Since June 2023, the digitalized service for routine processes during check-in has been taken over by the friendly avatar “Fritz” on the touchscreen. The development was collaboratively undertaken by The Chocolate on the Pillow Group as a hotel operator, Humanizing Technologies as an expert in AI avatars and social robotics, and agilotel as a consulting company in hotel technology, within 8 months. They have successfully created and implemented a scalable self-check-in and check-out solution at the kiosk in the hotel lobby.
Avatar Fritz guides guests through the check-in process.
Erik Florvaag, Managing Partner, and CEO of The Chocolate on the Pillow Group, explains the special benefits and significance of the development for the entire group: “The aim of this in-house development was to create a guest-friendly and amusing, yet efficient digital check-in solution and simultaneously redefine the role of the front office manager. We are proud that as The Chocolate on the Pillow Group, together with our partners, we have developed a system not yet present in the industry in a short period of time. Fritz improves the customer journey and, at the same time, the daily lives of our employees with a clearer focus on the guest.”
Tim Schuster, Managing Director of Humanizing Technologies, adds: “The avatar provides guests with a positive, intuitive, and playful approach to the check-in process, while the software fully automates the underlying processes, from booking to payment and key delivery. The design of the avatar, including its appearance and multilingual communication, can be highly customized to reflect the characteristics of the company. Fritz now assists 24/7 at the first hotel on 4 kiosks, surrounded by its experienced human colleagues.”
Nadine Maass, Senior Technical Consultant at agilotel, adds: “The flexible platform from Humanizing allows us to easily tailor the kiosk process to the preferences of the COTP Group and integrate it with the open API of the Mews PMS using a low-code platform. This allows the COTP Group to benefit from a state-of-the-art technology solution that is specifically tailored to their needs and not a standard product, and all at manageable costs.”
All participants agree that sustainable digitalization solutions can only work effectively when centered around humans. It is essential to involve, train, and carry employees along in the process. The rollout of the kiosk check-in solution will now be implemented group-wide and introduced to the franchise brands as well. The project team sees great potential in bringing this holistic solution to the market as it provides effective answers to current challenges such as skilled labor shortage, customer-centricity, and automation through digitalization.
The project team (from right to left): Tim Schuster and Lisa Reiche (Humanizing Technologies), Timm Backhaus and Erik Florvaag (The Chocolate on the Pillow Group) and Avatar Fritz
About The Chocolate on the Pillow Group
The Chocolate on the Pillow Group operates a portfolio of over 20 hotels in the DACH region. With over 700 employees, the group manages hotels under the brand names “GHOTEL hotel & living” and “nestor,” as well as other properties under the international hotel operators Accor (Novotel, ibis Styles, ibis, ibis budget, TRIBE, the hoxton), Marriott (Moxy), and Intercontinental (Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express).
Founded in 1994, the hotel group, formerly known as GHOTEL Group, is committed to setting new standards for hospitality with state-of-the-art concepts and aims to revolutionize the way hotels are managed. As a competence partner for institutional investors, private investors, and joint ventures, The Chocolate on the Pillow Group, in close connection with Art-Invest Real Estate and Zech Group, covers the entire value chain from hotel construction to planning, realization, and hotel operation.
Learn more about The Chocolate on the Pillow Group at www.cotp.group.
About agilotel
agilotel is a consulting company specializing in hotel technology, integration issues, and data migrations. The team of 5 senior consultants advises and develops solutions for hotel groups and individual hotels worldwide, with a focus on Europe.
Learn more about agilotel at www.agilotel.com.
About Humanizing Technologies
About Humanizing Technologies: Humanizing Technologies is a progressive solutions provider in the field of digital AI avatars, based on extensive experience in social robotics. Their work with robots has shown that the increasing need for automated workflows due to a lack of service personnel is essential to maintain business operations. Their goal at Humanizing Technologies has always been to make a positive contribution to society through their solutions and daily actions. They focus on developing interactive avatars (“robots on screens”) to provide highly scalable solutions to business process bottlenecks and customer services.
Their firm conviction is that their enthusiasm for technology, coupled with optimism, will always enable them to find the right answers to tomorrow’s challenges. If you share this belief, then you are in the right place with them.
Learn more about Humanizing Technologies at: www.humanizing.com or on LinkedIn.
