The Modern Hotelier #172: Using Tablets & AI to Improve the Guest Experience | with Kevin Bidner
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Steve Carran: Welcome to a special episode of The Modern Hotelier. We're coming to you from Hotel Communication Network Booth at HITEC in Indianapolis, Indiana. We are joined by CEO, Kevin Bidner. Thank you for joining us, Kevin. How you doing today?
Kevin Bidner: Doing great. Thanks Steve.
Steve Carran: Great. So Kevin, I'd love to hear a little bit more about your background and business and how you became CEO of Hotel Communication Network?
Kevin Bidner: Okay, thank you. Well, I'm a serial entrepreneur if you can count two as a serial first company took 20 years to come to term and it was a digital platform in the interior design industries. Yeah. Digital platforms are some of the most important companies on the planet, like eBay, Uber. They are the, the companies that use technology to bring customers and vendors together.
So that's what I did in the first company. And I came to the hotel industry to build a digital platform for travel. Travel being one of the world's biggest industries. And so the Hotel Communication Network really focuses on using a tablet in the guest room, which is a portal connecting the guest to the hotel and the city as that platform infrastructure and launching that as a digital platform was the idea behind the company. 
Steve Carran: Sure. So you and I were chatting a little bit before this and you were showing me the tablets. I have to ask, why did you decide to put a tablet in every room instead of just creating an app? 
Kevin Bidner: The industry has been trying forever to solve the problem of a digital or some form of communication with their guests and as.
The millennial travelers have now replaced the boomers, their parents generation. Actually, 2017 was the crossover year. You know, that's an imperative that reaches survival level, and you get to the guest room today, it's still a phone. We all know how much millennials love phones, landline and the book's.
Okay? They've been downgraded to a QR code that nobody wants to use. At least when there was a book in the room, you had something. So the communication to the guest has always been a problem. They tried to solve it using the televisions. That was a fail. They've tried to do it on apps, which is not a fail, it's just hasn't ignited the way the industry hoped it would.
Somewhere between 10 and 30% of guests will download a, a hotel's mobile app, during their stay and use it. What do you do with the rest of your, your, your guests? You put a tablet in the room, 100% of the guests will see that messaging on screen from the hotel. Almost a hundred percent pick it up and use it every day of their stay to find out what's in the hotel or get what they want. So it's a reliable method to solve the problem, finally, of guest communication. 
David M.: Got it. So let's dive a little deeper into that. What are some of the additional benefits of having that tablet in the room for the guest? For the guest or for the hotel? For both. 
Kevin Bidner: Okay. We'll start with the hotel. So the hotel is there to help the guest get a better night's sleep, have a, an easy and comfortable stay, get what they want, and have a great hotel room.
The guest is there to have a great experience and maybe in or out of the hotel room, have a great travel experience for the hotel. Here's the ability to check in on the guests, make sure they're happy. How's your stay, um, to be able to offer the guests. All of the amenities on property and make sure the guest knows about them to be able to offer ordering or spa or whatever that hotel offers, to be able to make sure the guest knows about it and to be able to have that interaction over the tablet.
I should actually have one in hand, shouldn't I? Hold on. Have it on, you know, have it, that interaction with the guests using the tablet. So it creates that reliable communication struc, uh, uh, uh, capability, and that drives revenue to the hotel and guest satisfaction. The two big markers, profitability and guest satisfaction.
Steve Carran: So HCN is now the global leader in this space. What makes you the global leader? Okay, 
Kevin Bidner: thanks for asking. So, HCN recently just co completed the acquisition of our major competitor, crave and Crave, located in London. Was the leader in the five star and resort category of placing tablets into the industry.
Number one in Vegas. Number one in many of the resort centric locations of the world, like, um, camp Cancun in Mexico and other resort locations. So they're the number one in the five star resort. HCN was number one in the four star category. Rolling out now with one of the world's leading brands. At scale rolling into, you know, rolling into the industry by putting the two together.
We're now the global leader in both. And so now HCN is the unquestioned global leader in this category, which is the, you know, interfacing to the guest using a guest room tablet. We're the company. 
Steve Carran: That's great. And I'm told that you have a novel means for hotels to experience what was only reserved for pretty much five star hotels due to the cost. How have you made that possible?
