CAMBRIDGE, MA— Hotels are no doubt finding savvy, high-tech guests can be demanding, seeking all of the connectivity conven-iences they have in their office, and even their homes. But try being located down the street from such learning institutions as M.I.T. and Harvard, universities responsible for developing and nurturing some of the most high-tech minds in the country, and that draw some of the most technologically elite individuals in the world to the Cambridge area. Unique Customers That’s the fate dealt to The Charles Hotel, which sits in Harvard Square here. “We have an individual, unique clientele,” said Edward Ng, the hotel’s information services manager, who is on call at the property 24/7. Academia isn’t the only source of business for the hotel, said Ng, who noted, “There are also a lot of high-tech companies in Cambridge that want to do webcasts.” Thus, seeing an early demand for a high-speed Internet solution, The Charles— which has 293 guestrooms and 44 suites— completed its installation of STSN’s broadband Internet access back in October 1999. In-room usage of the service is in the 15% range, said Ng; however, he doesn’t doubt he will see a higher adaptation rate in the future. “We are seeing modest revenue coming in from revenue sharing [of the STSN service],” said Ng. “I suspect it will become a formal revenue source; the trick is to create the demand.” The Charles, however, is seeing strong usage of the broadband service in its meeting space. “Each group here that tries it sees that it goes faster, and they don’t have to wait a long time for that connection,” he said. The hotel recently hosted Intel, which was able to have 40 high-speed lines up and running at once, thanks to the property’s connectivity abilities. Visitors to The Charles may also notice a unique phenomenon occurring in the property’s public areas, that of guests participating in videoconferencing by using hotel-provided Sony Vaio laptops that have cameras built into them. Ng said management bought two of the laptops, which are seeing good usage as well. The hotel had also explored providing a Palm Pilot interface that would allow guests to check in, establish their preferences, open their doors and settle their bills electronically. While testing for that process has been tabled for now, The Charles is presently seeking to upgrade its property management system (PMS) from its legacy AmeriSoft system to Fidelio, according to Ng. Aid For Housekeeping Meanwhile, the hotel will have a palm-held device that the housekeeping staff will be able to use as it inspects, and rates, each guestroom. While that “housekeeper inspection module” will not be wireless to start— as a phone will be required at first— “the platform for that is in the future,” said Ng. The hotel is also looking at providing wireless connectivity to its guests, said Ng. “We are sure we will need to make wireless access available,” he said, noting that the hotel also wants to provide wireless service for those who want to connect using their PDAs. Ng reports that he is seeing the number of laptop carriers to the hotel decline, as many opt instead to use their PDAs for Internet access. “Fewer and fewer people are carrying laptops because of PDAs, because they can check e-mail from them,” said Ng. IP Telephony Another avenue the hotel is seeking to take on its trek to offer high-tech amenities is the exploration of offering an IP telephony solution. While there presently aren’t “firm” plans in place for such a solution, Ng noted that “as technology emerges, IP telephony will be huge, but it’s costly.” On the e-commerce side of the technology equation, Ng is looking at revamping the hotel’s existing website, www.charleshotel.com. “We are doing an integration between our website and PMS so that people can book in real time. We want to drive business that way,” said Ng, who said the hotel is also exploring doing an Intranet site so that associates
