When Locale Grand Cayman opened recently, it became the first hotel in the Cayman Islands to feature Amazon Alexa voice assistants powered by Volara in every guestroom.
As an independent boutique hotel, it was important to management that the new hotel differentiate itself in the market, the hotel said, and attract modern travelers looking for a more personalized experience without a lot of unwanted staff interaction. By adding the in-room voice assistants, Alexa is answering guests’ requests for hotel information, services and concierge recommendations in real time, and it’s giving the property the desired “cool factor” sought by today’s modern travelers.
“Partnering with Volara to bring Alexa voice assistants to each guestroom was really important to us from an operations and guest service perspective,” Aliya Dunstan, the hotel's sales and marketing manager, said in a statement. “With it, guests don’t have to stop and call the front desk when they want to know what time the pool closes or when they need extra towels. They can just ask Alexa. It removes the middleman, which is great for staff because they can spend time serving guests who want or need the in-person assistance and it speeds service for guests because it’s one less inconvenient step they must take on their travel journey.
“We want to break communication barriers and be on target with travelers’ demands,” she said. “Anticipating guests’ needs and giving them a highly secure digital voice assistant in their rooms to serve as a personal concierge is a first step towards meeting that goal. And, with Volara-powered Alexa devices in our rooms, we don’t have to waste money printing traditional in-room collateral; the device is making us more eco-friendly, which is so important to an island destination.”
Volara’s software is enabling the hotel to manage conversations with its guests in real-time. Its secure integrations hub, which now includes more than 40 hotel technologies, is enabling guest requests to prompt specific actions—whether routing a task to hotel staff, providing directions or just keeping guests apprised of what is happening at the property. The architecture of Volara’s software enables additional layers of security to ensure that guests’ personal information and conversations are protected, and the hotel’s proprietary data is secure. Volara’s patent-pending accuracy engine ensures guest requests are properly handled, taking into consideration the many colloquialisms and accents used by global travelers.