NH HOTEL GROUP ANNOUNCES SMART TABLET IN RECEPTION – A NEW DIGITAL SOLUTION WITH MICROSOFT SURFACE

New digitised check-in and check-out process enhances guest safety, reduces environmental impact and saves time for guests

At the forefront of innovation in the hotel industry and committed to offering the best services to its guests, NH Hotel Group has launched Smart Tablet in Reception. The new service reduces physical contact and time spent at reception during check-in and check-out by digitising all elements of the process, improving customer experience and providing both safety and sustainability benefits.

A collaboration with digital solutions integrator Econocom Group, together with its partner 3G Mobile Group, a specialist in digital signature solutions, and Microsoft, who are supplying Surface Go 2 devices, has been key in helping NH to digitise all the processes its customers go through at the reception. Integrating the signature software and the associated services has helped advance in NH Hotel Group’s “paperless” strategy to further reduce its ecological impact.

The Surface tablets provide a streamlined check-in, enabling guests to access digital copies of their booking information, digitally sign documents and consent forms (such as GDPR) and complete the usual identity verifications needed when arriving at a hotel. In addition, upon leaving, guests can use the service to view invoices and send them quickly via email, improving the check-out process.

This new solution, which is designed to encourage the progressive return of customers through enhanced safety, is operating successfully at NH Collection Barcelona Gran Hotel Calderón and NH Madrid Nacional and is expected to roll out to most of the company’s properties during 2021. And while local regulations around the digital experience may vary from country-to-country, NH Hotel Group has taken measures to streamline the process and has created a technological platform that adapts to customers’ needs in each territory.

Commenting on the service, Rufino Pérez, COO & Global Transformation Leader of NH Hotels Group said: “Even at a time like this, at NH we have not stopped thinking about the need to innovate and improve the experience of our customers. That's why, with Econocom and Microsoft, we're trialling Smart Tablet in Reception - a Surface Go 2 that allows us to significantly reduce wait times both during check-in and check-out, which are two key moments of contact with all our guests. In turn, we are completely eliminating the use of paper which also has a very positive impact in terms of sustainability.”

Roger Grau, director of NH Collection Barcelona Gran Hotel Calderón added: “This is a solution that allows NH Hotel Group to ensure the safety of its customers by minimising the risk of contamination. The customer interacts directly with the Surface Go 2 device, eliminating contact with other risky elements, such as using a pen. After use, each device is sanitised and ready for the next customer. In addition, thanks to the device, we have managed to digitise and simplify the processes that are usually quite tedious at reception and for which previously paper was used. It is a tool that is of great help to the reception staff who can now spend their time on more productive tasks.”

Commenting on the collaboration, Jaime Villanueva, CEO of P&S of Econocom, said: “Our solution has been chosen thanks to its flexibility, cost and security. We have been able to create, together with NH, an ad-hoc procedure for the supply and maintenance of devices and integration of their applications.

FASTPASS
Guests that prefer to use their own device or avoid the reception area entirely can make use of NH Hotel Group’s existing FASTPASS service, another example of the Group’s commitment to providing innovative and unique customer experiences. FASTPASS combines three digital services: Online Check-in, Choose Your Room and Online Check-out and can be accessed from a customer’s own mobile device through the NH APP or via the company’s website from other devices.