Hotel Amenities in a Post-Pandemic World
Amenity:
a desirable or useful feature or facility of a building or place
Who knew hand sanitizer would be the leading amenity of 2020? Hard to see that one coming. Less sexy, more safety; in the Post-Covid era guest-room cleanliness is paramount. Therefore hotels worldwide have been forced to rethink amenities. Plenty has been written about what to take out of the guest room. A room with less objects is easier to clean. The filter probably goes something like this: if its high-touch, hard to clean and non essential… remove it. Right, because not only do those items make it harder to keep the room clean, most guests are not going to trust them anyway. In this environment more guests are likely to pass on making their own coffee in-room - or grabbing a bag of chips from the min bar.
But much less has been said about what amenities should be added… what amenities might be especially relevant for post-Covid travelers? It’s clear that some of the technology investments that were happening pre-Covid will play an ever bigger role post-Covid. The two most obvious ones are mobile services and digital engagement.
Mobile services
The value of being able to control more of your journey from your mobile device is steadily growing due the enhanced speed, efficiency and convenience that guests benefit from. This level of self-service and convenience creates huge Post-Covid-specific benefits such as reduced touching of public interfaces, avoidance of busy lobbies and lines, and in some cases a total avoidance of interpersonal requirements to get checked in, to open the door, to order food and services, or to check out.
Digital communications
Providing guests with information through digital signage, mobile apps, and guest-room TV is both effective and dynamic, creating mutual value for the brand, operator and guest. Post-covid, communications play a crucial role in maintaining a clean and safe environment. Brands and operators need to to make guests comfortable; therefore need to let them know what they are doing to keep things extra clean. Guests need to be instructed before arrival and reminded on premise of specific on-property safety procedures.
Its clear that the power, flexibility and efficiency of mobile services and digital communications will greatly benefit both the purveyors and consumers of hospitality, and that further investment in these technologies will be key to addressing the challenges posed by Covid-19. Coming back to amenity then… if the mobile phone guests bring with them is so powerful, how can we cater to it and enhance it? Through this lens what might the ultimate mobile phone accessory look like in a post-Covid guest room design? What would it do?
UV Station
Charge phone(s) - of course guests will rely on recharging when they are in the guest room. So charging should be simple, fast and plentiful. This we’ve all come to expect.
Clean phone(s) (and other wearables) - this is a new one. Give guests the power to sterilize the phone and other personal items or wearables using the power and simplicity of UV light. Wow, that sure makes sense. Guests get to the room, they wash their hands. Their phone is dead and dirty, so let them charge and clean it! Guests want to be clean, and operators want a cleaner property.
Tell time - notice I didn’t say alarm clock, rather tell time. The vast majority of us trust our phones to wake us up - over an alarm clock we’ve never used before. Plus telling time is touch-less. Only requires a glance. Our phones have clocks of course, but when we’re at rest, we like to glance occasionally to see the time. This behavior’s not changing anytime soon.
Wireless Charging Stand - Yes we already talked about charging. But the ultimate home for your phone, is one that holds it upright, making it easy to grab and easy to see for a glance at incoming notifications. Plus there’s no fiddling around to get the charging done. Just rest your phone on the stand.
Communications touch point - right there on the nightstand, your phone's home away from home - includes an integrated custom branding tray, allowing hotels to communicate. Here they can provide some bullets and branding of their clean initiatives but also include a QR link to explore all the details with ease.
There’s more
Clean TV remotes - UV Station not only sterilizes guest devices… it also ensures that the TV remote control guests use to get the in-room exercise channel going - is totally clean and safe. We know hotels are working to keep the remotes clean… but UV is proven to be more consistently efficacious, plus it’s easier and faster for staff. When guests check-in to find their remote is inside a UV cleaning chamber - one that they can also utilize - they won’t have to think twice about whether they’re dealing with something that is clean and safe.
Hotels are rethinking how to make guests comfortable. What to take away and what to add. Guests are rethinking how they will stay clean and safe while traveling. UV Station is the guest-room amenity that was designed to benefit hotels and wow guests in the post-Covid era.