The hotel room of the future may be here already, and in a most unlikely location: Delaware.

Cihan Cobanoglu, PhD, associate professor of hospitality information technology at the University of Delaware, has equipped an experimental hotel guestroom—dubbed the X-Room—with new technologies and gadgets to find out which products guests and staff find useful. The X-Room is actually Room 114 in a Courtyard by Marriott property near the university campus. Executive Travel talked with Cobanoglu about how the room is equipped and how the university is involved.

WHO STAYS IN THE X-ROOM?

The X-Room is offered to any interested party. Guests can request the room, or it can be assigned to a guest randomly. We do receive a lot of requests, and, if the room is available, we assign it to [those who ask]. We prefer guests who will stay one or two nights, so that we can have more feedback about it.

DO YOU HAVE A LIMIT ON THE NUMBER OF ITEMS BEING TESTED AT A TIME?

Right now, we have about 17 different technologies in the X-Room. Our goal is to keep this number. This means that we will retire some products after six months and replace them with newer technologies.

ARE STUDENTS INVOLVED IN THE PROCESS AT ALL?

Yes, many students are involved. Actually, the original X-Room was designed by myself and Jane Sullivan, a graduate student in hospitality information management. Currently, we have 15 students who are X-Room Scholars. They are involved with the X-Room on a day-to-day basis. X-Room Scholars help us with identifying new technologies for the X-Room, installing them and measuring the guest feedback.

HOW DO YOU ELICIT FEEDBACK FROM GUESTS?

We do not charge extra for the X-Room. In return, we ask the guests to fill out a survey at the end of their stay. Also, our X-Room Scholars do in-depth interviews with some guests who stay there. We provide the feedback to vendors. This allows them to improve their products. We also provide feedback to Marriott International. Finally, HRIM [Hotel, Restaurant and Institutional Management] students see the feedback also.

IF YOU COULD STAY IN A HOTEL ROOM WITH ONE OF THE X-ROOM
TECHNOLOGY ITEMS, WHAT WOULD IT BE?

I love all of them. I am a very environmentally conscious person, [so] Inncom’s energy management system is a great item for me. After it detects no activity in the room for 30 minutes, it turns off lights and takes the temperature of the room to a predetermined level. This way, the hotel saves about 30–40 percent in energy.


Here’s a sampling of products tested in the X-room this spring:

Guestroom Status Control System, by Inncom

This electronic doorbell also includes “do not disturb” and “please make up the room” signs that can be turned on at the touch of a button.


Digital Door Viewer, by First View Security

An electronic “peephole” displays images of what’s outside the door on a large screen mounted on the door’s interior.

Anyfill battery charger, by TeleAdapt

Place the battery from any mobile device in the drawer of the charger. It senses the battery’s requirements and charges it in approximately 20 minutes.

Clocky alarm clock, by Nanda

When the alarm goes off, so does Clocky. Mounted on wheels, Clocky rolls around the room, requiring guests to chase it to turn off the alarm. Amazingly, this is a current guest favorite.

Pillar candles, by Flame Free Candles

Turn on the romance with a remote control. The candles appear to burn, but are actually powered by batteries and a hidden light bulb.

Tri Spa showerhead, by Oxygenics

Rinse off with a clean eco-conscience—this showerhead uses 70 percent less water than a traditional one, but delivers 70 percent greater water pressure.
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Find out more about the X-Room at experimentalguestroom.com.experimentalguestroom.com.