Kevin Bidner: Right, thank you. So the reason that crave focused on the five stars was because they were the only hotel category in the industry that could afford the technology. HCN knew if we could solve the cost problem, the four star hotels would want it too, but it was too expensive, it took us a long time, but what we pioneered was subsidy via advertising. We had to attract one of the world's big brands. To attract big advertising. All that was done in, let's say 2023. 2024 was the setup year 2025. We are now launching at scale on an ad subsidized model where any hotel can afford the technology.
Eventually, the, the technology will be rolling out free with a rev share. We're not quite there yet, but certainly we've brought the cost down remarkably. Into the zone where any hotel can afford the technology now.
David M.: So we talked about how your technology is great for the hotel. Take us more in depth to the guest experience and the value of the overall travel experience.
Kevin Bidner: Okay, good, good point. And thanks for asking that. So we get to our hotel room, it's a little bit disorienting. You know nothing about the hotel, nothing about the city, and this is your home away from home. Not only that, you've got a clunky old telephone, the banana remote. A clock that wakes you up with somebody else's alarm.
All this 50-year-old technology in the room that really needs an update. So a tablet does all of that better. First of all, we don't use the phone anymore except to call the hotel. You don't need that anymore. As you're gonna see the te the, the new digital AI technology gives a much better guest experience.
It's instant, immediate. You're not hanging on the phone for 15 minutes, waiting for somebody to pick it up. Um, also accessing the property via an AI as you're going to see. It's just so much easier. It's conversational. Lastly, an AI can really help you figure out what's near the hotel or what you wanna do in the city, and it will go with you as you're gonna see.
It will go with you when you, when you leave the hotel out in the city, you've got that assistance. So it really improves the whole guest experience, not just in the guest room. 
David M.: Can you tell us how you're using a dramatic breakthrough with AI in your technology? 
Kevin Bidner: Absolutely. Thanks for asking. So first of all let's talk about the scale out into the industry of the tablets. By dropping the cost, we intend to roll millions of tablets into the industry. This isn't just for the elite. Now, on the tablets, as you're going to see, is a dramatic breakthrough in artificial intelligence in the form of a human looking conversational AI that you can speak to in any language that will solve any problem in the hotel for you.
And then we'll also build an itinerary or find a restaurant in the city, and that is. The way of the future. So rolling out into millions of rooms, offering that AI concierge, HCN, becomes concierge to the world, which is our, this is the destiny of the company that we founded the company to do. So it was never about the hardware in the room, it was always about becoming the world's concierge. So now what I'll do is we'll just cut over and show you that concierge experience.
AI: Hi, Kevin, great to have you here at Hotel HCN. Thank you for being a platinum member. Your loyalty is appreciated. I'm Amy, your personal AI concierge here to help you with anything you need. Whether in the hotel or out in the city. I can understand many different languages. Everything on this tablet is free, so go ahead and explore.
Kevin Bidner: I'd like to get some extra towels, please. 
AI: Certainly Kevin, would you like an extra bath towel or two or a whole set? 
Kevin Bidner: No, just an extra bath towel. 
AI: Your order has been placed and should be there within about 20 minutes. 
Kevin Bidner: I'm interested in food. What do you have here in the hotel? 
AI: Right here in the hotel. Our restaurant is Pinewood and we also have Harry's Bar. Would you like to see a menu? 
Kevin Bidner: I'd like to get something to the room. What are my options? 
AI: We have the Pinewood Express menu. Here it is. 
Kevin Bidner: Okay, thanks. Can you also give me some information about the boat tours in the city? 
AI: Certainly one of the most popular is the architectural tour, and there are several great options in the city.
I'll bring one of them on screen now so you can hit the tabs to see the others. 
Kevin Bidner: Actually, I'm interested in sushi. Are there any good options nearby? 
AI: Absolutely. Within walking distance, we have some great options. Would you like to see the menus? 
David M.: Thank you so much for joining us. Can you tell folks how they can get in touch with you or in touch with HCN? 
Kevin Bidner: Sure. hcn-inc.com and just jump on the website and let us know you're interested and we'll get right back to you.
Steve Carran: Great. Thank you so much. All right. 
Kevin Bidner: Thanks guys.