Let us entertain you
Travellers want to be entertained. Entertainment is a big part of why people travel for both leisure and business and in-room entertainment is an integral factor in this. Technology companies and hotels are looking at new and different ways of stepping up to guests’ expectations and are coming up with some inventive solutions.
“With plasma screens and HDTV now the norm rather than the exception in many households, people have increasingly sophisticated expectations for high technology standards in hotel rooms,” says BNS Ltd’s Anke Gill.
“Hotels have to meet [these expectations] in order to stay competitive and offer their customers a memorable experience.”
BNS is targeting the HD-IPTV sector for hotels, aiming to offer a full carrier grade, low cost, high quality HD video delivery solution. The interactive Scan-Pen that is offered with the in-room system gives guests a different take on the interactive entertainment system usually offered in hotels. It can be used to control the IPTV as well as shopping. Gill adds that the product is perfect for in-room dining ordering, giving a new twist on the room service experience.
However, he explains that the IPTV product is not fully integrated in the Middle East yet.
“We believe that the Middle East is not ready yet for full blown telco IPTV due to bandwidth and access issues,” he says.
“However, with the high density of hotels and resorts, we see the region leading the way for IPTV in the hospitality and Multi Dwelling Unit (MDU) sector.”
Hotels have a huge choice of HD and PDP televisions to deliver IPTV to guests. Electronics giants like Panasonic are pushing the limits of TVs, expanding the range available. The company’s flagship TV is the enormous 150-inch PDP, with a colossal 11-foot viewable area. It may be too big to fit in all but the most luxurious and spacious presidential suites, but it demonstrates what can be done in terms of plasma screens.
Panasonic claim that this is just the tip of the iceberg in terms of plasma screen technology however. “Room for improvement remains, as the PDP’s full potential is still yet to be realised,” says Panasonic marketing Middle East general manager, system solutions,Yasuo Yamasaki.
“In response to customer demands across the world, we continue to explore new technologies in the hope of opening up a new area for Plasma TVs.”
TVs are not simply restricted to the bedroom area of hotels however — now the entertainment for guests stretches to the bathroom too, with high definition mirror TVs. Screens that vanish completely when switched off provide a discreet way to bring entertainment to the bathroom area and one that does not interfere with the functionality of the room.
However there are many aspects to in-room technology that guests have come to expect from their hotel when they travel.
“The bottom line is that guests expect the same media facilities that they have at home or in the office,” says RoomWithNet’s Carol Prince.
“These days hotel guests expect a high level of entertainment choice. Traditionally, hoteliers have provided very little entertainment in the guest room other than the conventional television showing news channels and out of date movies.
“With guests expecting home from home or office from office environments, attitudes in hotels have had to move with the times and offer the latest media entertainment, be it MP3, MP4 or iPod docking stations, USB ports or multi channel TV.”
These plug-and-play items feature a functionality that offers greater personalisation to a guest’s stay.
RoomWithNet’s universal MP3 docking cube is one such product, offering an all-in one system that a guest can use instantly with their MP3. Companies such as Bose offer full iPod compatibility on some models, including the Wave, enabling hotels to provide a quality compact system that guests use to personalise their stay.
Hotels spend large sums of money on functional items like beds and bathroom items, so why should they not spend on functional entertainment items?
As Prince says, “Hoteliers need to see that by offering increased technology does not have to be seen as a cost to bear but as a revenue maker instead.” And in today’s financial climate, this is what matters.