Peninsula’s Personalization Plans Include Reducing Size of Hotels
Skift Take
Think Peninsula Hotels and what comes to mind is white-glove, green-Rolls Royce, and red-carpet treatment. Think again: This is one of the meanest machines in luxury hotel technology. It only gets meaner — and leaner — as ultra high-end guests become more uncharitable when their individual needs aren’t met.
Few people probably realize that the tradition-steeped Peninsula Hotels is one of the world’s most forward-looking hotel chains in using technology to increase personalization and guest comfort.
The last time it showed its prowess was in 2012 when the flagship Peninsula Hotel Hong Kong unveiled a $58 million technology-driven renovation. The in-room innovations, custom-built and designed by the group’s own research and technology center in Hong Kong, still stand as cutting edge today — and still leave some competitors trailing to catch up. The hotel turned 90 last year.
The ultra-deluxe group has now set up a technology steering committee with “a wide brief, including exploring and developing the hotel room of the future, looking at robotics and data analytics, and fostering entrepreneurship and innovation,” said Clement Kwok, managing director and CEO of The Hongkong and Shanghai Hotels, which owns Peninsula Hotels, giving his strategic review in the company’s annual results for 2018 last month.
In an interview with Skift, Kwok said the level of personalization that is expected at ultra high-end hotels has increased. Peninsula Hotels is even veering toward smaller developments in the future, aside from exploring technology, to meet this expectation.
The chain operates 10 hotels worldwide and has three hotels under development in London, Yangon, and Istanbul. It owns or partly owns all the hotels in its portfolio.
“Once upon a time, we have hotels that are more in the 350- to 400-rooms range. Now we’re finding that 200 rooms is the
