Nonstop Connections: Building a Hotel Clock
A clock would have been a novel thing to find on a bedroom nightstand around the turn of the 20th century. When they did start becoming more common, what made the first clocks suitable for hotels? Back then manufacturers were not designing clocks specifically for hotels, so being small enough… and having a user-settable alarm may have been the criteria.
Phase 1
Since those days the hotel clock has evolved in many interesting ways. From wind up, to electric, from mechanical to digital. By the 1950’s clock radios were in many guest-rooms. They came in lots of shapes, sizes and colors; but for years the main features were the clock and the alarm.
Phase 2
The iPod ushered in some major changes for the hotel clock. Docking the iPod on the clock radio so guests could listen to their own music selections was a nice touch and a winning combination. Today the dock is gone and we use bluetooth - the universal wireless protocol for streaming music from all kinds of mobile devices.
Phase 3
The iPhone - the most powerful and power-hungry mobile device of its kind drops… requiring a daily recharge and making the hunt for power outlets a real concern. Charging outlets were integrated into the hotel clock; right there within arms reach of the bed. Makes sense.
Phase 4
What’s next? We’re a hotel product manufacturer so we think about this a lot. In 2018 we were the first to introduce smart looking, modern, affordable hotel clocks that guests can simply lay their phone on - and recharge wirelessly!
We were looking to Apple for continued inspiration. The Qi wireless charging standard was adopted by Apple at the end of 2017 when the iPhone 8 and X were announced. Android phones were already using Qi, so the move by Apple confirmed that a ubiquitous wireless charging platform was coming… one that guests would soon come to expect when traveling. What’s more, Apple has been removing ports from its phones; and there are many rumors swirling that they will remove the Lightning port, going all Wireless on the next iPhone. There’s lots of reasons why this makes sense.
The Next Phase
What else? What’s most important to guests today and tomorrow? The Alarm part - built into our phones may not be needed much longer… but we’ve identified three new trends.
Virtual assistant technology. This can fit nicely into the hotel alarm clock. The features guests can access (Hey Hilton, please bring my car around) are dependent on software integration and that part will take some time. But this is an exciting one to follow.
Wellness is key. Today’s busy, always on, work/life infused, multitask lifestyle requires us to find ways to turn off, wind down and get good sleep more than ever. Sleeping away from home makes it even more challenging to get good rest and hotels are often noisy. So in 2021 we’ve added white noise and nature sounds into our upgraded Station A hotel clock.
Cleanliness. Wellness took on a new meaning in 2021 with the pandemic. Hotels have been scrambling ever since to provide guests with confidence that hotels are clean and safe to return to. We found a way to contribute to building guest confidence. There are two things either found in a hotel guest-room or brought into a hotel guest room that are notoriously dirty and germ-ridden. First is the TV remote control that everyone touches and is pretty hard to clean reliably. The second is the mobile phone we carry in our hands all day long. So in 2021 we are launching UV Station - the first hotel clock that cleans.
