Smart hotel solutions are connected systems that link guest rooms, building controls, and hotel software so rooms respond to occupancy and guest preferences automatically. The most valuable setup connects the property management system to room energy controls first, then adds guest controls, personalization, and security. Installing guest-facing features before that integration adds cost without operating savings.

Key Takeaways:

  • Smart hotel solutions should make guest tasks easier, improve hotel operations, or reduce costs rather than simply add more technology.
  • PMS integration helps room systems respond automatically to check-ins, check-outs, room moves, and changes in room status.
  • Occupancy sensors and connected controls can reduce energy waste, but hotels must protect guest comfort and provide manual overrides.
  • Guests should receive simple room controls, with physical switches and staff support available when they do not want to use an app.
  • Every connected device needs security updates, network separation, clear ownership, and rules for storing and deleting guest data.

Table of Contents:

What is a Smart Hotel Room?

A smart hotel uses connected technology to improve the guest experience or hotel operations. In a smart room, this may include lighting, heating, curtains, entertainment, door access, and service requests that guests can manage through physical controls, a mobile device, a television, or another interface.

Many of these features rely on the Internet of Things in hospitality. Internet-connected devices can send status information, receive instructions, and trigger a response. For example, a room sensor can tell a building system that a room is vacant, while a maintenance sensor can alert staff to an unusual temperature or water leak.

A smart room should still work for guests who do not want to download an app or use voice control. Physical switches, staffed support, accessible interfaces, and a clear outage plan remain essential. Technology should add choice instead of making a simple task harder.

The Growing Importance of Smart Hotel Solutions

Smart hotel solutions are growing in importance because they improve the customer experience and reduce operating costs at the same time. Guests can adjust the heating, cooling, and lighting in a room to create their ideal surroundings, without needing to adjust every device by hand.

A smart hotel room can also connect entertainment, such as the TV, to voice or app control, and let guests order room service or request housekeeping through an app. Improvements like these make the stay more comfortable and convenient, which supports a better perception and a more memorable visit.

The cost side now matters as much as the guest side. Rising operating expenses kept US gross operating profit per available room (GOPPAR) at roughly 90% of 2019 levels, according to the AHLA State of the Industry report. Smart room controls cut energy use in unsold and empty rooms, and these savings help offset the cost of investing in smart hotel solutions.

Guest demand for sustainability adds a further reason. Deloitte’s Travel Industry Outlook reports that about one-third of US travelers, and about 42% of Gen Z travelers, say they will take some action to travel more sustainably, such as choosing hotels with higher sustainability ratings.

9 Smart Hotel Solutions to Smarten Up Your Hotel

The nine smart hotel solutions below cover guest-facing features, operations, and the integration and security layers that make the rest work.

1. How Smart Hotel Solutions Put Guests in Control

Smart room controls allow guests to manage lighting, temperature, curtains, and do-not-disturb settings from one consistent interface. A bedside panel or clearly labeled wall control is often easier to use than an app-only system, while mobile or television controls can provide additional convenience.

One example is the Hilton chain, which now runs its Connected Room technology in more than 2,400 hotels, according to Hilton. Hotels should start with the room functions guests use most often. Test how quickly each command works, whether settings reset at checkout, how controls perform at night, and what happens when the central controller is offline. The interface should also support guests with visual, hearing, mobility, or cognitive access needs.

The system should not force every guest into the same digital journey. Physical controls and staff assistance remain necessary for guests who prefer them or cannot use the main interface.

2. Entertainment with Voice Control

Voice control was once the main smart-entertainment talking point. Secure casting is now a more practical priority because it lets guests use familiar content without typing personal passwords into a hotel television.

J.D. Power’s study found that streaming-capable smart TVs were available to 74% of respondents and used by 62%, based on 44,787 branded-hotel guests. Hotels should therefore test pairing success, connection speed, supported devices, help requests, and automatic disconnection at checkout.

Samsung’s hospitality television announcement described QR-based casting that does not require a hotel-TV login and says personal information or device-pairing data is not stored by the television. Hotels should still verify network isolation, data handling, updates, and reset behavior during procurement.

