The Modern Hotelier #227: Making Great Guest-Facing Technology Seamless | with WorldVue
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Steve Carran: Welcome to another episode of The Modern Hotelier. We are coming to you from the Trade show floor at the Hospitality Show in Denver, Colorado. We're at the WorldVue Booth, joined by Bob Grosz, the President and COO of WorldVue. Yes, Bob, how you doing today? 
 Robert Grosz: Fantastic. 
Steve Carran: It's good to be here. Thanks for stopping by. Thanks for sitting down with us. So, Bob, first question, WorldVue started in 1975. How did we get to where we are today and what were some exciting stops along the way? 
 Robert Grosz: Sure. Good. Well, I first have to say we're very grateful to live in this extraordinary time where technology is revolutionizing the way we live. It's revolutionizing hospitality, it's really a special time to be alive with all the changes that are happening right now in the world. And that doesn't stop the fact that hospitality is always about people and always about humans. So over the last 50 years, we've focused on people, and that's been our ticket.
And we've grown from that one hotel to over 8,000 hotels now little over a million rooms that we provide technology service to, and, uh, that we're not gonna stop growing. We're on a path. We're on a mission. 
Steve Carran: I love it. I love it. What are some things that's shaped worldview's journey as one of the most trusted hotel technology partners?
 Robert Grosz: Sure. Yeah. Like I said, focus on people being in the right place at the right time. Making sure that we're investing in technologies that are relevant, that are gonna help people perform their jobs better, making sure that we are partners to our customers. This is not just a vendor rut type relationship. This is a true partnership. And that's really what's fueled our growth and fueled our success. 
Steve Carran: That's great. And you mentioned now you've grown to 8,000 hotels. Absolutely. What role has global expansion? Played in the role of the worldview story? 
 Robert Grosz: Sure. So we have 8,000 hotels globally, the majority, great majority of those hotels are based right here in the us. But we are looking at kind of what our customers want, our North Star is relevance. We wanna be relevant to our customers and our customers in the hospitality arena, our brands like Marriotts and Hiltons and IHGs, right? And they're owners of property. So what the brands want is consistency, they want a guest experience that's consistent, whether it's in Dallas, Texas, Denver, or Dubai, right?
So they want that consistent guest experience, they don't want their guests to think about technology, they just want them to take advantage of the technology that they have to deployed. And then from a property owner, investor and manager standpoint, they want this to be easy, they want us to be invisible. And that takes a lot of hard work and a lot of great people. So, we've got about 225 associates on the worldview team, we've got the best of the best. We lo we look for the top 5% of all the employees that are out there. And I think that we've been very fortunate to have them. So it's all about people, little bit about our technology, all of our people, and also having that focus on relevance.
Steve Carran: You bet. Well, I appreciate you stopping by sitting and talking with me.
Robert Grosz: Absolutely.
Steve Carran: I know you got a busy lot of people at the booth already, so we're gonna let you go. And we're gonna chat with Chris right after this. All sounds good.
Robert Grosz: Thanks a lot.
Steve Carran: Alright, thanks so much. Take care. Now we are joined by Chris Guthery, the Senior Vice President of sales and product. Thanks for sitting down with us. Chris, how you doing? 
Chris Guthery: Yeah, absolutely. Great to be here. 
Steve Carran: Good. So, couple questions for you. The first one we're gonna start off with is how does WorldVue decide which technologies or partners that they wanna invest in? 
Chris Guthery: Yeah, that's a great question. We are constantly looking at the market, you know, seeing new technologies that are emerging and we're really not chasing trends, right? What we're trying to do is leverage the expertise that we have to fit technologies and solutions in place that enhance the guest experience and also, if possible, enhance the operational efficiency of a property itself. 
Steve Carran: That's great. And what do you look at when you're evaluating partnerships? What criteria are you looking for?
Chris Guthery: Yeah, a few different things. We look at the reliability of the technology itself, and we also look at the, uh, the efficiency, right? The third thing we look at is scalability, right? We may be deploying a technology in a 50 room property in Dallas that same technology could still be very valuable for a large resort in the Middle East. So we need to make sure that it's flexible for different environments, but also serves a purpose not just for the guests, but also for the property. 
Steve Carran: That's great. Well, Chris, we appreciate you sitting down with us and taking some time away from the trade show.
Chris Guthery: Absolutely. Thanks guys.
Steve Carran: Thanks so much. Yeah. Now we are joined by Scott Jamison, Executive Vice President and Chief Experience Officer Scott, thanks for sitting down with us. How you doing today?
