Tech at Westin Boston Waterfront takes flight with airline info

BOSTON— Only a little more than a year old, the Westin Boston Waterfront hotel here seemingly holds an ever-increasing value. The fledgling property has already been sold this year by its original developer for $130 million more than it was built, been set for an expansion under its new owner DiamondRock Hospitality Co. and now pushed the amenities envelope in terms of technology to a point where it may eventually be known as none other than an industry pioneer. Primarily setting the hotel up for that designation is its recent deployment of a wall-mounted high-definition LCD display in the lobby that shows the same real-time airline departure information shown at nearby Boston Logan International Airport. That HD-formatted information includes the destination city, airline, flight number, original flight time, gate number and, most importantly, flight status just like any airport departure screen. Considering the 793-room Westin Boston Waterfront is connected to the newly opened Boston Convention & Exhibition Center and is a meeting destination in its own right, the flight departure board has proven to be invaluable to the hotel’s business guests, according to the hotel’s general manager, David Connor. “This is the most recent introduction at our hotel in terms of technology aspects and I came up with the idea from one of my friends who operates an airport property hotel and it’s convenient for guests, particularly in the winter time,” he explained. “Also, for us specifically, we are a convention hotel, so 65% of our guests are locked up in meeting rooms or halls for a convention for three or four days and don’t even get to look outside. So before they rush off to the airport, they now know their flight status.” Provided by Flyte Systems, the flight screen is known as the FlyteBoard and is installed and configured by Flyte Systems’ technicians and monitored around the clock by the company. Able to be wall-mounted or floor-mounted in the lobby or even displayed on a television channel in guestrooms, the FlyteBoard connects to Flyte Systems Web servers via the Internet by using the hotel’s existing network. Such an arrangement is seamless and fully integrated, according to Connor, and took only two weeks in March to set up at the Westin Boston Waterfront, which is operated by Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. Since that time, in terms of glitches, it has been virtually “bulletproof,” he said. The cost of the system, which wasn’t disclosed, is based on a monthly subscription. The only real upfront cost for the hotel is the price of the display. Furthermore, Connor noted that arrival information can also be displayed, but he chose one board solely for departures. The board at the Westin Boston Waterfront is located above the bell desk. And because it’s located there, the comments from guests have been apparent to the Westin’s staff. “They say it’s really great to have the info and that it’s great that they don’t have to rush if they see there is a delay,” Connor said. Connor also acknowledged that because the FlyteBoard inevitably keeps people on site longer as they wait for delayed flights, it can lead to greater hotel revenue opportunities. In taking the FlyteBoard amenity to another level, Connor said the hotel is now also deploying it within the hotel guestrooms over one of the “dark” TV channels. But the usefulness of the system apparently won’t end there. “We’re eventually going to parlay the system into a preboarding pass and baggage system as well that goes through the [Transportation Security Administration],” Connor noted. “Currently, guests can print their boarding passes at a kiosk, but with a baggage system, they can get their boarding pass and give us their luggage. We then give them a claim check for it. But the baggage has to be locked in our possession and we then bring it to the airport a certain number of hours before the flight. When it’s transported it’s locked in a cage and ticketed and brought