As Andrea Stokes, Hospitality Practice Lead, J.D. Power, puts it:

“One area in which hotels can significantly influence guest satisfaction without massive capital expense is with technology like smart TVs and updated room temperature controls.”

3. More Rapid Guest Services

One important benefit of smart hotel technology is how devices can be connected to services provided by the hotel. Messaging, web links, television menus, in-room tablets, and hotel apps can make it easier to request towels, report a maintenance issue, ask a checkout question, or book a service. The main benefit is not the interface itself. It is the ability to send the request to the correct team with the room number, request type, priority, and status attached.

Hotels need clear ownership and escalation behind every digital channel. If staff must monitor several disconnected inboxes, a new tool can create another queue instead of improving response time.

IHG described a connected approach in Greater China that included IHG Connect, an artificial-intelligence telephone operator, delivery robots, IHG Studio television features, and mobile room controls. The example shows why hotels should evaluate how tools work together rather than buying isolated features.

4. Smart Hotel Solutions and Sustainability

Today’s hotel guests are more and more focused on concepts such as energy efficiency and sustainability in general. Occupancy sensors and connected building controls can reduce heating, cooling, or lighting in genuinely vacant rooms and spaces. The settings need comfort limits and a recovery target so that a returning guest does not enter an uncomfortable room. Staff also need an easy override for cleaning, maintenance, accessibility needs, and unusual weather.

Hotels should record energy use before installation and compare similar rooms or zones after the pilot. Energy per occupied room, comfort complaints, override frequency, equipment faults, and maintenance time provide a more useful view than the energy figure alone.

The LoRIS preprint describes 850 sensors of 19 types across 21 sites, producing more than 202 million records and supporting 7 hotel field studies. It shows why a sensor program also needs device ownership, naming standards, alert thresholds, retention rules, and a clear operational use for each signal.

5. Interactive Hotel Maps

Interactive hotel maps can help guests locate restaurants, meeting rooms, lifts, accessible entrances, leisure facilities, and other services. Current wayfinding does not need to depend on augmented-reality novelty. A mobile-friendly map, QR link, lobby screen, or accessible digital guide can solve the same problem with less friction.

Wayfinding should be tested for screen-reader support, contrast, text size, language, route accuracy, and changes in opening hours. It should also include a clear way to request human assistance.

Hilton and Be My Eyes announced an assistance service for blind and low-vision guests in the United States and Canada. The service combines artificial intelligence and live support for tasks such as identifying thermostat controls, operating coffee machines, recognizing window coverings, and navigating hotel spaces.

6. Anticipating Consumer Needs

Smart hotel systems can remember an expressed preference, such as room temperature, pillow type, communication channel, or an accessible display setting. This can reduce repeated requests and make a return stay feel more consistent. It should not become invisible surveillance or rely on assumptions that a guest cannot review or change.

Hotels should explain what optional data is collected, why it improves the stay, how long it is retained, and how the guest can withdraw consent. Service-essential processing should be separated from optional personalization.

This approach works best for habitual preferences, while discovery-based experiences should still give guests several choices. The goal is to make the stay easier without narrowing it unnecessarily.

Chaya Kowal, Director of Revenue Management, Potato Head Family

Predictive personalization can absolutely add value, especially for repeat guests. It’s thoughtful when a hotel remembers your room preferences, pillow type, or spa routines. It shows care and creates a sense of familiarity, which many travelers appreciate.

Sometimes, this kind of personalization can even be applied at a geo-market level based on behavioral patterns. For example, travelers from Market A may prefer to start sightseeing straight from the airport, while those from Market B might want to check in, rest, and explore later. These insights can help hotels anticipate needs to some extent, but you still have to be careful.

Because here’s the risk: you might unintentionally limit the guest experience. Maybe that guest would have gone for a higher-priced product or discovered something new if they weren’t nudged toward what they chose last time. There’s also a fine line with privacy; not everyone wants to feel “watched” or predicted.

Click here to learn more from our Hotel Revenue Management Expert Panel.

