Hotel of the Future
Today's Vignette
Sandy Liu:
Hi, Lee and Hiromi. It's good to see you again. I hope you didn't get hung up at the new airport. It's still got a few bugs in the operating system.
Lee Seymour':
We got through smoothly. Amy, it's so nice you could join us for dinner.
Amy Chu:
I got through my workload early for a change, so here I am. Let me give you the good news. I applied for a transfer to our travel agency's New York office and lucked out. I'll be trailing my husband in two months' time.
Hiromi Araki:
Congratulations! I'll bet Sandy's as pleased as punch.
Liu:
I sure am. Life in New York would be lonely without Amy. How do you like this hotel?
Seymour:
We love it It's just what business travelers need. Our rooms are quiet and roomy. We're impressed with the safety standards. And the service is impeccable.
Araki:
I can't believe the rooms. They.re like high-tech command centers for business communication. And the front desk told us about the perks for repeat guests, including free room upgades, free vveekends for couples and airline mileage points.
Liu:
They're all the sort of reward that wins customer loyalty. At this hotel you can get business done in your room anytime you like. And you can order food when you want it.
Chu:
Maybe you've noticed that the hotel doesn't have a business center. That's fast becoming a thing of the past. You can do all your work in your room, including e-mail,
Araki:
That's 24-hour self-service. But we didn't have the right adapters for the phone or power socket.
Liu:
That's frustrating, but it happens. There are more than 40 different kinds of telephone sockets around the world.
Seymour:
And I forgot to bring my CD-RON adapter. That's another headache. And my modem had jet lag. I couldn't get my e-mail. Hiromi and I went into a huddle and then phoned the front desk. Five minutes later I had a "cyber-surgeon" in my room. He solved au the problems and told me there's 24-hour computer support service available. I was flabbergasted.
Chu:
If you think you might need assistance when you check in, you can ask for the cyber-surgeon right off. He'll get your computer set up and connected correctly to the phone and power lines. He knows about the most-used word-processing and spreadsheet programs, Web-browsers and e-mail. He can also supply prirters. scanners and other hardware free of charge.
Araki:
Whee! Like me, more than half of business travelers have a laptop computer, and I've run into problems before, I didn't have the right dialirlg speed or the right software, It's wonderful to be in a hotel where problems like that can be solved in no time.
Chu:
If you ask most business people what else they want in a hotel, most of them answer quality service. But whether or not the hotel is conveniently located can be another consideration.
Seymour:
And I like a king-size bed for a good night's sleep. The bed I've got here has a push-button panel. I took one look at all the buttons and switches and panicked. But there's an easy-to-read diagram that showed me how to raise and lower- window awnings, open and close curtains, set a comfortable room temperature, and control the lights and the TV.
Liu:
You've got electronic locks and interactive lobby services, along with a direct TV connection to the information highway. You can watch movies you choose, play interactive video games and access information channels.
Araki:
Another direct benefit for people in a hurry is the instant check-in and check-out machine. lf you've got a room re-servation and a credit card, you can flit by the front desk and get a room in a minute. When you leave. the machine will spit out the bill and check you out autmatically.
Chu:
It all goes to show that hot-wired hotels are intent on improving service by investing in high technology. On the other hand. all that automation is no excuse for dispensing with the "personal touch" like service with a smile. And I don't mean a smiling cyborg.
Liu:
Amy showed me the prototype of a so-called Global Village hotel room that's mind-blowing. It includes a full work-station with a flat-screen computer and an integrated fax, printer and scanner unit. It's also got a high-speed Internet connection. When you check in, you get a diskette to install the rapid-fire software. Quite a few hotels here in Hong Kong are talking turkey with the developer to transforms a portion of guest rooms accordingly.
Araki:
I wonder if that will be a good shot in the arm for Hong Kong's tourism industry. I've heard that tourism took a nosedive after the handover to China.
Chu:
I No one expects a huge surge in regular tourists right away. But we do hope to lure more business travelers on short breaks. After all, Hong Kong has been ranked as one of the world's five best international cities, along with Tokyo, New York, London and Paris. But we need a distinct image that's different and terrifically upbeat.
Araki:
Good luck. With all those Asian neighbor countries with depressed economies resorting to huge discounts to pull in much-needed forein currency, Hong Kong faces some heavy competition.
Seymour:
Even so, if airlines and hotels hop on the bandwagon in a big way, the City of Life could be positioned for a big rebound when those neighboring economies begin to bounce back.
Seymour:
Hotels are also showing a trend toward new and improved health and fitness facilities and services.
Liu:
Many of us realize that staying fit enables us not only to look better but also to work better. We wanted hotels to have pools and gyms, but few of us actually used them.
Seymour:
Things have changed. A lot of us are into swimming, jogging or exercise machines. Any of them can reduce stress or jet lag.
Liu:
This hotel has a health club and pool on the roof, with a great view of Hong Kong harbor. That's a sight for sore eyes. Another new hotel has an aquamedic pool and aquagym for stressed-out guests.
Vocabulary Building
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