Guests at over 3,000 IHG Hotels and Resorts properties in the US and Canada can now check-in using digital technology.
Customers will receive a notification with the option to check in from their personal device or via the IHG app ahead of their stay, and can then head to a designated area of the hotel’s lobby to show identification and pick up their room key.
The service – which operates on the group’s cloud-based IHG Concerto platform – also allows guests to checkout by reviewing their bill via email / the IHG app, and can then simply leave the keys in the room and leave the property.
IHG said that the digital check-in and check out technology would “support safe, secure and convenient experiences for all guests before, during and after their stay”.
The service is also being piloted in other regions of the world, with plans to roll it out across 4,500 properties by the end of the year.
Commenting on the news Josh Weiss, vice president, guest products and platforms, IHG Hotels and Resorts said:
“Digital check-in is a crucial part of the Stay with Confidence program. Building this capability on our IHG Concerto platform allowed us to work quickly to deliver a product our guests want.
It also creates an integrated experience for our hotel colleagues and helps support our owners through recovery. This is beneficial to our hotel teams because it minimizes transaction time and complexity, giving them more time to engage guests on-property in other meaningful ways.”
Covid-19 has seen hotel groups worldwide accelerate moves towards digital and contactless processes. Wyndham recently rolled out mobile check-in to 6,000 North American properties, and last month Accor unveiled its first “fully digital hotel” in Northern Europe at the Ibis Styles London Gloucester Road.