Scott Jamison: Thanks very much. It's good to be here. Doing good.
Steve Carran: Good, good, good, good. So Scott, we were talking to Bob earlier and he mentioned you have over 8,000 properties. How do you balance the reliability and consistency across the globe?
Scott Jamison: Yeah, that's a very good question. It is a challenge. You know, we do some pretty interesting things in terms of how we manage our partners all the way through the all over the globe. We have a network of partners who are often our smart hands on site, but at the end of the day, worldview engineers, worldview employees, our best and brightest are the ones who are guiding. What's going on in the field? So we use partners and our own people, depending on the region. But everything ultimately is led and guided by the team in Houston at our headquarters. 
Steve Carran: So, Scott, how do you balance the hotel's operational needs with the guest expectations? 
Scott Jamison: Well, I think the guest expectation usually aligns with the operational needs of the hotel. That's why they're in business, right? They're there to serve their guests and, um, delivering unforgettable technology experiences is something that a lot more hotels and brands are really looking at doing making it more personal. You know, we live in a time where we're talking about AI, we're talking about all these technologies that some sometimes disconnect the human element from the guest. And what we're really trying to do is use technology to make it more personal and make the experience more unique for the guest. 
Steve Carran: That's great. I mean, I stayed at a hotel last night. And I thought of you guys, the TV didn't have my name on it and it was really hard to find my sports game that I wanted to watch. But you guys are doing a great job and we appreciate it. Scott, appreciate you sitting down with us and have a great show. 
Scott Jamison: Thank you very much.
Steve Carran: Thank you. Now we're joined by Mark Schaps, the CIO and Executive Vice President. Thanks for sitting down with us, Mark. How you doing?
Mark Schaps: Good. Thanks for having me.
Steve Carran: Good. You bet. So Mark, can you tell us a little bit more about Compass and how it fits into the larger WorldVue portfolio? 
Mark Schaps: Yeah, absolutely. So Compass is the next evolution of guest experience. So right now the guest experience is solely in the room. We're trying to bring the guest experience outside of the room so that guests can have that experience before they check in once they get to the property. And then anything that they wanna do around the hotel. 
Steve Carran: So Mark, how does Compass go beyond entertainment to really enhance the guest experience? 
Mark Schaps: Yeah, so I think Compass, connects the dots for everything that a guest is wanting to do at the property. So anywhere from the post check-in, they can see what's available at the hotel, what's around it, the check-in process, and then post stay to get any feedback. We're trying to bring in any restaurants or at the hotel or any museums or attractions around it, right there in their hands. 
Steve Carran: Hyperlocal is such a trend in hospitality right now that it's great for hotels not only bringing business in the hotel, but around the area as well. Right. 
Mark Schaps: Yeah. And personalization. Personalization is what guests want. They want to know what to watch, where to watch it and have it right there in their poems. 
Steve Carran: Absolutely. So, Mark, what excites you most about Compass from a guest perspective? 
Mark Schaps: Yeah. I think the guest wants a while they're traveling their home environment with them. So to be able to come in stream their apps onto the TV, they already have contents that they're already watching at home, they wanna just be able to sit down, watch what's there, and again, personalization from having your in-room controls. So if there's integrations to IOT devices, you can then have your temperature controls follow you from property to property, and any of the drapes or any of the other IOT scenarios.
Steve Carran: That's great. And what about from like a hotel operator's perspective? 
Mark Schaps: Yeah, so I think from the hotel operators, they want to be able to, um, attract guests in different ways. Right now it's just turn on the TV and that's it. But they want to add more and more to it. Again, they want to have the guests feel like they're, like they're at home, and bring that personalization to them. 
Steve Carran: So, Mark, how does Compass leverage technology like AI, IOT to really remember those guest preferences? 
Mark Schaps: Yeah, so we're using AI in many different ways, but from a guest perspective, we want to show the guests what they want. We show them what they wanna watch, where they wanna watch it, and then be able to correlate all that information anywhere that they are for any of the properties that we provide services to. So it doesn't matter if they're at hotel in one state versus another. We want that experience to follow them throughout and be the same every single time. 
Steve Carran: Man, I love that. Especially, I was trying to watch sports last night. Hard to find on my TV, had to sign into my peacock account. So man, having those guest preferences saved saves a lot of time and stress from the guests. 
Mark Schaps: Yeah, absolutely. 
Steve Carran: Absolutely. That's great. Well, thank you so much for sitting down with us, Mark. We really appreciate it.
Mark Schaps: Yeah, thank you. Awesome. Have a good one.
Steve Carran: You too.