Driven by the changing expectations of today’s modern travelers, the hospitality landscape continues to evolve rapidly, and smart hotel technology is playing a major role. At the center of this transformation is the guestroom.
A smart hotel room is a guestroom equipped with connected technologies that automate room functions, personalize the guest experience, and improve operational efficiency.
A 2025 global survey found that 45% of responding hotel companies considered themselves technologically mature, while 23% rated their technology maturity at the low end of the technology maturity scale, with little to no digital integration or automation. The findings point to significant room for technology advancement across the hotel industry.
We spoke with Rafael van den Berg, chief technology officer at Touchstone 1, about the latest intelligent hospitality innovations. Ready to get smart? Here are some of the top smart hotel technologies to consider this year.
What Is Smart Hotel Technology?
Smart hotel technology refers to connected devices or systems with “intelligent” capabilities that allow them to collect data, automate processes, and execute advanced functionalities, such as remote control. Examples include smart lighting and thermostat controls, keyless entry systems, and hotel casting systems.
Many smart hotel technologies use or integrate with the IoT (Internet of Things), a network of interconnected physical devices equipped with sensors, software, or other features that allow them to exchange data. Smart technology, especially when paired with IoT, makes it possible for hotels to offer tailored experiences and automated processes to their guests as well as optimize their internal operations.
The extent to which hotels adopt smart technology often depends on the type of property. “While lower-budget hotels tend to adopt the minimum required by their brand, high-end hotels are definitely implementing more smart technology,” Van den Berg says. “We’ve seen some luxury hotels with more than 30 different pieces of smart technology in a single room.” For many properties, smart energy management represents one of the strongest opportunities to improve efficiency and ROI.
What Are the Benefits of Smart Hotel Technology?
There are many reasons to harness smart hotel technology, from optimizing guest experiences to streamlining internal processes:
- Elevate the guest experience: Smart hotel technology allows today’s guests to get the personalized, on-demand experiences they’re looking for. A 2022 Oracle Hospitality survey found that 73% of travelers were more likely to stay at a hotel offering self-service technology that minimized contact with staff and other guests. Self-service technology allows guests to customize their own amenities, entertainment, and staff interactions, which leads to a more satisfying experience overall.
- Foster sustainable practices: Smart hotel devices can monitor energy consumption, inventory management, air and water quality, and noise levels to decrease a property’s environmental impact — and, not to mention, save on energy costs.
- Boost operational efficiency: A smart PMS (Property Management System) that integrates with other hotel systems and devices can automate many routine operations such as reservations, check-ins and check-outs, billing and reporting, room assignments, housekeeping schedules, and more, as well as offer real-time analytics for informed decision-making.
- Collect data-backed insights: IoT device sensors collect data from their environments, then transmit it to a central hub for analysis. This data can offer valuable information on occupancy, environmental conditions, equipment status, location, usage data, and more, so hotel staff can respond effectively.
- Maintain a competitive edge: Seamless digital experiences and amenities can differentiate a hotel from its competitors and attract more guests seeking modern, tech-savvy accommodations. Offering these services can also lead to more positive ratings and reviews, which is important since 6% of travelers report they won’t book a stay without consulting online reviews.
Smart Hotel Technology: 6 Smart Hotel Room Trends to Elevate Your Property
Some smart hotel technology trends (i.e., IoT door locks and remote check-in capabilities) are quickly becoming the norm in hotels everywhere, while others are more exclusive to upscale or boutique establishments.
Still, there’s no question that smart technology innovations are here to stay, and hotels will continue to adopt these solutions at an accelerated pace. Here are six of the most popular ways smart technology is being used in the hotel industry.
1. Mobile keys
Thanks to today’s smart technology, guests can use a mobile phone instead of a traditional key or hotel-issued key card to access their room. This eliminates the need to carry or return a physical credential and can improve both security and convenience.
2. Contactless check-ins
With contactless check-in software, guests can book a reservation, finalize the payment details, and remotely check into (or out of) a hotel. This streamlines the entire process, reducing front desk lines and wait times and reducing the need to interact with staff members for routine check-in tasks. Depending on the platform, contactless check-in software may integrate with the hotel’s PMS, payment, identity-verification, and access-control systems to support these functions.
