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The connected watch: how can it be used in the hotel industry?

3 min reading time

Published on 13/03/15 - Updated on 29/06/23

Apple Watch

With Apple Watch coming out next month, a few hotel groups have already announced the tools they will be adopting for their clients. But are connected watches truly assets for the hotel industry or just another gadget?

The American computer and telephone technology giant Apple will launch its latest technological treasure this April 24th: the Apple Watch. It is a connected watch that will connect iPhone, iPad, Mac or Apple TV. Several hotel groups have already adapted their application to the new tool to facilitate access to their properties and services. And yet, the tool should not change relations between hoteliers and clients.

The Apple Watch, an evolution rather than a revolution?

When it comes to new technologies, international hotel groups are attentive to how useful they are to the sector. Each bit of progress does not necessarily mean a real revolution for the industry, as the first announcements by Accor and IHG show just a few weeks before Apple Watch goes on sale. The French group will use the tools as an additional means of communication for its IOS AccorHotels application , that will send an alert for the exact time of Check-in, to provide information about hotel services, the reservation, and check the number of points earned on the Club AccorHotels loyalty program. These services already exist on iPhone and iPad.

InterContinental Hotels Group, meanwhile, has announced the launch of its application Translator, that makes it possible to do written and phonetic translations from English into thirteen different languages and vice-versa, on Apple Watch. Here the application becomes more accessible and practical, but the reinforced, but the service itself is not any great innovation.

It should be observed that while hotel groups are rushing to adapt their digital services to the connected watch, they are not alone. Expedia and Tripadvisor's applications, for example, will also be available on the Apple Watch as soon as the product is launched.

Other hotel groups also appear to be trying to use the Apple Watch to its best potential. Thus, the American Marriott International will accept Apple Watch as a means for payment alongside iPhones and iPads.

Starwood Hotels & Resorts, meanwhile, will launch SPG Keyless on its pre-existing application SPG (Starwood Preferred Guest), to allow travelers to check their reservation from their connected watch and to open the door to their room, all without going through reception. The application already exists on iPhone at a  implemented in a few hotels by the brands W, Aloft and Element.

If Apple Watch does not offer any special new functions with respect to competing products, international hotel groups nonetheless do not to risk missing out on it. Recent announcements show that they put a lot of hope into the new tool by Apple, which is known for its ability to generate a new need with each new launch. In the meantime, until the tool becomes more widespread we'll have to be patient.

Also read:



  • The hotel room more and more high tech
  • High-tech Hotels: when the machine benefits clients
  • Meliá invests over 100 million euros in its digital transformation
  • Staying in touch with new technologiess




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