Skift Take
Hotel labor groups have justifiably been concerned over the industry push in the last year to offer contactless features like mobile check-in that reduce staffing needs. The Standard’s chat function replacing calls to the front desk may be the rare tech innovation that actually helps the worker.
Everyone does it — even if they don’t like to admit it.
You know check-out is at noon, but you want to try for 2 p.m. anyway. Maybe the sample-sized toiletries were really nice, and you want an extra set to take home. You call down to the front desk only to be put on hold for 20 minutes because everyone else is trying to ask the lone person at the front desk the same thing.
Hotel brand The Standard and its tech partners don’t have an app for that, but they have a new guest chat feature they say can fix the problem.
The Standard currently offers “Stan,” a virtual chat agent that manages guest requests at its hotels across the U.S. and eventually abroad at properties in the Maldives and London. Stan fields requests like more towels or late check-out requests and doesn’t require a separate app. Instead, you directly text Stan like you would one of your friends or family.
The hotel and tech partnership officially launched the Stan chat function to other hotel companies Monday under a new b