3. Smart energy management
More and more hotels are implementing smart energy management technologies that help optimize energy use throughout the property while enhancing the guest experience through personalization. Depending on the installed equipment and system compatibility, these connected devices may connect through a centralized IoT hub, allowing room occupants to customize the lights, temperature, window blinds, TV channel or volume, and other elements to their own specifications through an intuitive interface like a mobile application, voice command sensor, or touch panel.
Beyond the personalization benefits, automated occupancy sensors and thermostats located in guestrooms and throughout the property can detect when a room is vacant or a common area isn’t filled to capacity, then automatically adjust lighting and HVAC systems accordingly. “If nobody’s in the room, you don’t need to have the AC set at 69 degrees,” says Van den Berg. He also points to automated blinds as an effective energy management tool. By reducing the amount of sunlight entering a room, smart blinds can lower cooling requirements, reduce energy consumption, and help hotels save on operating costs — all while maintaining guest comfort.
4. Guestroom technologies
Personalized, on-demand in-room entertainment is more accessible than ever, thanks to smart TVs, hotel TV casting systems with QR code–based pairing, wireless charging stations, Bluetooth speakers, and other devices that utilize smart technology. A hotel guest experience platform, such as Touchstone 1 SmartRoom, can further enhance a stay by providing a centralized hub where guests can enjoy entertainment, access hotel information, and communicate with hotel staff — all while giving staff integrated tools for guest messaging, housekeeping task management, room status updates, and emergency communications.
5. Employee safety and staff alert devices
This smart hotel technology solution is no longer a nice-to-have but has become an important tool for staff safety. Discreet wearable panic buttons can help protect hotel employees from harassment, assault, or medical emergencies on the job. Depending on the system, these devices may offer button or hands-free activation and location technology to send an alert to designated responders if a staff member feels threatened or needs help.
6. Security and surveillance
In order to enhance the safety of both guests and staff members, hotels often deploy smart hotel security solutions around the premises. These include access control systems, live CCTV surveillance systems, and automatic motion sensors. More hotels are also starting to utilize AI for video analytics to flag specified events or activity, as well as smart facial recognition software.
Best Practices for Implementing Smart Hotel Technology
When adopting smart hotel technology, it’s important to have the right capabilities and strategies in place for a smooth and successful transition. These include:
- Reliable infrastructure: It’s crucial to have a robust hospitality network infrastructure to manage the communication between IoT devices. This includes fast, stable Wi-Fi or other connectivity, such as Bluetooth or Zigbee, with sufficient coverage and capacity to ensure that all the smart electronics, sensors, room controls, security alarms, data analytics platforms, and other systems are able to function and share information reliably. Utilizing a comprehensive solution like the RUCKUS IoT Suite allows hotels and resorts to reuse supported LAN and WLAN infrastructure to aggregate and backhaul IoT traffic and help centralize the management of supported devices.
- Integration capabilities: To create an interconnected guest experience, hotels must ensure that new smart technology solutions are compatible with their existing PMS and booking platforms, customer relationship management (CRM) software, point-of-sale tools, and other relevant programs. Utilize open Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) or middleware to streamline the integration.
- Centralized management: As Van den Berg explains, “You shouldn’t have to log into seven different dashboards to manage everything.” Instead of managing multiple disconnected systems through separate dashboards, hotels should look for solutions that integrate smart features into a single, centralized platform whenever possible. This allows staff to monitor and manage hotel operations more efficiently.
- Guest privacy and security: The more hotels collect, store, and analyze private data, the more essential it becomes to implement cybersecurity measures. All hotels should comply with data protection regulations and take precautions to shield guest information from unauthorized access or security breaches. For instance, encrypt sensitive data at rest and in transit, implement multi-factor authentication, keep software and firmware updated, conduct regular security audits, and train staff on data-handling best practices.
Level Up Your Property with Smart Hotel Technology
Smart hotel technology represents the next level in optimizing workflows, elevating the guest experience, supporting revenue growth, and maintaining a competitive edge. Touchstone 1 offers robust and reliable hospitality WiFi solutions tailored to meet your specific business needs, so you can effectively leverage smart technology and deliver top-notch service that will keep guests coming back. Contact us to learn more about the RUCKUS IoT Suite and how it can provide your hospitality environment with the robust infrastructure needed to effectively manage all your IoT devices.