What is the Hotel of Tomorrow made of? Metropolia’s SmartLab Develops Smart Solutions for the Hotel Industry

How can a hotel room save energy, make guests’ stays more convenient and provide a comfortable guest experience at the same time? At Metropolia’s SmartLab, technologies for future hotels are being developed and tested in collaboration with companies, researchers and students.

The aim is to find ways for the hotel industry to meet growing sustainability requirements and customer expectations, improve operational efficiency, and strengthen its competitiveness. The Finnish Hotel of Tomorrow FHOT 2.0 project by Haaga-Helia and Metropolia focuses on developing smart and energy-efficient solutions for future hotels. At Metropolia, solutions have already been tested in collaboration with ABB, Skanska and Samsung.

SmartLab Turns Ideas into Practical Solutions

The project brings together building automation, data and digital services to improve energy efficiency and create smoother guest experiences. Digital solutions can help reduce energy and water consumption, for example, while making it easier to anticipate maintenance needs. At the same time, they can make the guests experience more seamless by allowing hotel room functions to be controlled with greater ease. Solutions developed as part of the project are currently being tested and piloted at SmartLab.

Located on Metropolia’s Myllypuro campus, SmartLab provides a unique environment for developing, integrating and testing technological services in practice. This realistic test environment makes it possible to assess how different solutions work together as part of a complete hotel room before they are potentially introduced in real-world settings.

Collaboration Develops Solutions

ABB’s role in the project focuses particularly on connecting data, energy efficiency and building automation with the business needs of hotels. Samsung’s SmartThings platform, in turn, brings the smart systems together, enabling users to control lighting, temperature and other room functions from a single interface.

The SmartLab test environment in Myllypuro also serves as a learning environment. It is used particularly by building services engineering students, as well as students in construction, social and health care, and information and communications technology. They can explore emerging hotel technologies and gain first-hand insight into the kinds of solutions that future hotels may incorporate. The project has also hosted visits to SmartLab, giving visitors the opportunity to see how the test environment works in practice.

“Travellers are increasingly discerning and quality-conscious, and their needs vary. Optimizing room conditions and ensuring a seamless guest journey are not just luxuries; they are fundamental to the hotel of tomorrow. When it comes to choosing which function to optimize, the only limit is imagination. A smart hotel room can also bring together businesses withing the surrounding regional business ecosystem”, says Jaana Numminen, Project Manager.

The Finnish Hotel of Tomorrow FHOT 2.0 is a joint project between Haaga-Helia University of Applied Sciences and Metropolia University of Applied Sciences, running from 2024 to 2026. The project is co-funded by the European Union.