Starwood Hotels: Aloft Brand Will Boost Customer Experience and Innovation

Starwood HotelsBrian McGuinness, Global Brand Leader, Specialty Select Brands, Starwood Hotels & Resorts, believes the company’s Aloft brand will bring innovation and an enhanced customer experience to the front table.

Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide recently announced that its new and highly innovative Aloft brand will add another dynamic dimension to its California portfolio with the upcoming debut of Aloft Dublin-Pleasanton. Owned by Zenique Hotels, the new Aloft is slated to open in March 2017 and will feature 120 loft-like rooms, a buzzing social scene, and innovative brand-led programming.

Loyalty360 caught up with McGuiness to discuss the new and exciting brand.

What makes the Aloft brand unique and how will it better impact customer engagement and customer experience?

At Aloft, innovation is in our DNA. We built this brand as our tech-forward incubator where all programming and design is created through a futuristic lens. While technology is a main passion of the brand, Aloft also boasts an exceptional global music series and showcases emerging artists through live acoustic performances at Live At Aloft Hotels worldwide.guest experience

Our hotels are design forward with future forward guest experiences at an affordable rate. Since we have found that today’s emerging travelers are hyper-connected and hype-communal, we have free and fast Wi-Fi and we are testing smart room functions like being able to brew your morning coffee with your smartphone while still in bed. Aloft also has very popular (with guests and locals) lobbies where people gather to watch intimate acoustic performances while enjoying a hand-crafted cocktail in the WXYZ bars. So even when you are traveling alone, you never feel alone - something today's traveler wants and demands. In short, we are catering to the lifestyle and needs of our guests and also looking ahead to the traveler of tomorrow. 

Did the launch reflect listening to your customers and, if so, in what way?

Absolutely! Aloft Hotels are designed for the traveler of today and tomorrow–those who are always connected and where socializing comes as second nature. Our guests are seeking modern, urban style at a smart price point. They want innovation so we piloted Smart Check-In back in 2011, which recently evolved into Starwood's SPG Keyless program where guests can use their smartphone as a room key. They want to be connected so we gave them free and fast Wi-Fi. We know they like being early adapters so we are constantly searching for new music acts to showcase. And we are always listening to our customers and always evolving and looking ahead: this is not the finished product. There will never be a finished product: Aloft is too innovative. 

Can you talk about the innovative aspect of the brand?

As Starwood Hotel’s tech-forward incubator, Aloft was built with a forward-looking lens and the infrastructure to experiment with emerging technologies designed to enhance the guest experience. For example, in August 2014, Aloft Hotels became the first hotel brand to “employ” a robotic butler, Botlr. We also have innovation labs or rooms of the future, if you will, where are pilot new technologies. For example, we are currently testing Smart Carpet, voice activated technologies (imagine asking your room for a toothbrush!) and other ways to marry technology with the guest experience. Our guests are the first in line to buy new smartphones and test new technologies in their home so why should they hotel stay be any different?

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