TECHNOLOGY MUST NOT BE ALLOWED TO DOMINATE THE FEEL-GOOD ENVIRONMENT

The Schani in Vienna is a self-declared “smart” hotel. Hotel boss Benedikt Komarek on technology designed to serve and pamper the guest. And why it should ideally be invisible.

Villeroy & Boch: What role is technologisation playing in the hotel industry?

This is an interesting question that needs to be answered from two perspectives. Beneficiaries are on the one hand the hotel and on the other the guest. The primary advantage for the hotel is that smart solutions such as self-check-in allow staff to devote more time to their guests. For the guest, innovative technologies first and foremost offer living comfort. At the Schani there are “special” rooms offering atmospheric light scenarios or shower-toilets, for example.

How do you rate the benefits of technology?

“... so long as it is invisible.” Take our comfort ventilation system, for example. This offers an ideal room climate and is highly sustainable into the bargain. Technology must not be allowed to dominate the guest’s experience at the hotel. Guests at the Schani can save time by checking in online, for example. Alternatively, our staff are on hand to offer the guest a choice between a classic key card or a digital code on their mobile phone.

Our experience also shows that hygiene remains a predominant issue. Ideally, a hotel should combine classic design with high-tech in the background. As illustrated by rimless WCs in the bathrooms at the Schani, for example.

When is technology smart in your view?

Technology becomes smart when its capabilities extend beyond merely offering us comfort. When it meets the vital need for sustainability, for example. In our special rooms, guests intuitively save water in response to the lighting discreetly changing from green to red when the water has been running for a long time, for instance. This is currently still in the test phase. But imagine the savings if we multiply such effects across all 135 of our rooms.

How can technology best strengthen customer loyalty?

Measures to cement customer loyalty in the urban hotel industry focus on both regular and business guests. The latter are travelling in a professional context and are in a quite different frame of mind. They do not want to spend long familiarising themselves with technical features. This means that technology should always lend itself to intuitive operation. Another key success factor for hotel concepts is the bed and bathroom, both of which are crucial to the feel-good factor.

On the subject of bathrooms: How have you realised the feel-good factor here?

As I said, hygiene is a must for the guest. We thus decided to design the bathrooms as very light environments. On the one hand, plenty of light shows that it is clean - and on the other, it has practical benefits when applying make-up or shaving. The bathrooms are integrated into the hotel rooms as open areas which can nevertheless be separated off from the rest of the room by a curtain. This meets many guests’ wishes for spacious rooms while at the same time accommodating the need for privacy. Finally, the open room concept enables entertainment facilities to be enjoyed in the bathroom area as well. Smartphone content can be used via the TV screen, for example.

How do you see the hotel bathroom evolving in future?

The trend for hotel bathrooms in particular is shifting towards small wellness temples offering entertainment value. Shower-toilets are already standard in other parts of the world. The shower as a steam bath could be a forthcoming bookable bathroom comfort item for travellers. A lot will happen in the area of sustainability, too. A full-body drier could save many towels and a lot of energy in future, for example. Expectations in the area of bathroom entertainment are also rising with the advance of connectivity.

About the interviewee:
After studying in Vienna and Budapest, Benedikt Komarek joined his family’s hotel business at an early age and has been continuing the family’s successful hotelier traditions with forward-looking ideas since 2008. Benedikt Komarek opened the first “real Future Hotel” in the guise of the Hotel Schani in Vienna, featuring smart ideas for guests and pioneering ideas for the hotel industry.