When it comes to the modern casino hotel room, Native American tribes, rather than Las Vegas, are leading the way in using technology to enhance the guest experience.
So says Benjamin Keller, vice president of sales with KEYPR, which provides a cloud-based guest experience and management platforms for hotels, casinos and residences.
Keller was one of the participants in a discussion on the modern hotel room this week at the 19th annual tech-focused TribalNet conference and trade show at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas.
Tribes are following the lead of the hotel industry by providing mobile check-in and allowing guests to use their phone as a room key. In addition, tribal guests are increasingly able to access in-room dining, entertainment and other services through a mobile app or in-room tablet.
“This is something that isn’t foreign anymore. Marriott and Hilton are setting the consumer standard. I live here in Vegas… we’re not,” Keller said.
MGM Resorts International leads the way on the Strip by offering mobile check-in and digital keys at its properties and some services on its app. Other major casino properties rely on kiosks to aid with check-in but don’t offer digital keys.
The Cosmopolitan Las Vegas installed tablets earlier this year in its rooms for guests to order services.
But it’s the tribes that are leading the way by offering technology across the entire spectrum of check-in and room experience to give guests the services they want as a way to keep luring them to their properties, Keller said. Tribes understand that this enhanced use of technology is what travelers want these days, and they’re able to adapt more quickly while major commercial operators are not.
People use their phones for virtually everything, Keller said: to book their flight, as their boarding pass, for in-flight entertainment, and to get a ride to the hotel via Uber or Lyft when they arrive.
“When you get to the desk at the hotel, it can be like hitting a wall,” Keller said. “People wonder why they can’t have that same seamless experience. Why can’t I, from my phone, check into the room and then use it as my room key? When I’m in the room, why can’t I use it, or a tablet, to order dining, book a spa appointment or make a request (of the front desk)?”
Even with a kiosk for check-ins, Keller said, all that does is move the line from the front desk to the kiosk when all guests want to do is stop by their room and then go gamble or eat.
“If you can make it quicker and more convenient, it’s a better overall experience,” Keller said.
A year ago, Angel of The Winds Casino Resort in Arlington, Washington, which is owned by the Stillaguamish Tribe, became KEYPR’s first tribal customer to opt for a mobile guest app, in-room tablets, and keyless entry.
That was followed earlier this year by the Quinault Indian Nation doing the same for its Quinault Beach Resort Casino in Ocean Shores, Washington.
Several other tribal casinos, including Silver Reef Casino in Bellingham, Washington and others in Southern California, Minnesota, Oklahoma, and New York, have adopted or are in the process of adding the technology to their casinos this year or early next year, Keller said.
In all, KEYPR is currently working with 10 tribes.
Live Casino & Hotel in Maryland is one non-tribal casino that put the platform in its property this year when it opened, Keller said.
Now that most people have smart phones, even customers 60 and older have no problem using the platform, he said. Placing an order for in-room dining is as simple as clicking on a picture of food on the tablet or app.
“You never want to force technology on people. Allow guests to opt into it,” Keller said. “Not everyone is going to use mobile check-in or keyless entry, but don’t alienate the 25 percent of people, on average, who want to.
“What we’re seeing with tablets is that 95 percent of guests that stay in a hotel do something with it. They click on a promotion, get in-room dining, even order towels.”
The technology can even be used by guests to watch their favorite television shows they don’t want to miss and are not available on their hotel’s network.
The use of the technology also saves hotels money by not having to provide keys and printed promotional materials, Keller said. It can also increase incremental revenue 25 to 35 percent via in-room dining.
