What you need to know
- Google's Nest Hubs will replace your hotel concierge in certain U.S. and UK hotels.
- The Nest Hub will be able to help order room service and even speed up checking out in some cases.
- Google says more partnerships will be announced soon.
Google is partnering with select hotels including the Fairmont Princess in Scottsdale, Dr. Wilkinson's Resort in Calistoga, Gale and Shelborne South Beach in Miami, Gansevoort Meatpacking and Synergy Chelsea in New York City, Hotel Zena, Viceroy D.C., and the Village Hotels in the U.K to provide a hands-free experience for travelers. It'll be providing Nest Hub smart displays to be set up in hotel rooms so that guests can quickly and easily fulfill common service requests.
Guests will be able to do things like order extra towels or room service and inquiring about the facilities without needing to get involved with more people than necessary. The Nest Hub will also help you check out with assistant for some hotels, and Google of course notes that it can be used to play music and stream videos as well — all hands-free.
Privacy of the user is also being considered here, as Google's Tom Franklin said in a Wednesday blog post:
While convenience is important, we're also dedicated to protecting privacy. You won't need to sign into the device, and no activity will be linked to your personal account. There is no camera on the Nest Hub, and the physical mic switch can be turned off for additional privacy. No audio is ever stored, and any activities will be immediately wiped from the device when it's reset for the next guest.
Aside from the smattering of hotels listed above, Google says that more hotel partnerships will be coming soon.
Nest Hub Max
You don't need to go to a hotel to invest in a Nest Hub or Hub Max. The big speaker and large screen are some of the best things about the Nest Hub. As Google adds more features like gaming, they become even more useful around the house.
