LODGING Staff

🛌 Virdee and LivAway Suites are revolutionizing the guest experience with digital check-in kiosks in Austin, Texas, offering frictionless arrivals and 24/7 digital room keys. Currently, nine properties are live with Virdee’s platform, while seven more are in development, aiming for full rollout by 2026. Over 50 new builds are planned, integrating Virdee's technology from the ground up. This innovative approach seeks to enhance guest satisfaction and operational efficiency for extended stays.

📰 ENGLEWOOD, Colorado—On October 2025, DISH Business launched the Edge Server Blade (ESB) to enhance its SMARTBOX solution. This innovation integrates internet-streamed live linear television with satellite TV, tailored for hotels, senior living communities, and multi-unit buildings. The ESB offers scalable, flexible deployment and seamlessly integrates with existing infrastructure, ensuring centralized management of live content. This advancement supports various property sizes and ensures efficient TV distribution.

💻 September 2025, Palo Alto: Loyalty Juggernaut, Inc. unveiled GRAVTY Agentic AI Compass, an AI suite for loyalty programs built on Amazon Bedrock. This multi-agent intelligence provides real-time, actionable decisions, simulating outcomes and reducing risk. Chief Commercial Officer Dave Andreadakis emphasizes its role in transforming decision-making, while CTO Kalpak Shah highlights its dynamic insights. The AI-driven system supports tasks like performance analysis and predictive insights, aiming to optimize enterprise loyalty strategies.

💸 Canary Technologies, based in San Francisco, California, launched its AI-powered Sales & Catering Payments Hub to streamline hotel sales and finance workflows. By automating processes, hotels close deals faster and improve efficiency. The platform includes a digital dashboard for card or ACH payments, reducing processing fees and reconciling payments quickly. This tool is integrated with Canary's Guest Journey Platform and is available immediately.

⏰ Brandstand launched CubieTime Zen, an alarm clock, in Dallas, Texas, designed for guest wellness with Better Sleep Technology. Over 2 million units have been installed in hotels like Marriott and Hyatt. Features include five sleep sounds, sunrise-simulated alarm, and a nightlight. It also offers two 110V outlets, USB-C ports, and a pass-through plug. CubieTime Zen enhances hotel stays with capacitive touch controls and automatic daylight-saving updates, supporting guest satisfaction.