The Emily Morgan San Antonio – a DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel is gearing up to host hoteliers attending The Hospitality Show in October. Located just three blocks from the Henry B. Gonzales Convention Center, the historic hotel is preparing to install Navigator 2.0 in-room tablets from Hotel Communication Network (HCN) to give guests mobile access to services and amenities and provide local area and event information.

“Recognized by the Historic Hotels of America, our AAA four-diamond hotel is the second most photographed building in San Antonio,” said General Manager Kole Siefken. “As the ‘Official Hotel of the Alamo,’ we are a great choice for history buffs and leisure travelers wanting to sightsee along the San Antonio River Walk, and for business travelers needing to be close to the Convention Center.

“While history is a big part of our story, we still rely on modern technology to deliver a memorable and engaging experience that keeps guests coming back,” Siefken said. “That’s why we chose HCN’s Navigator 2.0 tablets. These mobile devices are not only convenient and comfortable for customers to use, but they will help our operations teams connect interdepartmentally and improve guest-request response times. Once installed, Navigator 2.0 will become our digital directory, a 24 hour room service menu and ordering platform, and the place where guests can request late check out, activate do-not-disturb alerts, opt out of daily room cleaning, and much more.”

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All-In-One Digital Device
The cloud-based Navigator 2.0 platform features real-time language translation to make two-way communication effortless. It’s a modern approach to guest engagement and revenue enhancement, giving operators the ability to update and self-manage content as often as needed throughout the day. With a Netflix-inspired user interface, the look of the content is compelling and draws people in to click around, discover on-premises services and amenities, and spend more money on site. Tablets sit on a Bluetooth pairable speaker base featuring high-quality sound, USB A&C charging points, and stunning HD graphics. The speaker base can also serve as a voice assistant, enabling guests to request services and amenities, and report problems by voice command.

“The design of the Navigator 2.0 is fantastic,” Siefken said. “It will look great in our rooms, and it integrates with our hotel’s property-management system. We plan to start small with tablet programming, keeping functionality at a minimum, but we plan to add more features over time.”

Personalized Welcome Video
One such tablet feature of future interest to the Emily Morgan Hotel – a DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel is HCN’s “Welcome Messaging.” Via pre-recorded video, the General Manager or an AI Avatar can personally welcome each guest to the hotel and upsell property services and amenities. With the Avatar, the GM can change the welcome message at any time and even target the message to welcome specific groups with an exciting, personalized message that will differentiate the arrival process and set them above properties that don't have this technology. It’s a digital option to the traditional welcome letter that pops up on screen the moment a guest touches the tablet for the first time. Based on historical data, when guests see the welcome message, 85%+ will pick up the tablet and use it to search for hotel information.

All Navigator 2.0 tablets can immediately replace in-room electronics, including inconvenient and time-consuming TV applications, costly voice solutions, outdated alarm clocks, and rarely used bedside phones. They can also be used to eliminate room clutter from printed compendiums and QR code table tents and inconveniently placed and easily damaged stickers promoting marketing messages and digital tipping.

“We look forward to bringing the Emily Morgan Hotel – a DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel online soon and demonstrate to management and staff just how easy it is to communicate effectively and drive ancillary revenues,” said Neil Schubert, HCN Chief Product Officer.”