In the late-1980s, the “Star Trek” franchise introduced the “holodeck,” which allowed the show’s characters to interact with holographic environments and characters as if they were sentient beings with the use of AI.
While hologram technology has not yet reached the level of the “Star Trek” simulations, the Aiden by Best Western Lolland in Denmark is testing an AI-powered holographic front-desk avatar that interacts with guests and answers their questions.
CIC Hospitality, the operator of the property, partnered with Holoconnects, Mews and Ravatar to test the avatar. The company already works with Holoconnects to offer holograms of am employee based in a studio in Oslo, Norway, to interact with guests across eight of its hotels.
At the core of this collaboration is a life-like 3D holographic avatar that operates inside Holoconnects’ Holobox, which delivers a high-resolution, immersive experience to guests.
Integrated with Mews, a cloud-native hospitality management system, the AI avatar can handle a wide range of tasks—from checking guests in and out to generating room keys, making reservations and providing answers to frequently asked questions.
CIC Hospitality has used holograms of live people at eight of its hotels already.
“We wanted to find a solution that could elevate the guest experience while also improving operational efficiency,” said Øyvind Frisak, chief commercial officer, CIC Hospitality. “With AI and holography, we’ve created something that gives guests the sense of personal interaction they crave, without requiring additional staff resources.”
For CIC, the decision to introduce holograms was rooted in a desire to reduce the reliance on front-desk staff for routine tasks, allowing human employees to focus on providing higher-level customer service.
“We’ve always been looking for innovative ways to operate our hotels,” said Frisak. “The hologram lets us minimize staff time on low-level tasks like check-in, so that our team can engage in more personalized service with guests.”
The AI-powered hologram also answers questions in real-time, creating an interactive experience that goes beyond a simple screen, and can even provide live responses, making it feel as if a real person is greeting you at the front desk.
Though it’s tempting to think of holograms as a mere novelty or a “wow factor,” the technology offers real value for hotels by enhancing guest satisfaction, according to Frisak. The ability to interact with a lifelike avatar gives guests a sense of being personally welcomed and attended to without the wait time or staffing limitations that often come with traditional hotel operations.
“It’s important to maintain that human connection in hospitality,” said André Smith, cofounder/CEO, Holoconnects. “Our guests want to feel welcomed. While technology is changing the industry, this hologram ensures that they still experience the personal touch, just through a different medium.”
Beyond simply acting as a virtual receptionist, the avatar’s AI integration with Mews ensures that hotel bookings, check-ins and other services are handled seamlessly. Guests can ask the hologram about amenities, book additional rooms, make dinner reservations and even upgrade their stay—all through a natural, human-like conversation.
Currently, the avatar, which was created by Cyprus-based Ravatar, is not modeled after a specific hotel employee but was created to represent a friendly, approachable persona in line with the hotel’s branding.
“We wanted to make sure it wasn’t too lifelike or unsettling,” said CIC’s Frisak. “The goal was to create something engaging and friendly, but still clearly an avatar, so that guests know exactly what to expect.”
The holograms, both the live person from the studio and the AI version, have helped CIC with the labor challenges that much of the industry has faced globally.
“We’ve seen a lot of labor challenges, especially in remote areas or regions where it’s difficult to attract workers,” he said. “With this technology, we can still offer the service our guests expect, without compromising the guest experience due to staffing shortages.”
CIC Hospitality operates 13 Aiden by Best Western hotels. Eight of those locations are already implementing this AI-powered hologram solution. In the coming years, the technology is expected to expand significantly. The partnership between Holoconnects, Mews and Ravatar is already garnering attention from larger hotel chains, with discussions underway to scale the solution for chains with hundreds of hotels, according to Smith.
“By 2025, we expect to see a much wider rollout of this technology,” he said. “Our goal is to make AI and holography a common tool for hotels worldwide. It’s not just about creating cool experiences; it’s about helping hotels operate more efficiently, improving customer satisfaction and addressing the labor shortages that have impacted the industry.”
The team behind this innovation also sees the technology as more than just a replacement for traditional staff. In fact, it’s part of a larger effort to bridge the gap between automation and the human touch in hospitality.
“We’re constantly refining the technology to ensure that it can meet the high standards of customer service that guests expect,” he said. “The avatar doesn’t replace human staff; it enhances what they can do by allowing them to focus on higher-level tasks.”
As the technology continues to evolve, future versions of the holographic avatar could become even more sophisticated, possibly incorporating even deeper AI capabilities to handle more complex guest needs, according to the Holoconnects CEO. The team also envisions the integration of other elements, such as facial recognition and personalized guest profiles, to further enhance the guest experience.
