HOSPITALITY:

Texting, Digital Check-Ins, Streaming Services In Use

TMC Hospitality thinks in terms of tech at every step of what co-founder and CEO Philip Bates calls the guest journey.

The hotel developer and operator of properties under the Bode and Drift brands said that starts with digital marketing to understand how their guests spend their time to make sure it’s relevant to travelers.

“We try to be really streamlined and appropriate in the digital world,” Bates said.

Part of that means no app for guests of their properties to have to load onto their phones.

“We think the data clearly shows hotel guests don’t want to have to download an app,” he said. “We do everything by SMS, which is the most frequently used application on phones. From there, once we get you on SMS, we have an AI [artificial intelligence] concierge that will correspond with you before your stay and during your stay.”

Payment and ID is taken over text to streamline the check-in process. Any other questions or needs during a guest’s stay can also be handled by text.

“We can merge into their lifestyle rather than ask them to conform to ours,” Bates said.

All televisions inside guest rooms have Amazon Prime, Hulu and Netflix.

“It’s a seamless transition from your home to hotel in that regard,” Bates said of having the streaming service apps on hotel TVs.