The idea of room service was overhauled in May when Premier Inn integrated Apple Watch into its guest services, with the device providing the power to control heating and lighting during customer stays.
Following on from that, hotel chain Marriott has aligned with Samsung for the launch of a virtual reality-laced “travel industry first” dubbed “VRoom Service”.
“Travel expands our minds and helps push our imagination,” said Matthew Carroll, vice president, Marriott Hotels. “Our guests want to be in inventive spaces that help foster their creativity and thinking. Vroom combines storytelling with technology, two things that are important to next generation travellers.”
Guests staying at the hotel will have the power to book a Samsung Gear VR headset and headphones – via a dedicated VRoom Service line or the Marriott Mobile Request app –and upon delivery they will have access to digital services that are designed to transport the traveller even further.
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For example, VR Postcards is one of the travel company’s developments and it was built in partnership with Oscar-winning creative studio Framestore, which Real Business interviewed earlier in the year. When wearing the headset, users can view and hear travel stories from people around the globe, with the first three postcards captured in the Chile’s Andes Mountains, an ice cream shop in Rwanda and the streets of Beijing.
“VRoom Service is one of the first business applications of Samsung’s Gear VR technology,” said Matt Apfel, VP of strategy and creative content at Samsung Media Solutions Centre America. “We’re tremendously excited to be collaborating with an innovative brand like Marriott on creating the future for travellers.”
The VRoom Service device loan will be for 24-hours and the trial is currently taking place at the London Marriott Park Lane and New York Marriott Marquis properties. Meanwhile, the VR Postcards app can also be accessed by the general public using the Samsung Milk VR premium video service.
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