News

Holiday Inn launches first self-service check-in kiosk

March 23, 2005

ATLANTA, Ga. - According to a news release, Holiday Inn Hotels and Resorts has begun testing a full-service reception kiosk. The kiosk will allow guests to check into or out of their rooms, change hotel reservations, and access airline systems to print boarding passes on the spot. The 90-day test is being conducted at the Holiday Inn Gwinnett Center in Duluth, Ga. "Holiday Inn is rooted in innovation and forward thinking, all the way back to the days of Kemmons Wilson's vision for the ideal American hotel brand," said Mark Snyder, senior vice president of brand management for Holiday Inn Hotels & Resorts in the Americas. "These self-service kiosks are the next evolution of that vision, providing more customer-enabling technology for increasingly busy families and business travelers." The new kiosk will complement the Holiday Inn "People Notice" initiative, the brand's recruitment, training and guest service program underway this year. The program includes elements that anticipate guests' needs, like a pillow menu and personal wake-up calls. The kiosks augment the service portion of the program, allowing guests the option of bypassing the front desk if that is their preference. The Holiday Inn kiosk technology was developed by MICROS Systems Inc. in partnership with Kinetics, Inc. The kiosk has a real-time interface to the MICROS OPERA Property Management System using MICROS OPERA Web Services as the communication tool. The airline access portion of the Holiday Inn kiosk is powered by Kinetics' CheckInHere system. Holiday Inn will collect customer feedback to the kiosk system during the 90-day test and then evaluate a plan for system implementation later this summer.