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Hotel Chain Plans Phone-Based Check-in and Room Access

Posted by Soulskill on from the but-i-love-digging-those-keycards-out-of-my-wallet dept.

GTRacer writes: Forbes reports that Hilton Worldwide, international hotel operator, is rolling out smartphone-based guest tools allowing self-service check-in, access to a virtual floorplan to select a room, and (in 2015) actual door access once checked in. The author states the drive for this technology is the growing influence of the swelling ranks of Millennials, who "[...] have a very strong inclination toward automated and self-service customer service." The security risks seem obvious, though.

3 of 120 comments (clear)

  1. Fucking anti-social Millennials by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I'm so sick of things being "automated" at the expense of the customer. Fucking Self-Checkouts everywhere - companies get to lay off a few dozen workers per location, replace with buggy scanning hardware & software. Sure it takes the customer a longer time, but that's just more time for them to look at impulse buy and sell their children more candy at the checkout. It's not making it any more convenient, or quick, for me or anyone else in line - it's making it so the anti-social behind the monitor type Millennials don't have to talk to actual people. My wife is one of those - she can't even make a fucking phone call if there's a chance company X has a "WebChat!"

  2. But phone is a good thing too by Impy+the+Impiuos+Imp · · Score: 5, Interesting

    They've had automated check in in Europe for some hotels for 25 years. The locked entrance has an ATM-like machine in the little foyer. Put in your credit card, pick a room type, and it printed a slip with codes for the front door and your room.

    And yes, they had a live person on site -- it ate my card and the call button got her out of bed at 3 am to get it. :)

    --
    (-1: Post disagrees with my already-settled worldview) is not a valid mod option.
  3. Dude, this is the US by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Any "convenience" on our part is charged a fee even though it saves the business money in not having to hire someone to deal with it.

    An exxample:

    The Atlanta Symphony.

    I could walk over and catch the person they hired to sell tickets during their limited hours - which isn't during my lunchtime - or I could buy on-line there by cutting out the overhead of a person and yet get charged for a "convenience" fee because I was forced to buy when there wasn't a clerk.

    See?

    Web shit saves money but yet I am charged for a "convenience" fee even though going through the web saves everyone time and money.

    Yeah, Capitalism.

    Oh! The Atlanta Ballet and symphony had the nerve to call me for donations.

    They can get it out of their outsourced asses for all I fucking care!