NEXT Hotel Brisbane lets guests get into their rooms with a smartphone

SilverNeedle Hospitality’s flagship NEXT Hotels brand is redesigning the guest experience with DOCOMO interTouch, a wholly-owned subsidiary of NTT DOCOMO.

The company is offering guests freedom and control with an integrated solution available on the NEXT App mobile app. Part of that new freedom includes enabling the first NEXT Hotels property in Brisbane's Queen Street Mall to allow guests to open their room doors using their smartphones as room keys. NEXT Hotel Brisbane, which accepted guests from 24 September, is the first hotel in Australia to offer such a service.

Source: Next Hotel Brisbane website.

DOCOMO interTouch's FREEDOM Suite has been deployed to provide mobile-enabled guest services, including FREEDOM Check-In that enables guests to use their smartphones as mobile keys. 

"Our NEXT Hotels brand is dedicated to providing the ultimate guest experience, and that requires us to effectively combine the use of space, technology and service to ensure that every moment is memorable and stress-free," said Iqbal Jumabhoy, Managing Director and Group CEO of Singapore-based SilverNeedle Hospitality. "It's all about giving travellers the freedom to choose how they want to experience our hotels.”

SilverNeedle Hospitality is also launching the NEXT App, into which the "room key" is embedded. The NEXT App, available in both Android and iOS versions, works with free Wi-Fi throughout the hotel to allow guests to request hotel services through their smartphones – from making a room reservation, entering the room, controlling in-room gadgets and ordering room service, to checking out of the hotel. 

"The NEXT Hotels are truly innovative in their delivery of guest technology and they have been a real pleasure to work with. We see the NEXT Hotels and the NEXT App going from strength to strength and we look forward to continuing in our partnership,” said Charles Reed, CEO of DOCOMO interTouch.

Leveraging on a cloud-based open software platform as part of DOCOMO interTouch’s FREEDOM Suite, the NEXT App interconnects all the systems and services with the hotel so guests do not have to be physically in their hotel rooms to manage their stay. The integrated NEXT Technology allows them to change the TV channel, set the mood lighting, adjust the room temperature or order their next meal. If they don’t want the housekeeping staff to freshen up their rooms, they can activate the ‘Do Not Disturb’ indicator even when they are away from the hotel.

The NEXT App can be downloaded from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store.