Originally Posted by
manu08
I agree that the tech is anchored in driving down costs first and foremost, but I think it can also create a better guest experience. Consider my #2, if you could order room service with a simple in-room app (not an additional phone download, no new account, just clicking buttons on a provided in-room tablet) would you prefer that or would you stick to the phone?
Sure, ordering room service through an app is more convenient than ordering with a person through a phone… until it’s a chat not handling your request over a FDA. Then what? The natural progression for this IMO is just to eliminate as much labor burden as possible. If they could automate housekeeping, they would (but it looks like they are electing to eliminate it instead).
Originally Posted by
manu08
If you still prefer phone, I'd love to know why? I think the digital ordering is less error prone and likely takes less of your time. As for the labor point, I think about it much more as keeping staff focused on things like preparing and delivering food, instead of transcribing phone calls into orders. I'm not trying to reduce labor costs (but I totally hear your concern that hotels will abuse it to that end), I just want to keep staff free to focus on things humans do better than machines (which will remain quite a lot for the foreseeable future).
I don’t prefer the phone. I prefer humans to machines. Hotels won’t keep the same staffing levels with automation so no time is freed. The staff to guest ratio will increase. Huge negative imo.
Originally Posted by
manu08
I also should be clear that I'm not suggesting hotels use more tech to outsource the services. I'm not a fan of services like butler in-use at many Manhattan hotels, but I found digital room service at places like Four Seasons Montreal to be an absolute delight.
Agreed but this is the natural progression for the industry. I don’t think comparing FS to Hyatt is fair. Even Park Hyatt is not comparable to FS on average.
Originally Posted by
manu08
I think the hard product of hotels remains better and much more consistent that Airbnbs. The Airbnb price advantage has also been mostly removed for single/couple stays (I do find Airbnb to be cost efficient for larger group stays).
I disagree on every front. Booking a luxury condo on Airbnb is much cheaper than booking a suite at a luxury hotel. The hard product for luxury condos will almost always be better because 1) less wear and tear 2) floor plan design for condos are generally more thoughtful than floor plan design for luxury hotels are
Originally Posted by
manu08
Aside from the hard product, even with more technology, there's many services I don't see making sense in Airbnbs (e.g., room service, turn down service, concierge to help with all the random travel things, etc).
Concierge is something that can easily be automated with technology. But anyway, this is pretty much my point. The most compelling aspect of hotels for me is the human element. Technology diminishes that.