STAMFORD, Conn. - Thursday, March 15th 2012 [ME NewsWire]Latest SPG App for iPhone® Employs State-Aware Technology to Provide Personalized Customer Service, Recommendations, Bookings and Travel Information for a Seamless, Guest-Centric Experience across the Company’s Nine Distinct Brands
(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG), the award-winning loyalty program from Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. (NYSE: HOT), today introduces its new application for iPhone and iPod Touch, which utilizes state-aware technology to create personalized guest experiences across Starwood’s nine distinct brands. The latest development is part of Starwood’s ongoing commitment to tech innovation to meet the needs of today’s connected global traveler—for example, Starwood was the first in the industry to offer FaceTime customer service, a feature that’s built into the new SPG app. The app also includes fully integrated booking, member information, comprehensive hotel searches and travel details, customer service and social media.
Meeting the Needs of Today’s Mobile Traveler
A still-growing trend in the hospitality industry, Starwood’s mobile revenue has increased by more than 300 percent year-over-year, and the company has found that the patterns of travelers using mobile devices to book rooms are markedly different from those of more traditional web bookers. For instance, two-thirds of mobile bookings are within 24 hours of the stay, triple that of web bookings.
“Mobile is a vital part of our business’s future, and it’s fast becoming the preferred way to book travel in both established and emerging markets around the world, such as the United States and China,” said Chris Holdren, Senior Vice President of Starwood Preferred Guest and Digital. “We’ve built the new SPG app to be an all-in-one travel tool that connects our guests with all of the information they need to enhance their experience during their journey with us.”
Following guest feedback and member focus groups, SPG integrated key features into the app instead of directing to an outside mobile browser, creating a faster, more user-friendly experience. New options include the ability to find hotels by airport code or map and a streamlined home screen with “tiles” that are easily tapped or swiped to access frequent requests, such as account information, upcoming stays, customer support and special offers.
State-Aware Interface
The SPG app is the first in the travel industry—and one of the first apps ever—to utilize state-aware technology, creating an interface that unites all nine of Starwood’s distinct lifestyle brands and its nearly 1,100 hotels and resorts; and adjusts the app’s look, feel and content depending on whether the user is planning, en route or already checked in to a specific hotel. Starting 48-hours before a guest is scheduled to arrive at a Starwood hotel or resort, the app sends a push notification; and the “My Stay” interface becomes reflective of the specific brand and property, with home-screen access to key information such as hotel address in both English and the local language, weather, directions and hotel amenities. Once at the hotel, the guest’s stay is enhanced with integrated content such as their room number, on- and off-property dining and activity suggestions, and in-app access to social media channels such as FourSquare and Facebook.
The app also offers an “Explore” tab for discovery when users don’t have a specific destination in mind. Explore provides customized hotel recommendations based on individual preferences such as trip type (e.g., beach, city, wedding), brand, SPG category and interests.
Personalized, Guest-Centric Interface
As part of Starwood’s continued dedication to personalized guest service, the new app includes extensive content that’s easily filtered and customized. Members can use the app to store all relevant information about their SPG profile and upcoming and past stays, as well as send hotel confirmation or other details to anyone via text or email. And, it incorporates location-based services to connect users, as needed, to the closest customer care center, in addition to a live FaceTime support option.
“The new SPG app will help us build even deeper relationships with our loyal guests and provide them with relevant content not only while on-property but also before and after they stay with us,” said Mark Vondrasek, Senior Vice President, Starwood Distribution, Loyalty & Partnerships. “The app is carefully calibrated to reflect the SPG brand as well as the unique personality of each hotel but, more importantly, to reflect what’s most important to each guest. While some users will love tapping through the gorgeous hotel photos and reading the rich content, others will use the app strictly for practical purposes; and the app lets them customize their own experience.”
Starwood’s mobile team partnered with Bottle Rocket to design and develop the SPG app—resulting in smart, intuitive navigation that seamlessly integrates SPG and hotel-specific branding into the iPhone’s famously user-friendly interface. The app, currently available for free from the App Store on iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad or at www.spg.com/iphoneapp, is the latest development in SPG’s evolution into a hyper-personalized guest services platform (earlier this month, SPG unveiled a suite of elite member benefits, including 24-hour check-in, access to a Starwood ambassador, confirmable upgrades and free breakfast). Currently available in English worldwide, the SPG app will be updated throughout 2012 with additional versions in Mandarin Chinese, Japanese and the Romance languages; and new devices.
About Starwood Preferred Guest
The SPG program’s breakthrough policy of No Blackout Dates at the world’s most sought after collection of hotels reinvented the hospitality loyalty program when it launched in 1999. By creating a program centered on its members, SPG has developed the most passionate and knowledgeable membership base in the hotel loyalty space. Through its use of new technologies and innovative channels such as SPG.com, SPG.com/stayconnected, SPG.com/flights and others, SPG continues to innovate and lead the industry. By offering No Blackouts on standard rooms at 1,090 hotels and resorts in nearly 100 countries, No Blackouts on hundreds of airlines, the introduction of Your24 and SPG Lifetime, and once in a lifetime experiences available through SPG Moments at spg.com/moments, the program has proven to be a big draw for the world’s most frequent travelers, and a significant competitive advantage for Starwood. For more information about Starwood Preferred Guest please visit SPG.com.
About Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc.
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. is one of the leading hotel and leisure companies in the world with 1090 properties in 100 countries and territories with 154,000 employees at its owned and managed properties. Starwood Hotels is a fully integrated owner, operator and franchisor of hotels, resorts and residences with the following internationally renowned brands: St. Regis®, The Luxury Collection®, W®, Westin®, Le Méridien®, Sheraton®, Four Points® by Sheraton, Aloft®, and Element SM. The company boasts one of the industry’s leading loyalty programs, Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG), allowing members to earn and redeem points for room stays, room upgrades and flights, with no blackout dates. Starwood Hotels also owns Starwood Vacation Ownership, Inc., one of the premier developers and operators of high quality vacation interval ownership resorts. For more information, please visit www.starwoodhotels.com.
About Bottle Rocket Apps
Bottle Rocket Apps (www.bottlerocketapps.com) is a full-service mobile app development firm, focused on creating hand-crafted apps for the world's most discriminating brands. Since its founding in early 2008, Bottle Rocket has completed more than 60 iPhone, iPad and Android apps for leading brands such as NPR, PBS, Disney, ESPN, TBS, TNT, National Geographic, the National Science Foundation, The Seattle Times, Discovery Channel, BET, A&E Television, SPIN Magazine, Bravo Television, American Express and AARP. The company’s apps have won numerous industry accolades including multiple Apple Hall of Fame awards, and frequently appear at the top of their categories on the App Store. The Bottle Rocket team of senior strategists, architects, developers and artists work their magic from the company’s offices in Dallas, Texas.
Contacts
Starwood Hotels & Resorts
Trey Sarten, +1 212 380 4010
Trey.Sarten@starwoodhotels.com
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