We do travel quite a lot at Juzacon. And everywhere we go we look for best examples of how different businesses leverage digitalization in their operations – as well as areas where digital transformation is crying out to happen. In Digital experiences series we will share some of these stories.

I have stumbled upon Hotel The Match as we were staying in Eindhoven visiting our long-term customer. Opened just last week it had everything you would expect from a newly opened hotel – hip, industrial interior with exposed concrete ceiling, comfy pillows and USB ports by the bed.

But what really caught my attention was the level of digitalization that they implemented. As you enter the hotel you are greeted by a round console equipped with a few iPad Pros. These are used to check yourself in – the process is fully self-service and with a few taps and entering some details you get a keycard for your room. Yes, it does take away at least some of personal touch, there is a bit of learning curve and it will not be appreciated by all. But the process was pretty straightforward and there was no need for awkward name-spelling exercises or passing the post-it notes with handwritten address details. At the same time super friendly staff was always at hand in case you run into trouble and could focus on really listening to customer needs instead of running through semi-robotic processes.

In the room, instead of a thick folder with all the details about the hotel and recommendations for places to visit in the neighborhood, everything is accessible through a smartphone available in the room. And perhaps the coolest of all is that you are free to take this smartphone wherever you go during the stay. This means you get free data access with all the main apps you would need in a new town, including maps, email, social networking, and you can also download new ones from Play Store. Not to mention they provide free international calls (with some exceptions, of course).

Apparently the solution is provided by hi Inc, a Honk Kong based startup, which owns the Handy brand and is by no means a new thing, especially in Asian countries. It boasts that their solution is available in 600k hotel rooms globally and has completed a new funding round in November which reportedly brings their valuation to $1.5 bn. The smartphone also enables users to control various appliances in the room, such as light and curtains (although I did not have a chance to try these out) and can work as a key card to open your room. There are other devices available as well as a full software platform to manage the hotel.

While the solution still has its flaws – for example, there were clearly some missing (or slow) integrations with third-party booking websites as my credit card payment did not show up in hotel’s system – it is a great example of how tech is delivering new and improved user experiences to the customers. Plus, the hotel was run by virtually one person without actually degrading the service. Of course, in the hotel industry you still have to get the basics right – hotels have to be clean, pillows comfortable and temperature just right and this new way of working will not be liked by everyone. But that is exactly how companies across all sectors should be looking for new and improved experiences by leveraging digital opportunities.