Motel – Hotel Website Design

A friend of mine is developing a project using RFID tags to manage inventory in hotel rooms – you know the stuff in the mini bar and snacks. That’s caused me to take a greater interest in rfid tags and how they are being used for hospitality. For one, they can be used to control electronic door locks for hotel rooms and other ways to track guest movements and give permissions. They can also be used in towels, robes and other items that move around a hotel and might end up going home in the guests luggage. Interesting, but not really very fun.

Using RFID Tags with FaceBook

Here’s an application that looks like fun and leads to lots of possibilities.  The Ushuaia Beach Hotel in the European summer clubbing capital of Ibiza capitalizing on their guests’ obsession with Facebook by using rfid tagged wristbands and specialty kiosks places around the resort.

RFID tags are really cheap, and they hold a signal that allows the guest to swipe their band over a sensor on a kiosk that connects them to their FaceBook wall. The kiosk then takes pictures and videos and supports posting messages.

Naturally, this is really great publicity for the Ushuaia Beach Hotel as people stream live images from their holiday back to friends at home.

RFID Tags and the Tap-n-Go features of Android for Phones

The idea of tagged wrist bands in a closed environment is really cool because they are disposable, they can get wet and they’re cheap and easy to distribute. Festivals would be a great application.

For every day, I doubt I would keep an rfid tag with me when I go shopping or do day to day stuff. Even if I did, they would be coded to work with specific kiosks and it’s not likely that they will be sprinkled around the place.

But, my mobile phone is like a kiosk. The reason why they work so well at the hotel is because people are swimming, dancing and in full party mode and they don’t want to carry expensive and bulking equipment.  When I walk down Main Street, that’s not the case. I have my smart phone and I can check in with a FourSquare or Google Plus and I can upload anything I want to FaceBook.

But, businesses will want to make that easy – so QRCodes and NFC Tap-n-Go technologies will bring it all together. I can see great ways to set up scavenger hunts, photo contests and more using simple technology coupled with the power of smart phones. I think the story is just beginning.

Well, the market for Check in Apps is still open with Gowalla and Foursquare leading the charge. Certainly, Google and FaceBook have eyes on this genre of social media and one of them may well become the dominant player. For the moment, it makes sense to use them all. If nothing else, you may get inbound links and validation of your business that improves your ranking in Google Places.

Briefly, a Check in App is a way for people with smart phones, or iPhones, to register their physical presence at a business or point of interest. The reasoning behind doing it varies from just being silly to getting ideas about where to go and what to do when in strange locations. By looking to see where your friends check in, or seeing a general trend of check ins – you may be able to see that some businesses are more popular than others. You may also see reviews that would help you pick a business. And, some proactive businesses may have incentives that would encourage you to cross the street and try their business.

Getting Started with Gowalla

Foursquare allows you to set up a business listing, but Gowalla requires the initial listing be created by ‘someone’ visiting the business and establishing a first check-in. I know because I asked and got the following reply.

Hi Mark,
All spots are created by users out and about on their favorite smartphone. While standing at the location that you would like to add, open Gowalla on your phone and go to the Spots tab. Click the “+” sign to add the Spot. Fill out the name of the location, a description, and choose from the category list to help people know what kind of spot it is. After finishing that, click “create spot.” Then, make sure that you check-in and go online and claim your Spot.

To claim your spot, make sure you are logged in on www.gowalla.com Find your Spot by clicking on the Spots tab at the top and searching for it. On the right hand side of the screen underneath the map, there will be a “claim my Spot” button. Follow the instructions there and you should be good to go. After you have claimed your spot, make sure you let others know about it, and add a custom welcome message or tell people about a discount they get for checking in. And, if you’re feeling especially fun, have our creative team design your Spot its own custom Gowalla Passport Stamp.

Thanks!

Andrew Waldrup
Gowalla - Culture Evangelist
Austin, Texas

Based on that, it makes sense for all business owners to get someone (perhaps themselves) with a smart phone to check in to Gowalla at their business.  That initiates the listing, from which point the business owner can take ownership and start optimizing their listing.