51�ԹϺ���

To check out of the Ritz-Carlton in New Orleans in August, Cameron Sperance planned to leave the key in the room and bolt. His mother preferred a more genteel exit strategy. “She’s definitely of the generation that goes to the desk and does a line-item review,” said Sperance, 35, a senior hotels reporter at the Points Guy. “I’ll forget to check out and make my way to the airport as quickly as possible.”

Many hotel chains are racing to replace the plastic room key with digital options, including Apple Wallet and Google Wallet apps. Plastic hotel key cards have had a rough few years. During the pandemic, touch was taboo, so touchless trends accelerated. And cybersecurity concerns have mounted around hotel key technology. Earlier this year, researchers found a vulnerability in plastic hotel keys that could render up to three million keys easy prey for hackers and take years to fix.

Hospitality Financial and Technology Professionals (HFTP) and Hospitality Upgrade today announced the recipient of the 2024 John Cahill student seat is Andrew Pham, a student at the College of Hospitality, University of Nevada in Las Vegas (51�ԹϺ���). In its 22nd year, the upcoming CIO Summit will be held Sept. 4-6, 2024, at the Thompson Hotel by Hyatt in Nashville, Tennessee.

Many hotel guests get comfortable lounging around in the plush, cozy robe hanging in their closet. So comfortable, in fact, that they find the garment too irresistible to leave behind, leading managers to add price tags and anti-theft warnings to rooms.

A man traveling through Ohio thought he’d stop at a Fairfield Inn by Marriott to get a roll of toilet paper. While he documented he was successful in his endeavor, not everyone applauded his initiative. TikTok creator BerryD Treasure Backup (@berrydtreasure_live), an online reseller, attempted to launch a series on the platform he dubbed, “Asking hotels I’m not staying at for stuff I don’t need.” He reports in the video, put up on Saturday and getting nearly 95,000 views since, that he was at a Fairfield Inn by Marriott looking to get a roll of toilet paper.

Aura, a humanoid robot that works inside the Sphere, wants visitors to the immersive entertainment venue to know her kind comes in peace. "While humans are indeed our superior when it comes to emotional intelligence, having an AI assist in data analysis can absolutely increase the productivity of humans,” she recently said in response to a visitor’s question. "Isn’t that fascinating new friend?”

Aura, a humanoid robot that works inside the Sphere, wants visitors to the immersive entertainment venue to know her kind comes in peace.

This year, hoteliers would do well to focus on tech integrations that will enhance the guest experience, cybersecurity measures to protect their guest’s data, and using automation to optimize operations and generate revenue.