Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide is changing the way guests interact with their room by introducing the first-ever voice activated hotel room at Aloft Boston Seaport in Massachusetts and Aloft Santa Clara in San Jose, California. Each Aloft Voice-Activated Hotel Room is equipped with an iPad running a custom Aloft app, Hey Siri, used for controlling room temperature, lighting options and more. Upon arrival, guests can launch the custom Aloft app on their in-room iPad, which will open to a personalized welcome screen directing guests on how to set up their room and use their own voice with Hey Siri.
By using the app guests can ask Siri to adjust the temperature on the thermostat by saying “Hey Siri, cool the room” to their desired setting; adjust the lighting by asking Siri to turn on the lights, turn off the lights, or by simply saying good morning; and launch iTunes on their personal device by saying “Hey Siri, put on my morning playlist.” In order to play their music, guests must be signed into their iTunes account on the in-room iPad. In addition, the app acts as a virtual concierge suggesting nearby attractions when asked, “Hey Siri, what are some attractions near me?”, and can also be used to browse the Internet, check the weather and more. At the end of guests’ stay, their iPad is reset and all of their personal preferences are removed from the device. Other futuristic offerings from Aloft include Botlr, a robotic butler currently employed at Aloft Cupertino and Aloft Silicon Valley in California; TiGi (“text it, get it”) an emoji-only room service menu; and SPG Keyless, which allows guests to utilize their smartphones as room keys. For more information, visit alofthotels.com or spg.com.
