Amazon is bringing Alexa to hotel rooms across the country via a tie-up with Marriott International.
Called Alexa for Hospitality, the service will allow hotel guests to use the company’s Echo devices to inquire about things such as room service, housekeeping or dinner recommendations from the concierge.
Starting today, Marriott International is introducing the new Alexa experience at select properties in Marriott Hotels, Westin Hotels & Resorts, St. Regis Hotels & Resorts, Aloft Hotels, and Autograph Collection Hotels starting this summer. According to Amazon, Alexa for Hospitality will be “offered by invitation” to other hoteliers.
“Marriott has a long track record of innovating for our guests, and we’re thrilled to be among the first to offer Alexa for Hospitality,” said Jennifer Hsieh, vice president of customer experience innovation at Marriott International, in a statement. “So many of our guests use voice technology in their home, and we want to extend that convenience to their travel experience. We will be evaluating guest feedback and adoption to inform how we expand the skills, features, and functionality offered through Alexa in our hotels.”
In addition to providing information like pool hours or fitness center locations, Amazon says the service can be configured by hospitality providers to allow guests to control and adjust in-room devices like lights, thermostats, blinds, and TVs. Guests can also ask Alexa to play music from services including iHeartRadio and TuneIn.
Without giving exact dates, Amazons said that Alexa for Hospitality will “soon” allow guests to temporarily connect their Amazon account to the Alexa-enabled device in their room. This will allow guests to do things like play music from apps like Spotify or listen to their own Audible audiobooks.
As far as privacy goes, Amazons says Alexa for Hospitality “automatically disconnects” a guest’s Amazon account from the Echo device upon checkout.