Viceroy Hotels Is Using Smartwatches to Be More Hospitable
Skift Take
Personally — while Virgin Atlantic may disagree with us — wearing a smartwatch is preferable to donning a Google Glass, and we have a feeling hotel staff members would agree, too.
When guests check into the Viceroy L'Ermitage Beverly Hills in California, they shouldn't be surprised to find members of the hotel staff, from housekeeping and maintenance to the bellmen, all sporting the latest Samsung smartwatches on their wrists.
That's because the hotel is using those smartwatches as part of a strategy to improve the overall guest experience and deliver better customer service.
These Samsung Gear S3 watches, which were developed by Samsung SDS and hospitality technology platform provider ALICE, enable hotel staff to manage guest requests and resolve incidents more quickly and efficiently, without necessarily having to carry around a bulkier solution, such as a walkie-talkie or a phone, and without having to use disruptive radio communications that aren't nearly as private. Alerts are also bilingual in English and Spanish.
Examples of guest incidents that can be more easily addressed with the smartwatches include fulfilling urgent guest requests such as a request for more towels or a request to fix a broken toilet. Staff members wearing the watches can receive silent vibration alerts on their wrist and respond to them by accepting the task via the smartwatch. Management can track all the tasks in real
