Major hotel brands are beginning to take advantage of the Alexa Skills Kit (ASK), which is a collection of self-service APIs, tools, documentation, and code samples that makes it fast and easy for developers to add “skills” to Amazon’s Alexa voice service and the brain behind tens of millions of devices like the Echo family of devices.
ASK enables hotel brands to build engaging skills for the benefit of guests at the property as well as consumers at home using Alexa-enabled devices. With ASK, hotels can leverage Amazon’s knowledge and pioneering work in the field of voice design to enhance the guest experience in countless ways.
Earlier this month, Amazon introduced a test version of a redesigned Alexa Skills Kit Developer Console that voice app developers at hotel brands can use to more easily create “skills” for travelers. According to reports, the new console makes developer workflows easier to implement, and now has distinct sections for “build,” “test,” “launch” and “measure.”
Red Roof Inn is one major hotel brand that is doing pioneering work in connecting directly with travelers through Amazon’s Alexa Skills platform. Setting the industry standard, a dynamic Red Roof Inn skill for Amazon Alexa now gives travelers the power to ask Alexa Red Roof-specific questions to assist in making travel plans, all from the comfort of home.
This new innovation allows Red Roof Inn to provide key information to the more than 20 million Alexa users, answering questions to help drive decisions including, “Can I bring my dog?” and “How many locations do you have?” to “Tell me about Red Roof PLUS+” and “Do you have any deals?” to “What time is check-out?”
The economy hotel chain, with over 500 properties in the United States, primarily in the Midwest, Southern, and Eastern United States, all distinguished by the large dark-red shingle roof that gives them their name, reports that it created the Red Roof Inn skill for Amazon Alexa in the spirit of added convenience and ability to deliver important, decision-driving information directly to current and future guests. The brand plans to continue to add information to best support travelers based on consumer demand and aim to provide booking capabilities in the future.
Red Roof Inn has long prided itself on being a technologically innovative hotel brand. Red Roof Inn launched its brand extension, Red Roof PLUS+, in early 2014 with enhanced LED lighting and outside signage. In 2017, the brand completely redesigned its website to create a sleek, accessible, mobile-first platform to allow travelers to seamlessly book on-the-go from their smartphones.
Later this year, Red Roof Inn will reportedly roll out an artificial intelligence (AI) Chatbot and Quickbook feature for the site to make it even easier for guests to quickly lock in a comfortable stay at a great price. Utilizing the power of Alexa Skills is merely the latest development in Red Roof’s recent technological advancements.