Tag: Hospitality Innovations

What’s Trending in Technology for the Hospitality Industry?

What's Trending in Technology for the Hospitality Industry?
What’s Trending in Technology for the Hospitality Industry?

With newer technology like mobile wallets changing people’s expectations in a tech-saturated world, the hospitality industry is catching up with the trends. Beyond the booking apps, hotels can use technology to radically change the way employees work and the guest experience itself.

At DJ Products, we know how to boost your staff’s productivity with powered carts for hotels. With the touch of a button, loaded housekeeping carts can roll down the hallways—protecting you from the ticking time bomb of repetitive stress injuries that lead to downtime and compensation claims.

Today, we’re rounding up hospitality tech trends including such highlights as:

Wi-Fi and Conferencing Equipment: Unless you operate a small bed-and-breakfast, it’s time to add cellular signal boosters and high-density Wi-Fi so guests and conference attendees can get reception.

Smart Check-In and Room Keys: Smartphones can now make key cards obsolete, so guests can check in online and stroll right to their rooms.

Robots: Room service, towels, and more can be delivered by robots. For a more personal touch, our powered carts for hotels can get your smiling human workers around the property faster.

Infrared Sensors: Putting an end to early morning door knocks, infrared sensors can tell staff if a room is occupied.

Smart Home Features: Reward your valued guests by letting them input preferred heating and air conditioning levels and more, integrated with smart home features that activate upon arrival.

The technology is already here for many of the new hotel amenities that people will soon expect. Get started with powered carts for hotels from DJ Products to speed up and improve hotel guest services.

Tips for Personalizing the Hotel Experience for Your Guests

Tips for Personalizing the Hotel Experience for Your Guests
Tips for Personalizing the Hotel Experience for Your Guests

Retail companies have successfully leveraged IT platforms to personalize the customer experience with actions such as suggesting purchases based on individual preferences. However, the hospitality industry is lagging behind in offering personalized service.

Bringing Personalization to the Hotel Guest Experience

Hotels have two significant roadblocks to personalizing a guest’s experience:

>Using different platforms for booking, POS, loyalty and other activities makes it difficult to efficiently capture the required data.

>Many guests book rooms through online travel agencies such as Expedia, so hotels don’t have access to email addresses unless desk clerks request them at check-in.

When Customer Service Misses the Mark

Carolyn Murphy, a marketing specialist for hospitality consulting firm Revinate, wrote about a less-than-satisfactory experience she had when checking into a hotel. The desk clerk asked Murphy if it was her first visit, despite the fact that she had stayed there twice before.

Murphy went on to add that she had posted a review of her original experience at the hotel on TripAdvisor and received a reply from the general manager. In addition, the day before Murphy’s arrival she tweeted about anticipating her visit and included the hotel’s Twitter handle.

According to a Yahoo survey, 78 percent of respondents expressed a preference for more personalized service. Giving guests a satisfying experience can pay off in more repeat business and word-of-mouth referrals.

Powered Carts for Hotels from DJ Products

Hotel guests value comfort and convenience. Our powered carts for hotels let your housekeeping staff perform their duties quickly and discreetly.

Visit our website and use our online chat feature to get assistance from one of our friendly and knowledgeable sales engineers.

Hotels Embrace Robots and Automated Butlers

Hotels Embrace Robots and Automated Butlers
Hotels Embrace Robots and Automated Butlers

Remember Rosie, the sarcastic but lovable robot maid employed by ’60 cartoon family The Jetsons? She’s becoming closer to reality as the hospitality industry increasingly integrates technology with guest services.

At Your Service: High-Tech Amenities

• The Aloft Cupertino, a stone’s throw from Apple’s California headquarters, employs Botlr, a robotic butler complete with bowtie who will deliver breakfast, towels and toiletries to your room.

• Luxury hotel YOTEL in New York City facilitates luggage storage with YOBOT. Guests leave their bags in a drop-off area for YOBOT to place in a secure locker and retrieve upon request. The entire process is controlled by touchscreens and PIN codes.

• Several Bay Area hotels have taken minibars to the next level with Plum, an automatic dispenser that holds wine at the perfect temperature and serves by the glass.

• All 748 rooms in the Wynn Las Vegas are equipped with Alexa, Amazon’s voice-activated personal assistant that handles tasks from opening the curtains to raising or lowering the temperature.

• Another plush Las Vegas hotel, the Aria, features in-room tablets for use in controlling room features, ordering room service, making spa or restaurant reservations and reading your hometown newspaper.

• Peloton’s internet-enabled exercise bikes are installed in several Westin hotels, allowing guests to take virtual spin classes.

Move Hotel Equipment Effortlessly with Electric Carts from DJ Products

Improve workplace efficiency and safety with battery-powered carts that allow a single employee to move heavy hotel equipment. Visit our website and use our handy online chat feature to learn more about solutions such as our popular CartCaddyLite from our helpful sales engineers.

Hospitality Industry: Tips on Preventing Back Injuries

Preventing Back Injuries
Preventing Back Injuries

Hotel staff face many of the same injury risks as warehouse and shipping workers — especially when it comes to the repetitive tasks of moving equipment and supply carts. Proper techniques and ergonomic hospitality industry carts help reduce the risk of back injuries and upper body fatigue.

Here are some tips from Oklahoma State University researchers that hospitality staff should keep in mind when training and managing employees:

Store all items on shelves. Supply closets should always make use of shelving to keep items up off the ground.

Place heavy items in the easy lifting zone. The heaviest items should be placed at waist level to reduce back strain when picking them up. Items close to the floor or above the head should be the lightest weight items.

Bend at the knees. Like a baseball catcher getting into position, workers should squat to pick things up by bending at the knees with the feet at shoulder width.

Get a good grip. Reaching out and grabbing things with the fingertips sends more stress through the upper body than firmly grasping objects with the whole hand.

Face forward. When loading up a cart, workers should face the item being picked up and then turn (not twist) to face the cart.

Use motorized carts. Hotel workers who push or pull supply carts up and down the hallways face back injury risk from long-term, repetitive stress. Hospitality industry carts with motorized operation take this out of the equation.

For help reducing back injuries among employees, follow our blog for materials handling tips and check out DJProducts.com for info about ergonomic hospitality industry carts.