Although hotel giants like Hilton and technology experts like Jason Bradbury have made great attempts to identify emerging technology trends, the reality is that predicting the hotel room of the future is like asking a toddler to complete a 1,000-piece puzzle blindfolded.
The industry as a whole has largely learned from the mistakes made at the beginning of the last decade, when too many hotels fell into the (probably tablet-powered) trapdoor of the introduction of smart home in the hotel market. The use of “technology for the sake of technology” to create imaginative spaces has proven to be a meaningless method of attracting modern travelers. Fortunately, in 2024, we are operating at a time when less is definitely more when it comes to integrating technology into the hotel experience.
Tech genius”, forecasters and consumers are currently in Las Vegas to attend the annual CES 2024, which is considered a global stage for technology launches in all industries; it is here that tomorrow’s products will be presented for the first time. The locations scattered all over the city are home to all the different pieces of the industry’s most complex puzzle, which, when put together, form the high-resolution image–or at least a heavily rendered representation – of what the future hotel will look like.
To understand the chaos of the many previews and launches of the show, here are the five most important finds issued by Hotel Designs…
Alexa is in the shower
Claiming to be the latest digital shower design, Kohler launched a rendition of a shower head that, if introduced commercially, could mean the end of the shower alone forever. The Kohler Moxie shower head combines cleanliness with voice activation, with a removable smart speaker that snaps into place.
With the awareness of sustainability growing day by day, the wonderful idea is that a completely sustainable, design-oriented bedroom is no longer a foreign word that can’t get past the drawing board. Bringing the exterior to the interior has been a dominant trend in interior design over the past year, which is expected to progress creatively. One company that is making a name for itself is Lua, which wants to turn plants into pets. The product is a glass filled with sensors that shows animated faces to inform consumers when the foliage is thirsty or needs sun.
I know what you’re thinking. And yes, we have tested hotel robots in the past, and currently robots cannot replace people when it comes to meeting and welcoming guests. However, given the fact that the average person is expected to spend a year and a half on the toilet, the question was raised whether artificial intelligence could be beneficial for us in the bathroom. The consumer goods specialist Procter & Gamble has set itself the goal of modernizing our behavior in the bathroom with the company’s toilet paper brand, Charmin. Rollbot is a self-balancing robot that connects to your phone and delivers a fresh roll of toilet paper directly to the user when he is in need at a crucial moment.
Given the evolution of technology from year to year-not to mention consumer demand- it is no surprise that televisions continue to be one of the most frequent topics of conversation at CES 2024. This year’s show focused the spotlight on Samsung’s borderless display without a frame, as well as LG’s product, which came down from the ceiling after presenting the world’s first rollable OLED TV in Milan last year.