7. Personalizing In-room Entertainment with Smart Hotel Solutions

Last but not least, hotel rooms can be given smart treatment by introducing IoT-enabled entertainment devices that allow greater personalization of guests’ entertainment. Systems may be set up so that guests can connect their accounts to the hotel’s devices. For example, guests might want to log into Netflix from the hotel’s TV or access their Spotify playlist through the room’s smart speakers.

Amazon’s hotel product, originally called Alexa for Hospitality, now operates as Alexa Smart Properties for Hospitality, which Amazon offers to hotels by invitation. Platforms that update through software also keep entertainment current without new hardware. Hilton added Peloton fitness classes to in-room TVs through its Connected Room platform.

Personal accounts on shared devices create a privacy duty. Make sure the system signs guests out and clears their data automatically at check-out.

8. Connecting Room Systems to the PMS

Hotels connect smart room systems to the property management system (PMS) through APIs and event streams that share reservation, check-in, check-out, room status, and service data. This allows a connected room platform to respond when a guest arrives or departs and helps staff avoid updating the same information in separate systems.

Oracle’s Hospitality Integration Platform documentation shows how external applications can receive reservation, check-in, check-out, and guest-profile events from OPERA Cloud as they occur. The exact architecture varies by supplier, but the operating principle is the same. The PMS remains the source for stay events, while connected systems act on the data they are authorized to receive.

Start with an integration audit. Map which system owns each data field, which event should trigger each room action, and what staff must do if a message fails. Ask for live, named PMS integrations, API documentation, event coverage, sandbox access, support ownership, and failure behavior. Test check-in, room moves, early departure, check-out, and a PMS outage before expanding beyond the pilot area.

9. Securing Smart Devices and Guest Data

Hotels secure smart hotel solutions by treating every connected thermostat, television, lock, sensor, or speaker as a managed network endpoint. Each device needs an owner, approved configuration, software-update plan, access controls, monitoring, and a retirement process.

Smart-device traffic should be separated from guest Wi-Fi, payment systems, the PMS, and other hotel business systems. NIST guidance on connected-device security explains how network segregation and isolation can limit the systems a compromised device can reach. Vendor agreements should also define who provides security updates, how long support lasts, and how quickly the hotel will be notified of a vulnerability or breach.

The cost of weak data security in hotels is on the public record. The FTC finalized an order requiring Marriott and Starwood to implement a comprehensive information security program after three breaches affected more than 344 million customers worldwide. The order also requires a policy to retain personal information only as long as reasonably necessary and a way for U.S. customers to request deletion.

Before connecting a device, ask what guest or hotel data it can access, where that data is stored, who has administrator privileges, what activity is logged, and how data is removed at checkout or decommissioning.

Which Smart Hotel Solutions Should Hotels Install First?

Hotels should normally build smart rooms in dependency order, but the first investment depends on what already works and which problem has the clearest baseline. Security belongs in every phase. For many properties, the sequence is PMS and room-system integration, occupancy-based energy management, guest controls and access, and then consent-based personalization.

The table compares the main smart hotel solutions by what each one needs to work.

Solution What It Does Depends On Main Beneficiary Main Risk
PMS-to-room integration Passes sold, check-in, and check-out status to room systems Open APIs on the PMS and room controller Operations Vendor lock-in
Occupancy-based energy management Sets back heating, cooling, and lighting in unsold or empty rooms PMS integration and occupancy sensors Owner Comfort complaints if rooms recover slowly
Guest room controls (app, TV, voice) Lets guests adjust lighting, temperature, blinds, and entertainment Energy controls and stable Wi-Fi Guest Low use if the interface confuses guests
Personalized room settings Applies stored comfort preferences on arrival Guest profile and consent records Guest and loyalty team Privacy complaints
Smart locks and mobile keys Replaces keycards with phone credentials PMS integration and lock hardware Guest and front desk Credential and network security

How Can a Hotel Check Whether It Is Ready for Smart Hotel Solutions?

A hotel can use eight yes-or-no questions to identify weak dependencies before expanding its smart room program. Score one point for each yes.

