Hotels are installing ipads for guest use

Hotels increasingly are giving guests a reason not to pick up the phone or wait in line for service once they check in.

How? By installing iPads in guest rooms and public spaces such as lounges or lobbies.

Guests can use the tablet computers to get restaurant and nightclub recommendations, browse a directory of hotel services and learn about hotel events such as happy hours. The iPads can help guests avoid lines for concierge services and print boarding passes before they head to the airport.

“It’s a nice alternative to our business center, as they can bring them to their room or relax on the sofas in the lounge,” said Deirdre Yack, marketing director for Hyatt’s 48 Lex hotel in New York, which has installed three iPads in the lounge.

“We mostly see (guests) using iPads for social media — i.e., checking in on Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare — and for reading newspapers,” Yack said.

At the SLS Hotel South Beach, which opened last summer, guests find an iPad in every room. Special software connects guests with hotel operations. They can buy a bottle of bubbly, make reservations at the Bazaar restaurant by chef Jose Andres, request their car from the valet and send boarding passes to be printed at the front desk.

Among other hotels that are installing iPads:

» Starwood’s Aloft hotels. The hotel giant’s edgy, midpriced Aloft chain signed a deal to install mounted iPads powered by hospitality-technology firm Intelity in Aloft hotel lobbies. The tablets can be found in Aloft locations in Tempe, Charlotte, Austin and Chennai, India, Intelity spokesman Phil Schwartz said.

» Kimpton boutique hotels. The San Francisco-based hotel operator rolled out iPad kiosks in its lobbies this fall. They’ll be in every Kimpton hotel by the end of this year, the company said.

» Hilton Worldwide’s luxury Conrad hotels. This month, the chain unveiled an app that connects Conrad guests’ personal iPads to hotel services at any Conrad hotel worldwide. For example, a guest can book a spa treatment or restaurant reservation at the Conrad in Chicago from either their personal tablet or the in-room iPad at the Conrad in Miami.

When the Revere Hotel in Boston opened this year, space near the concierge desk was left vacant specifically to hold wall-mounted iPads, general manager Simon Mais said.

“Our concierge is so busy,” Mais said, that customers can avoid waiting with the iPads.