14 years
ive always loved the idea of a mobile front desk - iPad for the PMS, the 'square' for card payments, use skype through the iPad as a phone... just need to work out how to make a mobile keycard encoder and we'll be set.
Is there any use for iPads in hostel management?
Internet Access and Computers
Here are some ways that hotels are using iPads:
Royalton Hotel Turns iPad into Virtual Concierge
http://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/royalton-hotel-turns-ipad-into-virtual-concierge/
Taking the concept of complimentary hotel iPads one step further, the Royalton hotel in New York City will not only offer Apple iPads for every guest to use in all 168 of its room, they will come loaded with a virtual concierge app.
Guests can browse through the hotel’s amenities, peruse the room service menu and order food with the press of a finger, message the concierge for event tickets, arrange car service, and browse through a list of local attractions curated by the an in-house concierge and UrbanDaddy.
St. Regis Hotel Now Offering iPad Rentals for Guests
http://insidevancouver.ca/2010/07/07/st-regis-hotel-now-offering-ipad-rentals-for-guests/
iPads are available to guests from the front desk on a first-come, first-served basis and can be rented for up to the full duration of a stay for $25 per day. “The iPad is the perfect, portable way for guests to access local knowledge,” said St. Regis Hotel general manager Jeremy Roncoroni. What’s more, St. Regis Hotel staff have preloaded each iPad with links to favourite local restaurants, cultural attractions and shopping so guests can really hit the ground running.
Here are some more hotels with iPads:
http://gridskipper.com/archives/entries/242/242320.php
I think I heard of a hotel where the staff carries around iPads. I wonder if you could even use an iPad to check guests in with the PMS and get rid of a physical front desk completely...
Are any hostels using iPads in some way?
- Comments
14 years
Here's a way to avoid keycard systems, but it requires the guests to have a mobile phone:
http://mashable.com/2010/05/26/openways-phone-hotel-key/
OpenWays:
http://www.openways.com/pages/home.html
Or I wonder if you could check them in somewhere in the room and then stop by the card encoder at the end to give them their card.
Here is a link to The Square for more info:
https://squareup.com/
For cash transactions, a belt pouch works.
It could be interesting...
14 years
I think I heard of a hotel where the staff carries around iPads. I wonder if you could even use an iPad to check guests in with the PMS and get rid of a physical front desk completely...
That would be a great feature to have. Checkin any where!
It could work for a small hostel, 20 beds or so where reception is only going to be busy checking people out. But any more than that, you need a reception of some sort. People would still want a reception or a point of contact. They want a place where they can contact staff immediately, without having to hunt for them around the building, or wait for them.
14 years
It's great to hear that there is some interest in this from the hostel crowd, as we're in the process of developing this exact set-up at the moment. A complete PMS system made JUST for hostels, with it's own booking plug-in that synchs automatically with the front desk and the most popular booking agents. AND, we are developing the iPad version with squareup, wireless printing, POS for sale items and we are working with another company to integrate their restaurant/bar POS software so the bar can bill items to your guest account/room. We're really looking forward to rolling this out to hostelmanagement first to hear all the feedback.
I'll post some new info as we move forward, and when we need some testers.
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