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Marriott breach included 5 million unencrypted passport numbers
Marriott has good news and bad news for travelers who have passed through its hotels. The good news is the data breach disclosed back in November, which was originally believed to have exposed the data of more than 500 million people, affected fewer travelers than originally reported (though it didn't specify how many). The bad news is the data lifted from the company included millions of peoples' passport numbers.
Marriott says Starwood data breach could affect 500 million guests
Starwood Hotels has been hit by another data breach, the third such incident in as many years. Parent Marriott today revealed that the records of 500 million guests have been stolen from Starwood's guest reservation database. The hotel chain says it determined on November 19th that an "unauthorized party" had accessed the data as early as 2014.
Apple Watch will unlock your hotel room door, guide you home and more: the app roundup
You're at the Westin Grand in Berlin having a luxurious vacation. After finishing a delicious bowl of mushroom consommé -- chanterelles are in season, after all -- you stroll up the lavish center staircase toward your room. Having left wallets in the past, you simply hover your Apple Watch over the door. "Click!" And that's that. Magnetic plastic cards are so uncivilized. This is the future Apple imagines for you with its new Watch, and it's working with Starwood Hotels (the group that owns Westin, among others) to make that future a reality. And that's just one of several scenarios for Apple Watch that were introduced by Apple VP Kevin Lynch during a third-party app demo on stage in Cupertino, California.
California hotel hires robot butlers to provide room service (video)
If you plan to stay in Cupertino's high-tech Aloft Hotel in the near future, don't be surprised if you open your door to a 3-foot-tall robot carrying extra towels or breakfast. See, it's the Starwood property's new butler (officially called A.L.O. Botlr, which is short for "robot butler," of course) programmed to assist the hotel's concierge in catering to your requests. The 100-pound machine comes loaded with a 7-inch tablet screen to interact with guests and staff, as well as 4G and WiFi connections so it can call elevators when it needs a ride. Let's say you pinged front desk to ask for new toiletries -- the staff then just loads the items (as long as they don't exceed 10 pounds) in an empty compartment on top of the robot and inputs your floor and room number on the tablet interface. You'll know Botlr's lurking outside the door when it calls up the room's phone, and instead of a crisp $20 bill, all it asks in return is a tweet with the #meetbotlr hashtag.
Starwood swapping room keys for mobile phones at two hotels
Starwood plans to roll out refreshed SPG apps that can unlock your guest room later this quarter. The new tech, which the company refers to as "keyless key" in its intro video (embedded after the break), will soon let you bypass the front desk and enter your room using an Android 4.3 or iPhone 4s (or newer) device at the Aloft Harlem and the Aloft Silicon Valley. Existing locks must be upgraded in order to communicate with the Android and iOS apps via Bluetooth, according to a WSJ report, but Starwood's CEO says that the "investment would not be substantial." Starwood currently offers a Smart Check-In solution at several Aloft hotels, but the existing system requires guests to obtain (and carry) a compatible membership card. It's also quite limited, with only nine hotels currently participating. Meanwhile, if this initial smartphone rollout is a success, your phone could be the key to all W and Aloft hotels worldwide by the end of next year.
Cupertino hotel installs Apple TVs in every room
Starwood Hotels' Aloft Hotel, which is just around the corner from Apple's campus in Cupertino, has fitted all 123 of its rooms with Apple TVs. In a press release the company said, "Guests can choose among thousands of movies and TV shows from iTunes, connect to Netflix for films, Hulu for television shows, MLB.com for sports and much more. Apple TV's Airplay feature will also let guests play video, show off photos and enjoy music from any iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch – right on their 42-inch LCD in-room TV." CNET notes that the hotel can also display information through the AppleTV in the form of videos, PDFs and images. For example, the hotel could display its restaurant menus as an image file in the Photos app on the Apple TV. The hotel-specific media runs off of a hotel server. As for the individual Apple TVs, each room will have its own wireless network so guess don't accidentally stream media from their MacBooks to another room's Apple TV. CNET also notes that the Apple TVs can be configured to display any country-specific iTunes store before the guest arrives. In addition, each Apple TV is wiped clean when a guest leaves to prevent stored iTunes and Netflix logins and passwords being left on the device.
Hyatt, Hilton, Marriott, and Starwood Hotels reward your loyalty with free WiFi
Free WiFi is practically a given at coffee shops and motels, yet lots of luxury hotels hit you with an extra $10 - $15 a day to ride their waves of wireless internet. Good news is, well-heeled world travelers won't be paying those fees much longer, because several high-end hotel chains are now giving temporary tenants complimentary wireless internet. Loyalty program members for Hilton, Hyatt, and Starwood Hotels get online gratis if they have Gold or Platinum status, while Marriott lets all who sign up for its rewards program get WiFi for free. Seems ridiculous that some folks still pay extra for internet when a room runs several hundred dollars, but a little free websurfing is better than none. We can only hope that towel retention technology will provide a sufficient boost to their bottom lines to eventually allow access for all.
