C hoosing a room at the hotel property at which you plan on staying is now as easy as choosing a seat on an airplane, thanks to the new software application program by Hilton where you can choose your room with mobile check-in, which allows you to use your portable electronic device to check in to your room from anywhere — all you have to do is simply pick up your room key…
…and you may not even have to do that in the near future, as “in 2015, Hilton will introduce technology that enables smartphones to be used as room keys, allowing you to bypass the front desk completely. All U.S. hotels across four Hilton brands will have this capability by the end next year, and by the end of 2016, the majority of our rooms system-wide will be equipped with this functionality.”
You can also customize your requests for amenities to be waiting for you prior to your arrival — such as if you want beer or food waiting for you when you enter your room, for example.
This new software application program — which is exclusive to the Hilton HHonors frequent guest loyalty program and can be used globally for greater than 650,000 rooms at more than 4,000 hotel properties across the portfolio of all eleven brands — is available for devices which use operating systems devised by Apple for iOS; Google for Android; and Microsoft for Windows. You must be a member of the Hilton HHonors frequent guest loyalty program to use this service.
At 6:00 in the morning on the day before a booked stay, you can sign in to your Hilton HHonors account via your mobile device, tablet or computer to check in and choose your preferred room via floor plan maps or lists populated from the available inventory of the hotel property. Rooms offered through the digital check-in process are on a first come, first-served basis, as the time to check in is not dictated by Hilton HHonors elite level status tier.
Gold and Diamond Hilton HHonors VIP elite level status members will still receive the standard upgrades using this service.
If you are concerned about the security of this system, “All of Hilton’s proprietary systems undergo rigorous testing and validation. Guest-facing systems have proven to be reliable and secure. Additionally, before new technology is deployed to our hotels, more rigorous internal testing is supplemented with certification by external security experts.”
Some people would argue that Hilton still has security issues with which to resolve pertaining to its Internet web site, as the accounts of Hilton HHonors frequent guest loyalty program members have been compromised in recent months.
Hilton is not the first lodging chain to offer technology to check in to your room. The Smart Check-In program — where you can bypass the front desk at check in and use your Starwood Preferred Guest frequent guest loyalty program membership card as a key at any hotel property to which you are checking in — was a pilot program which first launched in 2009; but it did not allow you to choose your room. The way it works is that you receive a special card which contains a near field communication — or NFC — chip and doubles as your Starwood Preferred Guest frequent guest loyalty program membership card. On the day you check into the hotel property, a message with your room number is sent to your mobile electronic device. Simply bypass the front desk and proceed directly to your room. Once you arrive at your room, simply touch and hold your card to the door lock and the door will unlock automatically.
I have not had the opportunity to use either service as of yet; but this service offered by Hilton sounds — well — wa-a-a-a-ay cooler, in my opinion…
…but what do you think? Would you use this service offered by Hilton?
Image courtesy of Hilton HHonors.
