Starwood Hotels announced a pilot program that allows guests to swap physical keys for virtual keys. That program was essentially allowing guests to use their smartphones to check-in, check-out and also open the door to the room. Flash forward till present day and it looks like Starwood Hotels has gone another step forward with support for new technology. They have announced the SPG (Starwood Preferred Guest) app for Google Glass.
The app is already available for use, but currently listed as being in beta. Starwood plans to continue updating the app based on member/user feedback, but for now there appears to be a decent set of features. This list includes being able to search (by voice) for any of the 1,100 Starwood hotels. Options here include searching by destination, airport code, or what is nearby. You’ll also be able to book once you find the location you prefer.
Users can then get turn-by-turn directions to the hotel as well as explore and share images of the hotel, rooms and more. Perhaps key for SPG members — you will also be able to access your account information to include details on any upcoming stay, your Starpoint balance, and more.
Given you’ll need to be a Glass user, and also someone looking to stay at a Starwood hotel — we expect this will see a limited amount of users. But on the flip side, this does show another interesting use case for Glass. Sure, you can already do this all on a smartphone or tablet, but it is nice to see some real-world Glass potential outside the medical profession.
SOURCE: Starwood
