Historically, hoteliers were widely considered to be early adopters of advanced in-room entertainment solutions. Bringing amenities like satellite and cable television, on-demand movies and internet access to the forefront of the hospitality industry, hotels were the gold standard in entertainment— and frequently provided better experiences than guests had at home.
Guest Personalization
Personalizing experiences has become an increasingly important trend across all industries, and it’s likely here to stay. Consumers feel frustrated when experiences are impersonal, and creating personalized experiences helps hoteliers increase revenue by up to ten percent. This is evident in consumer entertainment, too; in 2019, more U.S. households subscribed to a streaming service (69 percent) than to a traditional satellite or cable TV provider (65 percent).
Future-proof in-room entertainment solutions can add personal touches throughout the guest journey. With entertainment solutions that incorporate digital AI assistants, improving personalization can be as simple as displaying a custom greeting on the in-room television system upon a guest’s check-in, to providing recommendations, and even enabling guests to make requests and remembering their preferences throughout their stay. As AI becomes increasingly powerful, its ability to improve guest personalization is only expected to improve.
Maximized Convenience
Another hallmark of a scalable in-room solution is its ability to provide guests with increased convenience. Consumers expect immediacy, flexibility and instant accessibility; ensuring an in-room entertainment solution can not only meet these needs now but can continue to do so in the future, is vital for hoteliers selecting new entertainment solutions.
Industry-leading in-room entertainment providers accomplish this by offering solutions able to be easily integrated with a hotel’s Property Management System (PMS). By connecting and communicating directly with a hotel PMS, in-room entertainment solutions can allow guests to checkout, adjust temperature and lighting controls, order room service and even make requests for towels directly from their in-room television screen. Not only does it alleviate the need for guests to walk down to the lobby or wait on hold when calling down to the front desk, but the ability of these solutions to seamlessly communicate with other hotel technology gives it limitless future potential.
Reliable Connectivity
Reliable connectivity is arguably one of the most important amenities that a hotel can offer guests today. To ensure positive in-room entertainment experiences, including consistent high-quality video streaming and uninterrupted web surfing, hotels need to regularly evaluate the quality of their connectivity.
When a hotelier selects a new entertainment solution, they must also consider the implications it may have on their existing networks, and identify which rewiring or network equipment upgrades may be necessary to support the increased connectivity demands of an advanced entertainment platform. Fortunately, industry-leading in-room entertainment solution providers can work alongside hoteliers to identify potential challenges and seamlessly integrate new platforms with a hotel’s existing IT in mind. More advanced in-room entertainment systems can even provide hoteliers with intuitive dashboards that don’t just continuously monitor solution performance, but can also offer a real-time analysis of internet connectivity quality throughout an entire property.
Powered by innovative technology, today’s in-room entertainment solutions are bridging the disconnect between a consumer’s daily life and the hotel amenities available to them. With personalization, convenience, and connectivity top-of-mind, hoteliers can ensure that they select a solution that not only increases guest satisfaction by meeting modern trends, but that also has the proven ability to stay ahead of the curve indefinitely.
