You know that tone of voice the receptionist gives you when you call up hotel room service at four in the morning to get them to re-stock your mini bar? They’re trying to be chirpy but you know they’re not happy. That could become a thing of the past if the latest innovation from the Hilton San Diego Bayfront catches on.
Using a unique iPhone and iPad app and online portal, guests can now order food, drinks and amenities from their own device or those that are table mounted within the hotel. Guests are also able to chat directly with staff through the app.
The Hilton plans to offer users of its swimming pool facilities their own iPod touch, pre-loaded with the app this coming summer for the ultimate in poolside decadence. There are also plans to extend the app’s functionality to ordering from the hotel’s in-house Starbucks. Within the Odysea Lounge at the Hilton San Diego Bayfront, visitors can use the Odysea Lounge iPad app to book tours of the local area or order food and drink. When away from the hotel, users of the app can order the Lincoln Town Car service from the waterfront as well as discover local attractions of interest.
"San Diego has an amazing coastal culture and lifestyle: It's informal yet stylish and relaxed yet innovative," says Konstantine Drosos, Director of Finance at Hilton San Diego Bayfront. "We try to embody those qualities in everything we do, particularly guest services. Since most of our guests travel with some type of web-enabled device, it seemed natural to enhance their stays by offering our guest services and amenities through them."
The app itself looks both handy and a little too useful in our opinion and will likely see a rise in revenue for the hotel should such enticing combinations as Pomegranate Margarita and Crab Cakes continue to feature. Unique touches include the My Drink My Way option that allows hotel visitors to mix their own drink and have it delivered to their table. How easy could it be to get carried away with your iPad and this app with these features available?
Not only does this use of technology improve efficiency for the hotel but it offers customers more flexibility when it comes to ordering, and the ability to view what they are ordering before purchase is a major plus. The technology behind the new app comes from GBCblue, a guest computing technology and support service. This innovation in guest-services looks to be a big market with the iPad selling in such high numbers and the presentation of such a service can only help Apple shift more units too.
It seems, with its embracing of new technology, The Hilton San Diego Bayfront may have removed the clicking of fingers and the word “garcon” from a customer’s vocabulary.
If you plan on visiting the hotel the app can be downloaded for free here:
