Hotel La Reserve in Paris implements HotelCloud, a digital concierge

The hotel La Réserve which is a luxurious five star hotel located in Paris, took the decision to implement a new kind of technology called Hotelcloud.  

Hotelcloud is a conciergerie free app created in 2011 which enables the guest to be informed about diverse activities available or to make a booking and to pay for a se

rvice. Hotel managers can use Hotelcloud as an interface between the hotel and the customers such as the hotel can promote the different offered services to their customers and even propose externals ones with the view to get some commissions. Hotelcloud is more and more implemented in the world of the hotel industry in France and even around the world with the view to satisfy the customers’ expectations with a personalize service.

The hotel La Reserve is the first hotel to offer a complete service to its guest with this new app.

Hotelcloud provides in the guestrooms the digital conciergerie accessible through touch screen tablets. It enables the guest for instance to order the breakfast, to book a table in the restaurant, or to interact in real time with the employees.

Plus, the customers can use it with the view to manage the various items available in their rooms such as the air conditioning or the lighting. The guest can also access the tool via his personal devices: smartphone, desktop or tablet.

Indeed, these 360° tools, by reaching the customer at every point of the booking process, allow a better engagement toward the brand and enhance the customer experience. For the hotelier it’s also a way to fidelize the client, by offering a more personalized service, and encourage the direct booking for next stays.

It can be a winning bet in front of giants like Expedia or Booking which cost hoteliers a lot to be distributed, or even Airbnb whose business model relies massively on digital. Indeed, Airbnb is at the moment working on a “local companion” which could help travelers finding the best addresses around to eat and go out.

More and more hoteliers choose to adopt these new technologies in order to modernize their service. Yet when you think about it it’s true that front desk and concierge in hotels are the very last features that didn’t change so much in the past century. When you walk-in you usually find a high desk and someone behind to welcome you and give you your keys, just like 50 or 70 years ago. This contrasts with most services nowadays: you’re used to buy your flight, your cinema ticket, or your mobile phone via digital tools and without human interactions anymore. Still the trend for concierge digitalization is recent. One explanation could be that people don’t want to be treated like a random client but want to feel that the hotelier actually cares. That’s why digitalization of concierge should not replace people at the front desk but help getting closer to each and every client and remove the barrier between the guest and staff.

And you, what do you think? Is digital concierge the key for hotels to stay attractive and competitive? Do you think clients will regret the real human being interactions?

-        Luczak-Rougeaux, J. (2015, August 06). L'hôtel La Réserve s'équipe de la technologie Hotelcloud. Retrieved March 31, 2018, from http://www.tom.travel/2015/08/06/lhotel-la-reserve-sequipe-de-la-technologie-hotelcloud/

-         : Les clés de la conciergerie digitale à portée des "petits" hôteliers. (n.d.). Retrieved March 31, 2018, from https://www.tourmag.com/Hotelcloud-les-cles-de-la-conciergerie-digitale-a-portee-des-petits-hoteliers_a67463.html