Marriott launches its first-ever pop-up innovation lab in downtown Los Angeles. It is crowdsourcing real-time feedback from the public by allowing industry professionals, hotel guests, associates and the general public to see, touch, taste and hear some of the enhancements being considered for the future of the company’s innovation incubator brand Aloft and the eco-conscious, extended stay brand Element.
Some of the innovations that will be featured include:
- Element’s bold new guest room design that will feature a communal room in the centre of four guest rooms. Travellers can share a kitchen, dining room and lounge area allowing groups to collaborate and spend time together in a more private setting.
- Aloft’s revitalised food and beverage programme. It will emphasis on fresh, healthy ingredients. Travellers can customise ‘pots’, a healthy meal in a colourful to-go container with food that reflects regional tastes. Pay for a personalised pot with a time-stamped, label featuring their chef’s emoji at a digital kiosk.
- Element’s tech-centric beverage concepts such as a portable wine cart that automatically pours wine when activated by a guest’s hotel room key card.
Every person who passes through the lab will be able to offer their feedback in real-time through Swurveys, a swipe-able survey. The feedback will be reflected in the two brands as they roll out this intuitive guest experience beginning in the fall of 2017.
As at end 2016, there were 116 Aloft and 23 Element hotels around the world with 150 Aloft and 73 Element hotels in the pipeline globally. Last year, new signings of Elements more than doubled 2015’s signings. Aloft experienced a 37% uptick in signed deals year over year.
This year Marriott expects to open 33 Aloft properties and 14 Element properties in cities such as Seoul, South Korea; Seattle, Washington and South Bend, Indiana.
Marriott International acquired Starwood Hotels & Resorts four months ago, inheriting the two hotel brands.
My wife and I had stay at Aloft in Leawood Kansas,. We had stay there before and it was nice, but this time, very sad in the condition of the room. There was food on the floor and the carpet was very dirty, the coffee pot was nasty, still had a used pack in it.
Long story short. WILL NEVER stay in another one ever.
Thank you.
PS would like my money back, due to My wife and I felt very uncomfortable and could not sleep well. People very nice there but rooms bad shape. Brother in law said the same thing.