Hotel chain Yotel signs five-year deal with Atos Origin

Services firm will manage the integration and deployment of new self-service kiosks from Shere

Hotel chain Yotel has signed a five-year contract with IT services company Atos Origin to provide express self-service reception kiosks for rollout throughout the business.

The first phase of the contract will see Atos create nine kiosks for a branch of Yotel due to open in New York this year, and it will roll out the technology to a further 30 hotels over the next five years.

The kiosks will be designed, built and installed by Shere Limited.

Atos will integrate the kiosks with several of the hotel's back-office systems, including its Property Management System, which takes care of room bookings and also records bar and other bills against the room, key access management technology and a payment system.

Unlike similar systems already in use across the Premier Inn and Travelodge chains, the Yotel kiosks will allow customers to check out as well as check in, and let them spend money at the hotel using their room key.

Shere's Dominic Child said: "Most hotels are considering moving to self service over the next 12 months; even high-end hotels will have self service as an option alongside the traditional receptionist.

Child said Shere has already developed a new generation of kiosks that use Near Field Communications technology to allow hotel customers to check in and pay for their stay bu using a smartphone app, but the company said it is waiting for the market to catch up before launching.

"Customers aren't yet comfortable with this technology, we expect it will take them another two or three years," said Child.