AccorHotels wants you to WhatsApp their staff for room service

AccorHotels UK & Ireland has introduced the facility for guests to communicate with hotel staff using WhatsApp The change means customers no longer need to use the phones in their rooms or contact hotel reception. Each customer will be given a dedicated mobile phone number with their room key card on arrival, which is monitored by a member of staff who can respond immediately. It also means customers can make requests wherever they are both inside and outside the hotel, before during and after their stay. In the hotels where the service was first trialled, it generated positive feedback from guests. The system is now being rolled out at selected hotels in the portfolio. Thomas Dubaere, chief operating officer of AccorHotels Northern Europe, commented: “Guests want to communicate using the methods they are most familiar with. The use of WhatsApp has increased exponentially over the past few years and is a platform most of our guests tell us they feel very comfortable using. “Enabling them to use it to order room service or ask reception a question is a logical step to ensuring they have the best possible experience in our hotels.” The move marks the latest phase in AccorHotels’ introduction of mobile technology to improve the guest and employee experience. In 2017, it began to run the ibis UK network from mobile devices, with employees welcoming and helping guests, as well as managing their schedules, from a smartphone app. AccorHotels also recently implemented digital technology that allows guests to order food and drink, process payment and be sent receipts from the same platform via their smartphones.