Guest of the day

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We stayed at a Holiday Inn Express & Suites on our way home from Gulf Shores this past weekend and when I walked in the lobby I was surprised to see my name on a whiteboard. "Guest of the day Alex N." is what it read.

So, I said why is my name on the whiteboard? What does "Guest of the Day" mean? So I found out the staff has an app and everyday anyone who is an IHG member gets put in to be randomly selected to be the guest of the day. Not all hotels do this, but they do it to try and get more people to become members as well as to get good reviews. At least that's what the lady at the front desk told me.

I think it's a great idea though. Coming in after a day of travel with little kids and seeing your name on a board with guest of the day, getting some extra points and an upgrade to a nicer room where all welcome perks to being an IHG member. I'll take it. Thanks, Holiday Inn Express & Suites!

The other thing that I'd never seen before was a robotic delivery called "Dash" at the hotel. I saw the robot operate a couple times. Dash would wait for someone to request something from a room, like a snack or amenities and then a staff member would load the robot up. Then dash would leave the lobby area, call the elevator, go up to the appropriate room, call the person at the room, deliver the item and then go back to the lobby. Pretty cool technology. It reminded me of a little R2D2.

Here's the website for Dash.

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