Implementation of a comprehensive virtual concierge service "eHost", for Holiday Inn̉ Hotels and Resorts brand.
The move, which is the first by a major hotel chain, is part of the Holiday Inn brand's commitment to developing consumer-enabling technology for the ever-growing community of guests who seek products and services online.
"eHost" goes live this week in 14 U.S. Holiday Inn properties as part of the system's beta release. Accessed via hotels' free High Speed Internet Access systems, eHost gives Holiday Inn guests 24-hour access to the information normally provided by a traditional concierge, including area dining options, attractions, movies, shopping, transportation, and events in the immediate vicinity of the Holiday Inn where they are staying. eHost also provides weather and airline information, hotel-specific information and Holiday Inn brand history, as well as email access to the hotel's general manager or staff to provide immediate feedback via an online survey tool. Guests can even play games and send ePostcards home to friends and family through eHost.
"With the growth of the tech-savvy, socialized Generation X customer base, our guests continue to expect the same superior service from Holiday Inn, but the way they want to interact with us is evolving," said Mark Snyder, senior vice president of Brand Management for Holiday Inn Hotels and Resorts in the Americas. "eHost affords our guests more convenience, choice and control than ever before, allowing them to access the hotel's local community they are visiting in a way that is unique to them and customizes results for their individual needs."
Hotel staff can also access eHost on behalf of their guests. While traditional concierge services are optional for the Holiday Inn brand, more than 200 U.S. Holiday Inn properties currently offer them, mostly in large metropolitan areas and tourist destinations. Full-scale system implementation of eHost, anticipated by late 2006, will complement rather than replace traditional concierge services at those properties and will allow all Holiday Inn properties to offer concierge services. Future evolutions of eHost already underway will offer multiple languages (Japanese, Portuguese, Spanish, German, French and English) and an online menu and room service module, although several hotels are already offering the menu and room service features ahead of schedule.
IHG tapped Ameranth Wireless, Inc. as the developer for eHost. A leading provider of wireless and Internet-based solutions for the hospitality, healthcare and financial markets, Ameranth Wireless's patented and patent-pending "microsites" technology enables eHost to function as a seamless, guest-friendly interface for thousands of individual, customized web portals that share a universal branded interface. Operationally, an easy-to-use back-end Web interface allows each Holiday Inn property to quickly customize eHost for its unique location. This continually updated information delivers current and relevant information to guests, and the platform allows for new features to be added to eHost on an ongoing basis.
"eHost extends the Holiday Inn heritage of innovation and industry firsts, and we are proud to be IHG's partner in its development," said Keith McNally, CEO of Ameranth Wireless. "We believe eHost positions Holiday Inn on the cutting edge of technology and we will continue to evolve it as a platform that keeps pace with the ever-changing technologies that guests seek," McNally added.
More than two years in development, eHost is the evolution of the Ameranth-developed eMenu that has been in testing at the Holiday Inn Gwinnett Center prototype hotel in Duluth, Ga., outside of Atlanta.
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