Hub Hotels Harness Smartwatches

British budget hotel group Premier Inn's tech-enhanced spin-off Hub Hotels has created an app in conjunction with Apple's smartwatch to create more connected and streamlined services for its guests.

The app, created by London and San Francisco-based digital design studio Monitise Create, allows guests to check-in to their London hotel rooms using their smartwatch as a room key. It also allows them to control in-room functions such as temperature, lighting and Smart TV.

According to a study by US-based software consultants Softwareadvice.com, 60% of hotel guests are more likely to choose a hotel that allows them to check in and open doors with a smartphone than a hotel that doesn't.

Stylus has been tracking the impact of tech-fuelled service in the hospitality landscape for some time. As discussed in Future Service: High-Tech Hospitality, US hotel chain Starwood Hotels has also developed an app for the Apple Watch that will enable guests to use their watches as room keys, while US hotel chain Marriott has created integrated technology that allows guests to use their smartphones as TV remotes.

For more on this topic, see Transformative Hotels, Smart Small Hotels, Hotels Embrace Sleep Tech and Infrared Hotel. For a demographic-led viewpoint, see Hotels & Millennials.