Source: Uniguest
Source: Uniguest

New York and San Francisco — Hotel Zetta, managed by Viceroy Hotels and Resorts and boasting ultra-modern guest rooms, innovative health and wellness programming and cutting-edge tech experiences in the heart of San Francisco's bustling SoMa district, is giving its guests a fun and intuitive way to engage with the hotel and in-room technologies by featuring Amazon Alexa voice assistants powered by Volara in its guestrooms.

Guests can speak commands to order hotel service directly from their rooms, such as "Alexa, what are the specials at Cavalier Restaurant?" or "Alexa, can I get a Relax & Rejuvenate in-room spa treatment?" or "Alexa, turn on ESPN." These on-command services are facilitated by Volara's secure integration hub, which interfaces with the ALICE Hotel Operations Platform and MCOMS Guest Room Entertainment Platform at Hotel Zetta.

"Hotel Zetta is a tech-forward hotel always looking for new and innovative ways to deliver that exceptional experience, so when Volara approached us we quickly saw this was a natural fit. Not only is the Alexa device intuitive for guests but it allows us to respond to guest requests right away without the delay of guests having to call the relevant department. It is a win-win," said Hotel Zetta General Manager, Mark Beevor.

Hotel Zetta is the second hotel in the Viceroy portfolio to deploy Volara-powered Alexa technology. Viceroy Los Cabos voice-enabled its guest communications in January 2019. At both properties today, conversations with guests can be managed in real-time and are securely integrated into existing hotel technologies through Volara's secure integrations hub.

Volara's software turns popular voice assistants (Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, IBM Watson, and Smartbeings WooHoo®) into a hotel business tool that drives more efficient guest service, influences guests' behavior by promoting hotel amenities and guest activities, measurably improves net promoter scores up to 20 percent, and helps hoteliers understand their guests better. Volara's secure integrations hub connect hotels to more than 40 powerful technologies, including property-management systems, IPTV systems, work order-management systems, room controls, guest-engagement platforms, valet software, staff alert technologies and more. Volara is the only hotel-focused solution with an Alexa for Business Solution Designation. It is a launch partner for Alexa for Hospitality and Google Assistant Interpreter Mode. Today the company provides conversation management software and secure integrations for 98 percent of the hotels using voice assistants across the globe.

"We are thrilled that Hotel Zetta San Francisco is now LIVE with Alexa powered by Volara," said David Berger, Volara CEO. "Together with our integration partners ALICE and MCOMS, we are delivering service on command to guests no matter what they need or when they want it. With our technologies, guests' voice requests are routed immediately from Alexa to the appropriate Hotel Zetta staff member. Guests never wait in line or on hold.

"This is a fun, interactive, and extremely comfortable way for guests to communicate with the hotel; it's also a seamless way for staff to manage and fulfill guests' voice requests," he said. "How cool is it to lay in bed and say, 'Alexa, turn on Rachel Maddow' and convenient to say, 'Alexa, send a pot of coffee to my room.' In this way, Volara is equipping Hotel Zetta with contextually relevant, totally awesome, conversational experiences at scale."

Volara will be displaying its voice-based conversation-management software at HITEC Minneapolis, June 17 to 20 at the Minneapolis Convention Center in Booth 2408. Attendees can get see Volara's integrations hub in action at 20 vendor booths, including ALICE in Booth 1514 and MCOMS in booth 1008.

About Volara

Volara is THE provider of custom voice-based solutions for the hospitality industry. It's the only provider of voice-based solutions to the hospitality industry with the Alexa for Business Service Delivery Designation from Amazon and is a launch partner of Alexa for Hospitality. Volara's proprietary software creates a hotel business tool atop the leading smart speakers and natural language processing platforms. Volara's proven best practices ensure high utilization rates and an optimal guest experience that creates personal and remarkable engagement with brands. Volara is the largest manager of Alexa devices in the enterprise today and over a million people have used voiced-based solutions powered by Volara. To learn more about Volara, visit https://volara.io/.

About Hotel Zetta

Located at the iconic convergence of San Francisco's Union Square, SoMa and Financial Districts, Hotel Zetta is perfectly situated to experience the best of San Francisco's fashion, arts, technology and music. Originally built in 1913 and reopened on its 100th anniversary, this 116-room property effortlessly combines state-of-the art amenities with intuitive service. With 2,760 square feet of meeting and event space, and Playroom, Hotel Zetta is the go-to hotspot for San Francisco's leading-edge cultural and business communities. Hotel Zetta is a member of the Viceroy Hotel Group family and is located at 55 5th Street in San Francisco, California. http://www.hotelzetta.com/

About Viceroy Hotel Group

Viceroy Hotel Group inspires travelers with one-of-a-kind authentic lifestyle experiences that bring together provocative design and intuitive service in sought-after locations. A leader in modern luxury, Viceroy's vibe-led hospitality is guided by the brand promise "Remember to Live," an affirmation to create lifelong memories for each guest. Viceroy destinations are segmented into three distinct portfolio tiers to help travelers find exactly

the kind of experience they're looking for. The Viceroy Icon Collection properties include epic hotels and resorts in Los Cabos, Chicago, Dubai, Beverly Hills, Riviera Maya, Snowmass, and St. Lucia, with forthcoming openings in Algarve, Buenos Aires, Panama, and Vietnam. The Viceroy Lifestyle Series hotels and resorts are found in attitude-led destinations including New York and Santa Monica, with a forthcoming opening in Serbia. The Viceroy Urban Retreats in San Francisco have an independent spirit and bold, eccentric personalities. Viceroy Hotel Group is a member of the Global Hotel Alliance (GHA) DISCOVERY, a unique loyalty program offering exclusive benefits and experiences to its members at over 500 hotels around the world. For more information, visit

www.viceroyhotelsandresorts.com. Follow Viceroy Hotel Group at facebook.com/viceroyhotelgroup and on Instagram and Twitter @viceroyhotels.

Barb Worcester
PRPRO
+1 440 930 5770