You’ll Soon Control Your Hotel Room From The Hilton App

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Hilton first unveiled its “Connected Room” back in December and it was announced as the first hotel room in which guests could control their stay from one central device – their mobile device. The whole project has been in beta testing for a number of months but now Hilton is stating to roll out the Connected Room concept across the US.

Hilton Connected Room

It seems like only yesterday that Hilton introduced technology that allows guests to check-in, select their room and use their mobile phone to unlock the room door but now things are heading to another level.

The Hilton Connected Room technology allows guests to control almost everything in their room that they need to control right from the Hilton Honors app on their mobile device.

From controlling the TV and the thermostat to the window coverings and the lighting in the room there isn’t much that he Connected Room technology doesn’t let a guest control from their device…and if you don’t have an appropriate device Hilton still has you covered.

The in-room TVs are having the same controls installed as are found in the app and the remote controls are being simplified to make the whole process as easy as possible (I’m glad it’s not just me who thinks hotel remotes have become far too complicated).

In the longer-term Hilton plans to ensure that Connected Room will allow guests to use voice commands to control the room or to access their content and they’re even going as far as to suggest that guests will be able to upload their own pictures and artwork which will then be displayed in the room.

Here’s a brief video that Hilton has pulled together to highlight what Connected Room can do (I suggest you turn the sound down on your device before you start watch as the music is pretty irritating):

Hilton says that “several thousand rooms” across multiple Hilton brands are set to be equipped with Connected Room technology by the end of 2018 but, for now, the roll-out will be limited to properties in the US.

Get Showtime For Free In Your Room

As Connected Room is rolled out throughout the US guests will also receive Showtime streaming via the new technology.

Per Hilton:

Hilton guests in Connected Room equipped hotels will enjoy unprecedented complimentary access to a vast library of award-winning SHOWTIME service completely on demand, without requiring credentials or a subscription, via a new application specially developed for Connected Room.  Guests will be able to stream entire seasons of SHOWTIME original series including HOMELAND, THE CHI, BILLIONS, RAY DONOVAN, and many more, as well as box-office hits, comedy specials, documentaries and hard-hitting sports.

Now that’s an enhancement I think a lot of people are going to like.

Bottom Line

Is this a particularly important development? No. Is it a fun development? Definitely!

The inner geek in me loves this idea but I can’t help wondering just how much maintenance some of this will require. Take the window coverings as an example – they’re clearly going to be mechanised so how often are the motors going to blow because a series of 8-year olds (or a series of adults channeling their inner 8 year olds) opened and closed them a ridiculous number of times in quick succession?

I like the idea of automating everything in sight (isn’t that what science programs promised us decades ago?) but I really hope the ability to manually adjust the thermostat and close the drapes/blinds isn’t taken away as that could lead to a lot of frustration when the automation fails (which it will).