It’s either a great marketing gimmick or the sign of things to come. Starwood Hotels – which includes the Sheraton, St Regis and W hotel brands in its portfolio – has released its SPG for Glass for Explorers.
The app itself lets a user search over 1,100 hotels and resorts, get up to date Starwoods membership account details, and get turn by turn direction, book a hotel, or see pictures of the hotel. The search function is voice activated and takes advantage of the inherent features of Glass, which is the primary selling point. You can also share photos of your experience of staying at a Starwood’s property.
Safe to say that because we are talking about it, Starwoods app development budget was well spent in this case. Whether Starwood guests are really the Glass demographic is another matter entirely. It’s unlikely that many St Regis hotel clients will be happy to see the so-called Glassholes running around them in their exclusive enclaves.
After a hotel is chosen, the app offers directions, a few photos and the opportunity to book a room either by phone or email. Starwood also promises SPG members that its app will recognize their upcoming stays and push relevant information about the stay 48 hours before arrival. Starwood’s app was built internally, and the company says it’s one of the first to be built on the new Glass Developer Kit. It was just a couple weeks ago that Google approved three other travel-related apps for Glass — Foursquare, TripIt and OpenTable.
