The development of futuristic technology has provided hotels with more opportunities than ever to truly impress their guests with a unique experience. Two hotels, Acme Hotel Chicago and the Stanford Court San Francisco, have found a way to use wearable technology to their advantage. The highly sought after Google Glass is currently available as a beta program. Google has released the product to “Glass Explorers” who can get the product in hopes that they will reveal the many flaws in the advanced piece of technology. To get Google Glass, one must sign up and pay a hefty fee of $1500 for what is essentially an unfinished product. While Glass still has tons of cool and useful features, the polished product will undoubtedly be better. This makes people reluctant to purchase it as new technology is often buggy. The Acme Hotel Chicago and Stanford Court San Francisco have signed up to become “Glass Explorers” but the hotels themselves won’t be doing any exploring.
Guests have the option to rent Google Glass during their stay as to enjoy using the product while in an unfamiliar city. Acme is offering the product on a complimentary basis in three hour blocks for guests to enjoy, while Stanford Court offers the “Google Glass Explorer Package” for just $199 a day. The opportunity to “borrow” Google Glass for a day is a tourist attraction in itself. Besides getting the opportunity to test one of the most advanced consumer technology devices on the market, the product has dozens of uses for a traveler in an unfamiliar city.
A few things guests are able to use Glass for when traveling:
- Weather information
- Travel information like maps, travel guides, nearby accommodations, restaurants and more.
- Ability to get live directions from your exact location
The use of this product could essentially eliminate the need of a concierge service in your hotel. At the moment, it’s financially unrealistic to provide every guest with a pair of Google Glass, but in a few years as new products are unveiled the price will drop as technology always does. There are several ways you could use Google Glass to increase efficiency at your property behind the scenes for your employees and in the front of the house by providing it to guests. One hotel brand, Starwood Preferred Guest, has created an app for Glass which allows guests to check into their rooms, call the hotel, look up their reservations and even take virtual tours of individual hotel rooms.
Google Glass is still young and we can’t predict the impact it might have in the future. But one thing’s for sure, people are anxious to give this product a try; they just don’t want to pay $1500 for it. This can be a fun and innovative way to enhance your guest’s experience!
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Colorado Hotel and Lodging Association Blog 