InterContinental Hotels & Resorts Launches AI Rooms in China

BEIJING—InterContinental Hotels & Resorts has collaborated with Baidu to introduce the next generation of intelligent hospitality—AI Smart Rooms. Powered by artificial intelligence, these rooms are expected to improve and redefine the customer hotel experience in China’s hospitality industry.

Guests staying at InterContinental Beijing Sanlitun and InterContinental Guangzhou Exhibition Centre will be among the first to use the AI Smart Rooms. A total of 100 AI powered Club InterContinental suites will be available at InterContinental hotels in gateway cities and key destinations across China within the year.

Customized for InterContinental Hotels & Resorts, the AI solution was developed by Baidu’s DuerOS Platform. It integrates AI technology with hotel operations, and this is supported by a hardware upgrade and cloud service. Unlike traditional guestrooms, the newly launched AI Smart Room will fully embrace voice-control technology to deliver a more natural human-computer interactive experience. For instance, guests will be able to freely switch settings between work and leisure modes, and experience a more convenient and seamless room service experience, according to the company. This solution will also further fine tune the current backstage management system, including customizing information and resetting devices, making hotel management a simpler task.

“IHG has always been at the forefront of innovation,” said Lin Wang, VP of marketing, IHG Greater China. “We are thrilled to be pioneering in the hospitality industry, and exploring the various possibilities of future experience with our guests. Millennials are particularly sensitive to technology, often seeking new things to try. The AI Smart Room will undoubtedly be extremely attractive for them, paving the way for a new level of modernization and consumer satisfaction.”

Wang continued, “We will continue to make use of cutting-edge technology in hotel service and facilities in the future, and we hope this will further strengthen customer awareness and appreciation of smart technology. Meanwhile, we will provide more efficient operation and management services to our hotel owners.”

IHG and Baidu inked a strategic partnership on AI development last November. Since then, the hospitality industry has witnessed a new wave of exploration in this field. The application of AI has gone beyond smart homes and automatic driving, and now marks a new milestone in the hospitality industry. In the future, IHG and Baidu will continue the exploration and innovation in intelligent hospitality solutions, creating more smart options and experiences for guests, both companies report.