“Travel Brilliantly.” That’s the slogan from Marriott’s campaign to reimagine the travel experience through innovative ideas from both the brand itself, and the guests. At its simplest, the campaign is a creative suggestion box for guests to submit ideas. Customer-submitted innovations include a Networking Dining Table for solo business travelers, in-room DVR and the 2014 winner, a vending machine stocked with healthy fare. Among those customer ideas were apps and more apps. Some to customize your alarm clock settings, some for using your phone as a room key and some to collect rewards points.
The thing is, Marriott already has plenty of apps. The Marriott International app is for checking in, viewing rewards points, booking a stay and viewing city guides. Marriott Guest Services is another app used by guests to request extra amenities within 24 hours of their check-in time.
I tested out the Guest Services app during my stay at the Indianapolis Marriott Downtown. I was planning on wearing a dress the next day but let’s just say my legs were less than glamorous that evening. It was pretty nice to just open up the app and send my request for a razor to someone working behind the scenes in the hotel. I set my phone down once I typed my message to see if I would get an alert, push message or “ping” when my request was answered. I never got an alert and because of my short attention span I didn’t come back into the app until ten minutes later. My request was answered very politely and they even asked if I needed two shaving cream packets, one for each day I was staying at the hotel. It was a great experience despite the issue with a response alert.
The Marriott Guest Services App is a nice tool for conveniently requesting extras for your room. The woman working at the front desk when I checked in shared that eventually the Marriott Guest Services app will be combined with the Marriott International app for one super app that combines booking, check-in and check-out, guest services and rewards management all in one place.
I can’t help but think, do I really need an app for all of that? Honestly, if I can blog about hairy legs here then I can dial 0 and ask a perfect stranger for a razor. What’s your take on using an app for every stage of your hotel experience? Helpful, too detached, better for business travelers or vacationers? Let me know your opinion in the comments below!
Happy travels,
@laurylkitson
*Image from the Marriott Guest Services iTunes App Store listing.