JERICHO, NY—Hotel guestrooms aren’t just for relaxing after a long day anymore; they’re about literally recharging as well. With travelers constantly on the go and busy business days on the rise, phone, computer and tablet batteries are just trying to keep up.
Although chargers for these devices may be portable, outlets can be scarce and, oftentimes, guests wait until they return to their guestrooms to fully recharge. The problem is, guests still want to use their devices, whether it’s passively watching TV or continuing the workday after hours in their rooms.
With only a few options near the nightstand, guests can be limited to only charging one or two devices next to them if they’re relaxing in bed. Similarly, if a guest is working at a hotel desk, there’s only so many places to plug in.
Hospitality charging solutions company Kube Systems doesn’t want guests to have to get out of bed to answer an email or walk across the room to check a text message while their devices are charging. With Kube Essentials, guests can now charge up to six devices at once, all from one central hub without compromising charging speeds.
Kube Essentials is an AC-powered charging station with an internal power transformer that works with all brands and models of devices. The station comes complete with two built-in upgradeable charging cables, two USB ports, an AC socket and even an optional Qi wireless charging pad. This gives guests the option to charge wirelessly or with one of its built-in cables—a true help if guests happen to forget theirs at home.
“In either case, the guest does not have to remember their charging cable—this speaks to the ultimate convenience of Kube Essentials versus our competition,” said Dave Weinstein, VP, Kube Systems.
Not only does Kube Essentials offer more ways to charge, but a faster charge as well. The built-in cables offer charging up to three amps with iPhone users usually accustomed to one amp.
“This means most guests comment that their iPhone is charging faster on the Kube Essentials than it does at home. The benefit of faster charging during a hotel stay, particularly for business travelers who might be going back to their room to change for a business dinner, is obvious. If you only have 20 minutes to charge, you want your phone battery as full as possible before leaving,” Weinstein said.
The unit also functions as a clock with a large-format display for visibility, and can be set to a single-day alarm, meaning it will go off only once so as not to wake up a guest who didn’t set it. The system is intuitive and also adapts to sleep patterns. Its ambient light sensor uses a photocell to detect ambient light in guestrooms. This means the clock’s LCD display automatically dims when the room lights are turned off to induce restfulness, and when the lights are turned back on, the display brightens for guests to easily see the time.
“This is similar to how your smartphone screen works. That said, we recognize that not all guests have the same preference, and so there is a manual dimmer control as well. With this, if the guest doesn’t want the display on, they can turn it completely off. When the sun comes back up or the lights come back on, the display will turn on again,” Weinstein said.
These systems were designed from feedback from major hotel chains around the world, he said, taking all kinds of guests into consideration. According to Weinstein, most of the products are geared toward business travelers, but that device health on the road is important to guests across the board.
“Business travelers are the same as leisure travelers in that they all carry the same devices—or even more [for leisure travelers], as family is likely along for the trip, multiplying the number of devices. The only item that might not make it on the leisure trip is the laptop, but with work/life integration happening these days, I would venture to say it is still along,” he said.
Not just for guestrooms, the Kube 5 Portable offers a set of five units (each can change up to six devices) with a recharging tray, ideal for public areas like bars, pool areas, meeting rooms and lobbies. The Kube 5 Portable is a multi-device charger like the Kube Essentials, also with built-in cables.
The Kube 5, however, has hotel brand customization options and time-limit settings for each use. Each Kube provides up to nine hours of charge and has an 18,000 mAh battery, which charges at a speed comparable to wall outlet chargers.
“Guests love the charging speed, wireless charging and built-in cables,” Weinstein said. “Again, charging is a need or problem for everyone, and having a device like Kube Essentials that has enough power to charge all your devices at high speed is very much an appreciated amenity.” HB
