“Whirr… whirr”.  A robot, not unlike the size and look of Star Wars’ R2D2 whizzes softly along the carpeted corridor. It stops in front of a guest room and places a phone call to the guest. The door opens and out steps a female guest. The robot had just called her on its phone and as she steps out, it flips its top, literally, to show bottles of chilled water. Just what the guest had ordered for ‘In room’ service.

The new world of hotel in room service. At M Social Singapore, the latest guest service associate is not a person, but an autonomous service delivery robot called AURA, short for Automated Room-Service Associate. Efficient, useful, smart. AURA even rode the hotel elevator to deliver its guest’s order.

M Social’s AURA is a view of the future of hotel operations. Near future as it won’t be long before hotel robots become a daily occurrence.

Hotels have been battling manpower shortages and rising costs and many see opportunities in automation to maintain efficiency and raise service standards. 

On its part Millennium & Copthorne Hotels (M&C) in Singapore have taken to automation to enhance the guest experience and boost productivity. This is part of a national  “Hotel Industry Transformation Map”, an initiative developed and implemented by the Singapore Tourism Board (STB).

Singapore sees this as a national quest. The initiative has partners in the Singapore Hotel Association, Food, Drinks and Allied Workers Union and the Hotel Sectoral Tripartite Committee, among others. The STB  roadmap aims to accelerate business transformation and forge a competitive industry supported by a future-ready workforce for sustainable growth. 

Pressing labour crunch  

While the labour crunch continues to squeeze hotel operators, Singapore has seen an increase in hotel room supply. Government measures to curb the hiring of foreign workers in hotels has increased competition for the resident labour pool. New hotels coming up have increased the fight for scarce labour resources. All these have only upped the pressure on manpower.

Also, STB figures show  visitor arrivals reaching a record high of 16.4 million in 2016 in Singapore, a 7.7% increase over the previous year; this number is expected to grow further. Automation is therefore critical for hotels to sustain efficient operations.

Robots can be complementary to work 

While some hold the view that robots will take away jobs from workers, on the ground, automation is seen by many as complementary: It can relieve staff of the more mundane aspects of their daily routine and encouraging more personal interaction and promote customised service with guests.

AURA the robotic butler, a success at M Social

Guests and staff have cheered the arrival of AURA, the robotic butler, since its arrival at M Social Singapore in February this year. Developed by California-based robotic company, Savioke, AURA is the first deployment outside of the USA and the first of its kind in the Singapore industry. Adapting it to Singapore, AURA is the result of a collaboration among Singapore’s expert talents from Republic Polytechnic, StarHub, the cable and phone company, and the M Social team.

AURA delivers bottled water, towels, toiletries and even packed meals.  AURA can also make late-night deliveries to female guests, avoiding creating potential discomfort that may stem from meeting male staff. 

During peak periods, robots like AURA can also help with the workloads at the Front Office, Housekeeping and Food & Beverage departments. 

This is just the start. In the near future, hotels will work with solution providers who can energise the industry with their savvy and innovation. They will help address common areas of concern - such as speeding up room cleaning, laundry management processes and labour productivity management in general. 

Connecting with guests on a deeper level

While robots boost efficiency and productivity levels, they can never replicate the personal touch.  Automation will help free up hotel staff from basic tasks, giving them room to focus on engaging guests on a deeper level, listening and caring for their needs. 

According to M Social, many of its guests, especially those under 35, enjoyed using AURA’s services as it cuts waiting time and improves efficiency. A survey conducted by M&C to monitor AURA’s efficiency, showed AURA’s average delivery time to a guest was a consistent three minutes against a human hotel staff who made deliveries in five minutes. 

Because of this success, M&C has begun to automate other areas for both front and back office and use more IT-related products to help its guests. For instance, a cloud-based system called HotSOS (Hotel Service Optimisation System) to schedule and automate housekeeping and room cleaning operations, as well as service orders and track requests of guests, has been installed at all six of M&C’s six hotels in Singapore. This ensures effective and accurate communication among the various departments.

Another example is the use of Handy smartphone service that is currently available across all six M&C hotels in Singapore. The complimentary smartphone offers guests with free IDD calls to 15 countries, complimentary mobile internet and local calls to M&C’s sister hotels – Orchard Hotel, Grand Copthorne Waterfront, M Hotel Singapore, Copthorne King’s Hotel, Studio M, and M Social Singapore.  In addition to convenience and connectivity on the move, the smartphone also includes a comprehensive city guide allowing visitors staying in Singapore to navigate the city easily.

Around the world

The way travellers are making hotel bookings is evolving. With over 18% of M&C hotel reservations coming from mobile devices, the need for an optimized booking has become increasingly important. The Quick Book app on mobile devices was therefore launched last year to simplify and enhance the booking experience at M&C hotels around the world – certainly a boon for the tech-savvy and well-travelled millennials.

Other industries
Hong Leong Group’s other businesses have also embraced automation. For example, China Yuchai (a subsidiary of Hong Leong Asia), a major diesel engine maker in the China, has been using robots and machines as part of its assembly line to manufacture natural gas and diesel engines for vehicles, and for construction, agricultural and marine applications. 

City Developments Limited is using the technology of Prefabricated Prefinished Volumetric Construction (PPVC) to speed up construction and achieve 50% productivity gains in terms of manpower and time-savings, for its residential projects.

Artificial intelligence in hotels around the world

Globally, the introduction of new technology into hotel operations is gathering pace. HOTELS Magazine (June)  reported the introduction of “voice-powered personal assistants like Appel’s Siri and Amazon’s Alexa.  Aloft Hotels debuted last summer a voice-activated hotel room that uses the Siri function on an iPad. It controls temperature and lighting as well as act as a virtual concierge. Wynn Las Vegas said it would install Amazon Echo with room commands dictated to Alexa, in each of its 4,748 hotel rooms this summer. And JW Marriott San Antonio Hill Country Resorts & Spa recently installed the Amazon Echo Dot in a handful of guest rooms earlier this year. Guests can ask for event schedules, make reservation at the resort’s restaurants, and contact room service.

It’s only a matter of time before the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) will be widely used to smarten up hotel rooms.

Unlock insights from data

For Hotels, personalisation of guest experience is the future. This personalisation can be calibrated to the finest detail. Given the wealth of data available on individuals, much of the ‘personal touch’ can be harnessed when empowered by technology like automation and data analytics. 

Some of this data will come from robots, who can gather information on customer satisfaction, response and purchase patterns through their interaction with guests.

They will serve as a vital tool to unlock data-driven insights, just like how they have become a valuable tool to unshackle the hotel industry from its labour and resource constraints.