What is the first thing that comes to your mind when you think of a hotel? A popular brand, a swimming pool, the food or casino. They will process your ID, give you the keys and take your billing information, etc. But what happens when you actually want check-in into a hotel where you will find the least people working and you have to everything with high-end technology.
There are more than 2 million hotels around the world but none of them is equipped with technology like Alibaba hotel. They call it the ‘future of the hotel’. The original name of the hotel is ‘Fly Zoo Hotel’. There are 290 rooms in the hotel. It was opened to the public in 2018. It is located in China. Everything in this hotel is mostly automated and keyless.
High tech features of Alibaba’s keyless and cashless hotel
No check-in counters-
Surprised! Yes, when you walk through the doors of Fly Zoo Hotel for the first time. You will not see any check-in counters or helpdesk to help you. For Chinese nationals, they just can directly check-in using the kiosk machine placed at the entrance or through the hotel’s app directly. For international visitors, you will have to communicate with the staff for assistance. The staff captures the picture of the guest and stores in their hotel database so that they can access the hotel with facial recognition.
No keys, only facial recognition-
In order to access the elevator, it will require facial recognition. The system is smart enough to identify your floor and stop right perfectly. Also, there are no keys to your room, it also works on facial recognition. It’s kind of creepy for anyone who is not used to teach like this. The person feels kind of lost but that’s the fun and experience of it. The same is the case with the gym.
Voice command operations-
If you are in your room and want to order a meal, dim the lights, turn on the TV or open the curtains. You can use the voice command device kept in the room. Phone systems are not entertained through a virtual phone system is one of the growing segments in the communication industry.
QR Code access-
If are walking in the lobby and you feel like having a drink from a vending machine. You just have to scan the QR code and it will unlock the fridge. Not only that but once you have picked up an item, the app will automatically recognize the product that you have picked it will bill you automatically. Every table will have a QR code, all you have to do is just scan the QR code from your Alipay App and it will show you the restaurant menu to place an order.
Also Read: IoT and Hotels: The Next Big Thing in the Service Sector!
Butler robot-
That’s right, there are no waiters and no serving staff to serve your food. The robot has two compartments on its chest that can bring your food hot and safe. You place your order on a touchpad screen or through your voice command and the butler robot will bring you the food. These robots not only deliver food and supplies to guests and staff but they can call an elevator by itself if they are programmed to jump on it due to any reason.
Robo bartender-
As crazy as it sounds but it’s true. When you are in the bar, you can scan the QR code to place your order for a cocktail and you will find that your drink is made by a robot quite literally.
Minimal staff-
You won’t find many hotel employees in the hotel as most of the access and service is automatic and digitally powered with future technology. However, you will still find staff for housekeeping and they still use the secured keycard entry to clean your room.
Andy Wang is the CEO of Alibaba Future Hotel who oversees Fly Zoo, he says- ‘new generation totally loves this experience but middle-aged people feel a little nervous but it all gets fine when they get used to it’. At the same, they still want necessary human interaction with the guests and make them feel more comfortable. From this perspective, every lobby in the hotel has service ambassadors who are available for any kind of assistance.
The idea of opening one of its kind hotels is not to get into the hotel business but to develop the technology that will help the existing hotel chains. They are already working with one of their partners- Marriott International. Peggy Fang Roe is the chief sales and marketing officer for Asia pacific Marriott International.
In her interview with CNBC, she mentioned that they have gained good traction for this kind of tech but there are still a few steps in the check-in process that requires you to stop by the front desk, however, they are in the process of eliminating them and expecting that people will adapt to it quickly.
The hotel industry is one of the largest industries that employ millions of people. Having such a high-end tech involved won’t cut jobs but will improve efficiency and manpower will always be required to run them says, Andy Wang. From a security standpoint, the facial recognition data is deleted once the guest checks out.
As per Peggy, the Chinese market is more ready to consume facial recognition technology when compared to the rest of the world. At the same time, these ideas and tech are tested and awaiting approval from the government to be implemented full fledge.
