Calpin also added that it isn't only about finding the best approach to technology and implementing it at one hotel. “I think it is important that whatever you do is customer driven, but once you find that thing, you do it at scale,” she says.

LOS ANGELES—“Customers are accustomed to controlling their environment from the palm of their hands,” said Geraldine Calpin, chief marketing officers at Hilton, on the Hotels of the Future panel at ALIS this week. Calpin was talking about integrating technology into the hotel environment to provide better, more tailored services to guests. She spoke on a panel with Raj Chandnani, VP of strategy at WATG | Wimberly Interiors, Michael Lentz, managing director of Host Hotels & Resorts, Josh Lesnick, EVP and chief marketing officer at Wyndham Hotel Group, as well as moderator Stephen Jennings, a principal at Deloitte Consulting, LLP.

While the panelists discussed how to use technology to create a more intimate customer experience, in truth, the conversation dissected how hotels should evolve to meet the needs of the new consumer and beyond. Everything from keyless entry to texting the front desk to smart thermostats were discussed as ways technology is currently being used to change the hotel experience, but panelists saw more dramatic integration of technology in the future. “There is a gravitation toward consumer experiences and there is an expectation for increased satisfaction,” said Chandnani, who, along with Calpin, imagined mini fridges stocked with a guest's favorite beverage, preferred pillows on each bed and entertainment systems that connect with a guest's personal devices so their content is available at the push of a button. This is the hotel experience of the future.

The focus wasn't all on service. Technology will also be used to reduce costs and waste. “We want to be able to turn off a room when a guest isn't around,” says Calpin, while Lesnick sees technology as a way to enhance budget properties that are lacking personnel.

The challenge here is that technology is constantly changing, and hotels need to remain flexible enough to change with technology. “It is about creating flexibility in each room to accomplish that service to accommodate needs,” says Chandnani. “When you build a hotel, it has to last but technology is going to change.” He adds that creating the infrastructure with the flexibility to adapt to new technologies will be the key to successful hotels in the future.

Calpin also added that it isn't only about finding the best approach to technology and implementing it at one hotel. “I think it is important that whatever you do is customer driven, but once you find that thing, you do it at scale,” she says.