The Hotel Inspector 2013 - (Page 128)
T
he future is an undiscovered country –
according to Star Trek anyway! Perhaps there’s
no point trying to discover it rather than just letting
it reveal itself when it arrives – but, on the other
hand, we can have a lot of fun in the process. So
let’s go on a voyage into that undiscovered country
to see what lies in store for the hospitality trade
in years to come. We might not get it all right –
but maybe we won’t get it all wrong either…
JESSIE
CONSTANTINE
Jessie Constantine
is a freelance travel
writer and hotelier.
PHOTOGRAPHY: Getty Images
NO staff REQUIRED
We don’t have to go too far into the future for our
first stop. More and more hotels worldwide
are allowing guests to tailor their experiences to
an increasing degree via technology: using their
own devices to control their room settings, book
meals and trips, et cetera. As the use of technology
gets embedded deeper and deeper into our expectations, the very fabric of a hotel’s operation will
change. Imagine an establishment where guests’
interactions with the hotel are conducted entirely
through their smartphones rather than with staff.
Ordering dinner? Just choose through the app
(and cut the waiter out entirely by having food
delivered by a robot!). Booking a spa treatment
or a round of golf or a wake-up call – or anything
at all? Even running a bath: who needs taps
to turn when you can just type in your desired
temperature and get the water flowing?
Embracing this technology to its fullest extent will
allow hoteliers to provide the perfect experience
to each guest and cut headcount at the same time.
And if that’s not tasty, then I don’t know what is.
Up, Up and Away
Back in the ‘50s and ‘60s it was taken for granted
that before too long we’d be holidaying on the
Moon, or Mars, or on the rings of Saturn… OK
so things haven’t quite worked out that way yet
– but the prospect of heading out into space for
some much-needed R&R looks more and more
achievable by the day. Space tourism itself is
already reality for the handful of extremely wealthy
individuals who’ve coughed up for a flight with the
Russians to the International Space Station (does it
count as the first space hotel?) and will move to a
new level with the first flight of Richard Branson’s
SpaceShipOne (in… whenever it finally gets off the
ground) – although of course that won’t involve
an overnight stay. Several dozen companies are
currently touting journeys to space (and even stays
on the Moon) in the near future; though many of
those won’t ever fly, as the private sector comes
to dominate space travel it’s unthinkable that a
market won’t arise for a genuine space-based hotel
experience. And while the first establishments
will no doubt orbit Earth like the ISS, who knows
where we’ll end up once we really start exploring?
Brave Old World
We won’t have to leave our own atmosphere to
break new ground, though. As our technology
advances, previously inaccessible parts of our own
planet will open up to tourism. Plans have been
mooted for a while for fully underwater hotels in
Dubai and on the Great Barrier Reef; within the
next decade these or similar schemes will become
OUT OF
THIS world
With the march of technology, what will the hotels of tomorrow be like? We fantasise
about robots replacing waiters, virtual-reality holidays and taking leisure trips to the Moon
128
THE HOTEL INSPECTOR
128-129 Future hotels.final.indd 128
7/1/13 13:00:26
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of The Hotel Inspector 2013
Alex's welcome
News bulletin
Bedrooms
Statement pieces
Refurbishment
Bathrooms
Series round up
Gym & Spas
Fine dining
Lobbies
Lighting
Seating
Kitchen matters
Energy efficiency
Food management
Cooking equipment
Technology upgrade
App integration
Bioenergy
Renewable energy
Weddings
The Hospitality Show
Hospitality Technology Expo
Business supplies
Cleaning
Hotel management
Global clients
The 10 best hotels
AA interview
Hotels of the future
The Hotel Inspector 2013
http://europe.nxtbook.com/emp/TheHotelInspector/The_Hotel_Inspector_2013
http://europe.nxtbook.com/emp/TheHotelInspector/The_Hotel_Inspector_2011
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