The Peninsula Hotels-Guest Oriented In-Room Technology

After reading an article about the Peninsula Hotels’ in-room technology, I am so surprised to find that the Peninsula is the only hotel company in the world with its own Research and Development facilities to devise guestroom technology. What impresses me the most is “most of the innovations are originated from guest comments or their observations-especially of their guests’ busy schedule and lifestyle.”

In the Peninsula Tokyo, there is a nail-dryer in each guest room because one of the Research and Development team members has happened to notice that a busy female guest had painted her nails, but did not have enough time to allow the polish to dry before her next appointment. Another example would be the Internet radio innovation. A Japanese guest spent the whole day meeting with lawyers in the USA, and was exhausted after he returned to the hotel. He just wanted to immerse himself in his own language and culture by listening to the radio. Therefore, the Internet radio was invented, enabling guest to select over 3,000 radio stations of their choice.

Compared to other advanced hotel room technologies, the Peninsula Hotels’ in-room technology innovations are not such high-tech, but guest oriented which are the real needs of the guests. It could be very cool to stay in a room that can change light colors according to guest’s mood. But is it an essential element for a guest to sleep in a hotel?

The article also reminds my recent stayed at the ANA Crowne Plaza Narita, Japan. One of the touch features of the bathroom is the temperature controller behind the shower valve. The temperature controller is not a high-tech one with digital touch screen, but it works for me and for the guests. Nowadays, we are always talking about hotel room technology innovations, but how many hotels can really afford to equip those expensive technologies? As a matter of fact, what hoteliers’ and guests’ needs are intuitive technologies that are feasible for hoteliers and work for guests.