Five-star hotels offer exquisitely mannered staff, beautifully appointed rooms, top chefs, and the promise of luxury. So why would you want to mask that experience behind a smartphone screen? Hotel chains like Marriott, Starwood, Hilton, and Four Seasons have all begun adopting smartphone apps that let guests manage all sorts of things. The apps can handle reservations, airport transfers, room service, and requests for amenities such as forgotten toothbrushes. It sounds incredibly efficient and convenient, but it also sounds so...impersonal.
I decided to check into the Four Seasons Los Angeles at Beverly Hills to find out if this was something I'd really want for my next vacation. Read on to find out if hotel apps are going to make human staff obsolete.
As with most apps, you start the experience by setting up a profile, but you first need the hotel confirmation number from your reservation (sent previously via email). Once you’re logged in, you select what time you plan to arrive, and the app’s home screen switches to a personalized welcome message and a countdown to your check-in, which is a nice touch.
You can then begin customizing your stay long before you get there — and it’s fun. I decided on sleep options (body pillow, fluffy mattress top, eye mask) and scanned the menu to pre-order that night’s supper. Instead of ordering the old-fashioned way (calling room service), you can select items from an on-screen menu, complete with helpful pictures. The app lets you do this in your own language, breaking down frustrating communication barriers if you're traveling abroad.
The next afternoon, I left for the hotel. As I walked into the lobby, I checked in on the app rather than waiting at the front desk. I arrived earlier than the time I’d pre-selected the day before, but this wasn’t a problem. The app offered an option to send an email when the room was ready.
So I headed out onto the terrace to have a coffee, read the newspaper, and people-watch (as one does in nice hotels). I checked my phone half an hour later — still no email. I decided to check in with the humans at the front desk to see what was up. They’d seen I’d checked in on the app and everything was ready, but apparently my email confirmation just never sent. Well, that’s a problem. They handed me the room key, and I headed for the elevator.
So much for my app-based check-in.
Once in the room, everything was exactly as I’d requested: eye mask, correct pillows, and even the fluffy mattress covering. At 7 p.m. on the dot, my supper arrived, as ordered the day before. Once I finished, I pushed the tray back into the hallway and opened the app, tapping “tray pick-up” so they knew it was there. Then, I ran a bubble bath, knowing the tray would be picked up and I wouldn’t be disturbed.
As I got into bed that night, I chose a 6 a.m. wake-up call on the app, ordered room service for 6:15 a.m., and turned out the light (manually — not with the app, although it's probably only a matter of time before that happens).
The next morning, everything went smoothly — from wake-up call to breakfast arrival. The app includes links to all the major international news sites, so I caught up on world events while drinking my coffee.
Overall, using an app to manage my hotel stay was a good experience. The app was logically laid out and easy to use, and customizing my hotel stay before arrival was efficient. I didn’t miss having to dial room service and speak to a human — not one bit. I’ve stayed in a lot of hotels, and even high-end ones have wait signals during busy periods. Using an app solves that, so your requests only take a couple seconds.
There are other things the app could have done, though — perhaps centrally controlling the curtains, the door-locking system, and the light switches? But, having stayed in a "futuristic" hotel or two (the names of which escape me because they were such bad experiences), I'm glad it didn't. An expensive hotel should be all about luxury, not frustration with gadgets.
So, because it stayed fairly simple, this app could address my needs without being overwhelming. And now that it has saved my preferences, the next time I stay at a Four Seasons, it will remember that I love eye masks — and that I want heated two-percent milk with my morning coffee (very important).
Hopefully, hotel chains will increasingly use technology like this to help staff do their jobs better, not to replace them altogether. It's the staff that makes you feel like a movie star, after all. But with an app, you can get all of your hotel needs, instantly — and get right back to enjoying your stay. And that's pretty luxurious, too.
Disclosure: Sophia Stuart stayed at the Four Seasons Los Angeles at Beverly Hills as a guest of the resort.
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