Village Hotels, a portfolio of 32 properties across the U.K., has selected Volara for voice activation in all guestrooms through Google’s hotel solution. Volara’s conversation-management software and integrations hub will let guests use simple voice commands to interact with the hotel and personalize their experiences, from making service requests and setting alarms to asking for local recommendations and/or hotel information. Frequent guests of Village Hotels also will be able to make their next reservation at any property in the portfolio by saying, “Hey Google, call reservations.” Each guestroom will have a Google Nest Hub smart display.
Volara’s platform-agnostic software turns popular voice assistants into a hotel business tool that improves net promoter scores by 20 percent. Volara’s secure integrations hub connects hotels to more than 50 technologies, including property-management systems, internet protoclTV systems, work-order management systems, room controls, guest-engagement platforms, valet software and staff alert technologies. Volara is a launch partner for Google’s Hotel Solution, Google Assistant Interpreter Mode and Alexa for Hospitality. The company provides conversation-management software and secure integrations for 98 percent of the hotels using voice assistants across the globe.
Jon Davis, Village Hotels CTO, said the company selected the system to help answer guest questions and fulfill requests quickly and accurately without a lot of staff interaction.
Village Hotel’s voice technology rollout began in 2019 at the Village Hotel Portsmouth, Village Hotel Bristol, and Village Hotel Basingstoke. Properties in London Watford, Farnborough, and Southampton Eastleigh have already been enabled with the solution in every guestroom. Over the coming months, the hotel brand will be bringing the solution to every guestroom at Aberdeen, Birmingham, Blackpool, Bournemouth, Cardiff, Chester, Coventry, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Hull, Leeds, Liverpool, Maidstone, Manchester, Newcastle, Nottingham, Solihull, Swansea, Swindon, Warrington and Wirral.
“Village Hotels is the first hotel brand to commit to voice enabling its entire portfolio,” said David Berger, Volara CEO. “As Village Hotels continue to grow, our solution will grow with it.”
