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Starwood Hotels & Resorts is set to launch what it believes will be the UK’s first-ever emoji-only room service menu.
The announcement follows the launch of the service in the company’s New York-based Aloft Manhattan Downtown hotel in October, which it claimed was a world first.
Text it, Get it (TiGi), will now launch at Aloft London Excel and Aloft Liverpool on Monday, 21 December, enabling guests to order items from room service via text from the Aloft TiGi Emoji Room Service Menu.
Guests will be able to text emojis – cartoon-like symbols used on smartphone-based instant messaging services such as Whatsapp – from the room service menu to a dedicated phone line, along with the room number, to receive their chosen order.
Items on the menu include ‘The Hangover’ (two bottles of water, one bacon roll and one banana), ‘The Sightseer’ (two bottles of water, map and two bananas), ‘The Munchies’ (a Coca-Cola, bag of crisps, Snickers bar and a chocolate brownie) and ‘Surprise Me’.
Brian McGuinness, global brand leader at Starwood’s specialty select brands, told Hotel Owner: “At Aloft, we’re always looking for ways to shake up the hotel stay. We look to consumer behaviour and think about how to integrate these trends into the Aloft experience.
“The rise of emoji was a logical next step, the perfect new wave of guest communications.”
In addition, the bar at Aloft London Excel will offer a limited edition emoji-led menu of cocktails and snacks along with a digital emoji-themed slot machine game available online and in the hotel’s lounge, while Aloft Liverpool will hold a three-day ‘emoji-fest’ in January.
