Crowne Plaza offering digital check-ins at lobby kiosks

As part of its Crowne Plaza refresh initiative, InterContinental Hotels Group conducted extensive research on the amenities that guests, particularly business travelers, want out of a hotel stay.

“They want us to value their time"....For this reason, IHG is deploying digital check-in kiosks at its Crowne Plaza hotels.

“Some people are always going to want face-to-face options for check-in. That will never go away,” said Gina LaBarre, VP of brand delivery for the Americas division of IHG. But there are a significant number of guests who want to be in control of the check-in process, she said.

The new system works by sending a confirmation email to guests with a bar code attached on the day they are scheduled to arrive. After scanning the code using a smartphone or a print out at the kiosk, a prompt asks the guest how many keys they would like and then prints them out. They are then free to go to their room upon completion.