The road-weary business traveler...
Illustration
Object:
The road-weary business traveler steps out of a taxicab, suitcase in hand, and climbs the
steps of a downtown hotel. "I'd like to check in," he says to the doorman.
"Right this way, sir," the doorman replies, ushering the man through the revolving door. He directs him not to the front desk, but to a machine resembling an ATM. A sign posted on the machine instructs the traveler to insert his credit card, punch in his room preference, and the machine will issue him his key.
They say these "automatic check-in kiosks" are the wave of the future in major hotels. No human interaction necessary.
There's something troubling about this rush to efficiency that replaces the smile of the desk clerk with a glowing computer screen. Hotel chains take pride in belonging to the "hospitality industry" -- but there's precious little hospitality in inserting a credit card into a slot. The new machine may be able to greet you by name (at least, once you've swiped your card), but can it smile back? Can it chat about the weather? Can it share a few sympathetic words on a bad day?
Of course it can't. Sometimes, there's nothing to replace old-fashioned human interaction -- which is, after all, at the heart of hospitality.
"Right this way, sir," the doorman replies, ushering the man through the revolving door. He directs him not to the front desk, but to a machine resembling an ATM. A sign posted on the machine instructs the traveler to insert his credit card, punch in his room preference, and the machine will issue him his key.
They say these "automatic check-in kiosks" are the wave of the future in major hotels. No human interaction necessary.
There's something troubling about this rush to efficiency that replaces the smile of the desk clerk with a glowing computer screen. Hotel chains take pride in belonging to the "hospitality industry" -- but there's precious little hospitality in inserting a credit card into a slot. The new machine may be able to greet you by name (at least, once you've swiped your card), but can it smile back? Can it chat about the weather? Can it share a few sympathetic words on a bad day?
Of course it can't. Sometimes, there's nothing to replace old-fashioned human interaction -- which is, after all, at the heart of hospitality.
