As part of its global mobile strategy, Marriott International, has announced a significant expansion of the company’s popular mobile check-in and check-out feature.
Now, eleven additional brands – The Ritz-Carlton, JW Marriott Hotels & Resorts, Renaissance Hotels, Autograph Collection, AC Hotels, Courtyard, SpringHill Suites, Fairfield Inn & Suites, Residence Inn, TownePlace Suites and Marriott Executive Apartments – are joining the nearly 500 properties of the company’s flagship Marriott Hotels brand in providing mobile check-in and check-out to guests.
With these latest additions, these services are immediately available at 1,200 properties worldwide, and will be live at more than 4,000 hotels worldwide by year-end.
Marriott Rewards members receive a push notification on their Apple iPhones or Android devices after 4 pm on the day before their arrival alerting them they can check-in. Then they receive an automatic notification when their room is ready. Communicating in advance means the hotel is prepared for their arrival. Because payment information is stored within members profiles, guests simply walk up to the expedited mobile check-in desk where their pre-programmed key card will be waiting for them.
At the end of their stays, guests receive a push notification alerting them that mobile checkout is available. Upon completion, guests will then be prompted to provide an email address where their bill should be sent, allowing them to confidently bypass the front desk. Mobile check-in and check-out are available in five languages: English, French, Spanish, German and Mandarin.
George Corbin, senior vice president, Digital, said, “You cannot separate the mobile experience from the personal interaction between guests and our hotel associates. When executed flawlessly and consistently, they complement each other and enhance the overall experience. In our testing of mobile service requests so far, 86 per cent of guests who used the feature have chosen to chat directly with hotel associates, illustrating how much guests appreciate the personal interaction using their mobile devices, and nearly nine out of 10 guests gave the experience a very high positive rating.”
Leading with its flagship Marriott Hotels brand, the company continues innovating in the mobile space. The brand now offers mobile service requests in 15 markets in North America, where hotels are serving as ‘mobile incubator’ laboratories for the future. For example, guests at these hotels can use a drop down menu of the most typical service requests, such as extra towels and pillows, or chat directly with hotel staff using a mobile app. The company will offer these and other mobile services to its Marriott Rewards members at the Marriott Hotels brand beginning early next year.