Hey Google: Amazon echo provides answers for Village Hotels guests

Village Hotels is trialling the use of Amazon Echo Dot in guest rooms to provide a virtual assistant than can answer straightforward questions posed by customers.

The devices are currently being piloted in the newest Village hotel in Glasgow and in Warrington, where the company has its headquarters, before being rolled out across all 28 hotels.

In what is believed to be a first in the hotel industry, guests will be able to engage with the in-room virtual assistant to find out restaurant, pool, gym and spa opening times, things to do in the local area, checkout times and delivering wakeup calls.

At Village's 29th hotel, which will open in Portsmouth this year, the technology will be integrated with every aspect of the room experience from entertainment to air conditioning.

The project has been implemented by digital marketing agency Equator which has also worked with Village to install 70-inch customisable, interactive digital screens in hotel lobbies that share content personalised to each site.

Village Hotels commercial director Rob Paterson said: "As technology continues to evolve, customers expect a consistently seamless service. That's why we have chosen to invest significantly in giving guests a truly multi-channel experience where they have access to all the services and information they require, right at their fingertips.

"We've worked closely with Equator to create that experience, first with our intuitive website that makes booking a simple and speedy process for customers, and now with the roll out of the Amazon Echo Dot and interactive screens.

Village Urban Resorts to open Basingstoke hotel >>

Village Hotel Group’s Jamie Stevens promoted to senior general manager Scotland >>