• by Chuck Martin , Staff Writer, August 5, 2018

The Internet of Things is about connections everywhere, and hotel rooms are no exception.

Various hotel brands have figured this out and are adding various smart devices and other connected services to their rooms.

One of the latest examples is Hilton, which has a portfolio of 14 hotel brands, comprising more than 5,000 properties with more than 850,000 rooms in more than 100 countries.

Hilton launched what it calls the Connected Room concept, created by the hotel’s tech and digital teamm.

“Connected Room is a platform, much like an iPhone, based on Hilton’s own intellectual property,” a Hilton rep told me. “Over time, new features, apps and functionality are pushed to existing devices, without the need for additional hardware and, over time, Connected Room can adopt new features and functionalities that guests or owners demand.”

Hotel guests can use the Hilton Honors app to select preferred viewing channels, set a preferred temperature before they return to their room, stream shows and movies from Showtime, check in before arriving at the hotel, select a room from a digital map and unlock their room door with a phone.

Behind the scenes, Hilton is using artificial intelligence and machine learning to optimize energy efficiency, according to Josh Weiss, vice president of brand and guest technology at Hilton, who detailed the Connected Room program in a blog post.

The Connected Room features, which started in test mode last year, are in about 500 hotel rooms, soon expanding to thousands, according to Hilton.

Curiously, Hilton says no agencies have been involved in the connected room innovations, though may get involved to add marketing support down the road.

At the moment, adding capabilities like those in the Connected Room program and voice assistants like Amazon Alexa and Google Home are innovative features that may surprise and delight guests.

In the long term, they will be table stakes.