How technology and AI are helping hotels give more personal service
- An AI assistant developed by a Hong Kong-based firm gives hotel staff information on the guests around them, such as name and VIP status
- Already working in five hotels in Hong Kong, Malaysia and France, the system is also designed for cruise ships, residences and airport lounges
Would you stay in a hotel where everybody knows your name – and your exact whereabouts? An “internet of things” system is now being developed that allows hotel staff to use a smartphone app to get all kinds of information on guests staying there.
“The gap between guests’ expectations and staff capacity keeps widening,” says Francois Chabaudie, CEO of Hong Kong-based hotel tech firm Neoma, which was recently announced as one of two winners of the Hong Kong and Shanghai Hotels (HSH) Kaleidoscope Lab programme. The programme’s aim is to uncover new innovation for the luxury hospitality market. HSH operates The Peninsula hotel in Hong Kong, and in nine other cities worldwide.
“Modern guests are not patient any more and expect hotels to offer them a rich and seamless experience at every step of their stay,” Chabaudie says. “We realised it takes a lot of time and energy for staff to do so, so we created Gaia, the world’s first AI assistant helping staff serve the 21st-century guest.”
Already working in five hotels in Hong Kong, Malaysia and France and also designed for cruise ships, residences and airport lounges, Neoma’s cloud-based Gaia system is all about personalisation.
Training hotel staff in luxury hotels to meet the needs and wants of every guest has always been an art form, and often means staff carrying around photos of guests with handwritten notes on the back. It’s perhaps no surprise then that a digital assistant that second-guesses what guests want is now being trialled.