Summary of Key Points
This article, through the author's personal experiences, highlights various "anti-human" issues encountered with smart hotels in actual use: cumbersome voice assistant operations that ignore the needs of special groups, overly sensitive sensors that cause panic, excessive reliance on unmanned services without proper contingency plans, and intelligent designs that lack clear explanations and user-friendly considerations. Although smart hotels represent a trend in the industry, many of the detailed aspects are still at a stage where technology is used for its own sake, causing considerable inconvenience for guests.
1. Voice Assistants: Designed to Be Convenient, but Instead Cause Trouble
Many hotels have entrusted control of amenities such as air conditioning and lighting to voice assistants, yet the designs are rather peculiar:
- Useless Panels: In a hotel in Beijing, the air conditioning panel indicated “off” but was still blowing air; the front desk staff required the use of a voice assistant to turn it off. The problem was that no one informed the guests about this, and the physical buttons on the wall were completely ineffective, leaving those accustomed to using traditional switches confused.
- More Complicated Operations: In a hotel in Inner Mongolia, guests had to use the voice assistant to turn off the lights, then manually operate the panel, and finally use the voice assistant again to shut down the smart speaker. What should have been a simple one-step process became three separate actions.
- Accidental Awakenings: The voice assistant in a chain hotel was integrated into the TV, with a loud volume that often started conversations unexpectedly, creating a startling experience, similar to a “midnight horror” scene. In the morning, guests had to fumble in the dark to find the speaker to turn it off, with the sudden brightness of the screen being particularly disruptive.
- Ignoring Special Needs: For guests who are deaf or mute and cannot use voice commands, the lack of physical switches puts them in a difficult situation.
2. Sensors That Are Too Sensitive: Turning Service into Panic
Some hotels use sensors to provide “service finding” features, but their sensitivity is far from user-friendly:
- Disturbing Bedside Lights: The bedside lights in a hotel in Kunming were so sensitive that they would turn on with the slightest movement, waking the author several times, forcing him to lie still until dawn.
- Spooky Bathroom Sounds: The sensors in a hotel in Guangzhou triggered a “welcome mode” during bathroom use, playing loud and abrupt music, creating a frightening experience akin to a horror movie.
- Unwanted Services: Automatic toilet lids, curtains, and mirrors that activate randomly can be misinterpreted by guests as signs of ghost activity if not explained in advance, turning what should be helpful services into sources of panic.
3. Unmanned Services: Overreliance with No Support
Unmanned services such as food delivery and check-in are often unreliable:
- Robots Get Stuck: In a hotel in Beijing, a robot delivering meals got stuck in the elevator for two hours; no one tracked its location or notified the guests. The author had to find the problem on his own, and the hotel blamed the robot’s manufacturer (yet it was the guests who suffered).
- Check-in Failures: At a hotel in Shenzhen, self-service check-in devices failed, and no one answered the front desk phone. It took assistance from OTA customer service and security personnel to resolve the issue, leaving the guests unattended.
- Robots Taking Over Elevators: Guests were blocked by robots waiting for elevators, which then left without them, forcing them to wait for the next one—technology that seems intelligent but actually excludes people.
4. Designs That Lack Humanity: Neglecting Practical Details
Many smart designs focus solely on technology without considering user needs:
- Lack of Information: Hotels either do not inform guests about how to use the voice assistants or hide the controls in inconspicuous locations, leading to misunderstandings (as with the air conditioning issue in Beijing).
- Rapid Replacement of Physical Controls: Replacing all physical switches with voice commands makes it difficult for elderly and disabled guests to use the services, increasing the number of steps required to complete tasks.
- Focusing on Technology Over Experience: The design of sensors and robots prioritizes automation over the user experience, often causing inconvenience (such as music playing in the middle of the night or robots occupying elevators).
In Conclusion
Smart hotels are a future trend, but we should not overlook the user experience in the pursuit of technological advancements. The purpose of technology is to make life more convenient, not to create additional difficulties. Hotels should put themselves in the guests’ shoes and ensure that all details are well thought out—by retaining physical controls, providing clear instructions, and having contingency plans in place. Only then can true intelligence truly enhance the customer experience.