Big Idea 2015: The Hotel Stay of the Future

In this series of posts, Influencers and members predict the ideas and trends that will shape 2015. Read all the stories here and write your own (please include the hashtag #BigIdeas2015 in the body of your post).

A year ago, I predicted that 2014 would be the year of context. I wrote about the widespread adoption of contextually-aware services on our mobile devices, making consumer experiences more seamless and efficient and our lives easier.

There was a lot of great progress on that front, but there is still so much left to do. While retargeting and acquisition campaigns have become far more prevalent in our apps and social feeds, most are still noticeably advertisements, rather than welcome additions indistinguishable from content we actively seek out. And I’m still waiting for the app that will cancel my dinner reservation and rebook me at a better restaurant when it becomes available. (@GMC something for Reserve?)

In travel, the opportunity remains enormous. 2014 brought some welcome additions, mostly around the check-in experience, but as an industry we can do even better. I anticipate that the hotel stay of the future will take into account the preferences people have opted to share, and as a result, be much more human, more seamless and more authentic, all of which make it a particularly exciting time to be working in this space.

For inspiration as to what is possible, imagine this “Hotel Stay from the Future”:

You get an alert reminding you that your anniversary is coming up, which opens a travel app that presents you with three great weekend getaway options, based on the weather and your interests. Once you’ve booked a room, you get a personalized welcome message from your hotel “host,” who arranges to pick up your favorite snacks and have them waiting in the room for you.

The app offers to call a Lyft (or a driverless car!) for you, and you’re soon on your way to your hotel. When you’re close, the hotel gets a notification so the staff is fully prepared for your arrival. Via the hotel’s partnership with Spotify, your favorite tunes are playing as you walk into the lobby. “Checking in” is an anachronism as the hotel knows who you are and why you are there. You walk directly to the bar to grab a drink, and get a message when your bags are in your room.

The app gives you indoor turn-by-turn directions to your room (no more wandering the hallway wondering if you passed it). Your room’s door unlocks as you approach, and you find your favorite pillow type, those host-arranged snacks, and temperature preferences that have been imported from your home Nest. Your host messages you with reservations at three top restaurants for tonight, and you tap to confirm which one you’d like. You message back to say thanks, and to request coffee and omelettes from your favorite spot in the morning, which your host takes care of, seamlessly. Breakfast is hot and ready right when your alarm goes off the next morning.

After you’ve left, with a departure gift of some homemade cookies prepared by your host, you review your hotel and host, and provide feedback that will further personalize and improve your next hotel stay. And the hotel and host, in turn, get to review you. This increase in transparency and reputational awareness encourages everyone to treat each other with respect, making the hotel stay a more enjoyable experience for all.

Some of this might seem far-fetched, but I believe it’s not actually that far off. We might not see all of these developments in 2015, but I do believe we’ll see them in the near future — and I can’t wait.