, late check-out, etc. all work under an online check-in system.

I also wonder how a chain that has consistently shown itself incapable of getting all its properties to adhere to any one aspect of its branding or loyalty programs thinks it is going to get this complex IT system rolled out 100% uniformly.

I enjoy showing up to the hotel after a long day of work or travel and being taken care of by staff, who often treat me well because of my loyalty status. It is out of sight, out of mind, I am paying someone else to worry about it. Now room check-in is going to become like airline seat selection or upgrades - I'm going to have to be up at 5:59 AM sitting at the computer so I can fight all the other elites to not get the room next to the dumpsters. Great.

BearX220

Ah, you won't be forced to use the app, any more than you're forced to OLCI. Just say no.

Consumers are going to find themselves in an adversarial chess game with every significant service provider in their lives, from Hilton to Avis to State Farm to P.F. Chang's, all trying to monetize private consumer data. This is just a taste of what's coming, and those service providers are counting on you undervaluing your own information and reacting passively / uncomplainingly. Bad move.

(Most consumers are idiots about the value of their personal information, handing it over for free or for a symbolic pittance. People quack all the time about loss of privacy, but if McDonald's were giving out free Egg McMuffins in return for you handing over a DNA sample, there'd be lines around the block.)

You have to be alert about managing your relationship with all these companies, and the answer is not to say "I'm done" but to limit and manage the provider's access to your data.

I don't trust many companies with my data, and I sure won't be downloading this thing from Hilton, but if I said "I'm done" about every company that wanted to try something along these lines I'd end up starving to death at home in the dark. Be conservative and vigilant.

Michael19887

I stayed at the Conrad New York earlier this month, and I got upgraded the night before check-in. The app simply changed to show other rooms available in the upgraded category. When I looked at the check-in within the app the morning before check-in, it showed available for the original category in the maps. Then when an upgrade was pre-assigned, I saw that room came up as "We've assigned you this room" and the maps with availability for other rooms in the upgrade. I did not ever hit "request upgrade" because that is paid NOR-1. The system did not also show any indication that I was upgraded besides showing the pre assignment room in upgraded category.

kenbo

Good to know. Thanks for the info!

I guess part of me feels like the ability to select your own room is going to be like the Southwest boarding process before they implemented the number system (first come, first served). If you are unable to check-in at 6am for whatever reason, you may get stuck with an undesirable room. I probably still prefer to let the hotel handle the room assignments and I can inquire about different rooms from there.

Zeeb

Yeah. an RFID chip (which can be in a card, a fob, or whatever else, the chip itself is tiny) just needs to be in proximity to the reader. You've probably got one in your work badge and lots of other things already.

365RoadWarrior

Thanks, BearX220. My initial reaction was probably overreaction. I'm really angry about the whole data-whore thing. I don't do Facebook, Twitter or any of that for a reason. I don't want to be corralled into it. The mainstrem media is hyping the ability and desire of travel service vendors to make use of this information on a greater and greater basis (not just Hilton), and I've already dropped one affinity program because of it.

Yes, someone lost a 365-day a year traveler because they revealed that they knew who was behind his "anonymized data".

The DNA/Egg McMuffin analogy is perfect.

BotB

Not wanting to derail the topic of the thread but I find it interesting that people feel this new app will give away their privacy anymore than they currently have.

As a member of hhonors, your data already holds your preferences, from locations to room type. Your check in and out info are already logged, your financial details are already used to understand what extras you buy with that hotel, your vehicle reg is already logged for further info about you. When you log into the internet at the hotel they can track you.

After several years of being a hhonors member and using credit cards and staying at their hotels you are already no longer transparent but crystal clear.

This will indeed only get worse but it won't rely on your phone, they only have to use intelligent building monitoring systems to know the last details such as when you use the different facilities in the hotel, how long you do that for each time and then how much light you use and in which part of the room, same with water and indeed down to the purity of the waste water to know if they should put ads on the telly for indigestion for example...

So unless you're planning on losing your cell, paying in cash and staying in motels with old fashioned keys, they already have you profiled down to a capital T.

No need to further add to that data stream of course but just curious if you think you are not yet profiled?

Hilton Honors Ambassador

Hi all,

I know many of you have been discussing for a couple days now, but to officially confirm:

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.

Some of you may have recently tested the room selection technology at Hilton Garden Inn, and we appreciate all the feedback – it helped us make this a success.

Here’s how it works:

• Room selection: At 6 a.m. the day before a booked stay, you can sign into your HHonors account via your mobile device, tablet or computer to check-in and choose your preferred room through floor plan maps or lists populated from the hotel's available inventory. Photos of rooms are also available to help with your selection. Hilton's digital lobby function is updated in real-time, so you no longer have to wait until you are physically in the hotel lobby to be assigned a room.
  
• Special requests: After choosing a room, you can further customize your stay by requesting specific amenities be delivered to your room before arrival and by purchasing space-available upgrades (This feature will not impact how complimentary room upgrades are assigned).

Future Digital Amenities:
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.

As we continue to deploy digital tools at scale, your feedback is critical to helping us get it right. Let us know what you like and how we can improve. I’m sharing with our technology team every week so I welcome your thoughts.

I see there are a lot of questions in this thread already, and I’m working to get some clarification. In the meantime, if you have any other questions for me about these new digital tools, let me know. Please note that it may take me some time to get the answers, but I’ll do my best to get you the right information as quickly as I can!

Thanks,
Anthony

Wickersley

Think I've stayed twice in a Hilton in 15+ years of 100+ nights BIB travel; but I so relate to your post; sometimes "we know who you are" really makes a difference

Zeeb

Sorry if this has already been answered, but is it 6AM for the hotel's time zone, or 6AM for the time zone you are in at the time. For example say I'm in Boston and will be checking into a hotel in LA the following day. Can I check in at 6AM eastern time, or 9AM eastern time (6AM pacific)?

Follow up question: How does this work for space available upgrades? If I pick a room online will that have an impact on any upgrade I receive? I can't imagine the hotel is going to make all the upgraded rooms available 36+ hours before they might get purchased. Which is fine. But if I pick the best available room online I wouldn't want that to make me less likely to get bumped up to a nicer room at check in.

arlflyer

Great point. I also wouldn't be surprised at all if they had an algorithm that makes "space available" elite upgrades magically dry up after a given user has passed on a paid upgrade opportunity, as a scare tactic to train them into buying paid upgrades on future stays.

sdsearch

But will it be all or nothing?

What I'd like is to be able to use a smartphone to pick up the physical keys. If not using the smartphone as a key (but wanting to use your smartphone for everything else) requires you to wait in line at check-in just to get your physical keys, that's a real turn-off.

Either that, or have physical keys for the room waiting inside the room, or a way to request the physical keys to be sent up to your room (after you've entered the room once using your smartphone).

There's lots of people who don't want to take the smartphone with them every time they leave the room, but do want to use it for the speedier check-in / check-out convenience. And they thus want physical keys in addition to being able to enter the room with the smartphone.

hunter747

I thought of the "physical room key in the room" idea, but immediately rejected it. Why? Access to the room by housekeeping, maintenance, etc. Too many people can come and go from your room. If the room key is there waiting for you, it is there for housekeeping to snag before you ever show up.