  • Our PMS sends reservation, check-in, room-move, and check-out events to connected room systems automatically.
  • We know which system owns each data field and who resolves a failed integration.
  • We know our energy use per occupied room for the last 12 months.
  • Sensors and controls can identify unsold or vacant rooms without reducing guest comfort.
  • Guests can use room controls through one clear interface and a physical fallback.
  • Every connected device has an owner, inventory record, software version, and update status.
  • Smart room devices run on network segments separate from guest Wi-Fi, payment systems, and hotel business systems.
  • We record why guest preferences are stored, how long they are kept, and how guests can change or delete them.

A score of 7 or 8 supports a controlled expansion, with a pilot and monitoring still required. A score of 4 to 6 means the hotel should fix its weakest dependencies before scaling. A score of 0 to 3 calls for a full systems audit before adding connected devices. This readiness check is a planning tool, not a cybersecurity, privacy, accessibility, or legal audit.

Smart Hotel Room; What Are the Benefits for Hotel Owners and Guests

In the article “Smart Hotel Room; What Are the Benefits for Hotel Owners and Guests” you will find out more about how smart hotel solutions can benefit hotel owners and guests alike.

Video: Example of a Smart Hotel Room

Video: Smart Hotel Solutions- Las Vegas Hotels Go High Tech

Hotel Automation: Benefits, Tools, and Trends

Hotel automation can cut costs and take the burden of repetitive tasks from your busy staff. Did you know that it can also improve your guest experience? From smart hotel rooms and robot concierges to PMS integration and AI customer service, this article looks at how hotel automation is set to revolutionize the industry.

In “Hotel Automation: Benefits, Tools, and Trends,” you’ll learn about various automated systems and how they can benefit your hotel. Discover the tools that will streamline operations and help your guests enjoy a more pleasant stay.

Hotel Door Locks as Smart Hotel Solutions

Hotel door locks can also serve as useful smart hotel solutions. Modern hotel locking systems can include mobile app-based solutions or can be connected to biometric data to keep hotel rooms more secure. Some options also include aspects of automation, such as keycards that automatically expire at checkout time.

In the “Hotel Door Locks: The Main Lock System Types and Their Benefits” article, you will be able to explore different hotel door lock systems, learn about their benefits, and find out how to select the right locks for your hotel.

FAQs About Smart Hotel Solutions

A smart hotel solution uses connected devices, software, or data to simplify a guest task or hotel operation. Examples include mobile keys, room controls, secure TV casting, digital service requests, energy management, and maintenance sensors. It becomes useful when it works reliably, connects to staff workflows, and keeps a clear alternative for guests.

Start with the problem that has the clearest baseline and lowest integration risk. For many independent hotels, occupancy-based room controls or a focused digital service channel can be practical pilots. Choose one room type or operating zone, define the target, retain a manual alternative, and review the result before expanding.

They can reduce waste when occupancy signals control heating, cooling, and lighting, but results depend on the building, climate, equipment, settings, and guest behavior. Establish a property baseline and track comfort complaints alongside consumption. A result from one hotel should be treated as evidence of potential rather than a universal benchmark.

They can be safe when a hotel limits data collection, separates device networks, installs updates, controls administrator access, and plans for outages. Guests should receive clear privacy information, a meaningful choice when personalization is optional, and a usable non-digital alternative. Security responsibilities should also be written into the vendor agreement.

No. A well-designed smart room offers more than one control path, such as physical switches, a bedside panel, television controls, a web link, or staff assistance. An app can add convenience for mobile access and messaging, but making it mandatory creates friction for guests who cannot or do not want to install it.

Smart hotel solutions pay off when they are installed in the right order. Connect your systems first, cut energy costs next, then add the guest-facing features. Secure every device along the way, and measure the results so each step earns the next one.

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This article is written by:

Martijn Barten

Hi, I am Martijn Barten, founder of Revfine.com. With 20 years of experience in the hospitality industry, I specialize in optimizing revenue by combining revenue management with marketing strategies. I have successfully developed, implemented, and managed revenue management and marketing strategies for individual properties and multi-property portfolios.