It’s in the heart of one of the most historic neighborhoods in London. But this hotel has become a symbol of the future of travel.

ibis Styles London Gloucester Road is in Kensington, within easy strolling distance of some of the English capital’s favorite landmarks, like the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Natural History Museum, shopping at Harrod’s and of course, its highest-profile residence, Kensington Palace, where Prince William and the Duchess of Cambridge and their three children live, alongside other members of the Royal Family.

Surrounded by British tradition, it’s making history of its own as the first, fully digital hotel in Northern Europe.

A suite of digital technologies has reinvented making guests feel welcome, by connecting them to actual, human members of the hotel’s teams, and fulfilling their needs during their stay, from arrival, to getting into and out of and using your room, to food and beverage service, payment and departure.

The pandemic has re-shaped our expectations of cleanliness and sanitization and physical distancing. The digital hotel elevates your ability to maintain those health requirements.

But digital systems at hotels aren’t new. Some contactless features began before the pandemic, and will be appreciated by guests long after.

The digital eco-system at this hotel includes features such as online and mobile check in, in hotel payment, the ‘Accor Key’ –a digital key solution, digital F&B services and guest relations via Whatsapp throughout your stay.

It’s all about choice. Do you want to speak directly with reception? Or would you prefer to go straight to your room?

When you are short of time, a digital solution can save you precious minutes. Other times, when you want that ‘face to face’, personal touch, it’s available too.

“This is not about robots or faceless technology, this is about the smart integration of innovative, customer-facing technology at pace and at scale. Technology is part of our daily lives and is now fully part of our hotel experience–and with this important step, we give our guests the opportunity to adapt their hotel stay according to their preferences,” hotel management says.

It’s all run through your smartphone. ibis Styles London Gloucester Road now has digital keys where guests can open your room door with just a wave of your smartphone. Each guest will have an ‘Accor Key’ that will allow room access, entry to meeting rooms for business or event guests, and floor access from elevators. No more scrambling to find where you put your room key! We bet your smartphone never leaves your hand even – especially? – when you are traveling.

Through the user-friendly Accor Key, you’ll also be able to order a meal remotely from your room, and since it’s fully integrated with your hotel account, you can pay up front to your method of payment or charge your dining to your room and pay on checkout.

You can also chat to your desired member of the hotel team through the common messaging app WhatsApp to make any special requests before and during your stay, making pre-arrival requests and helping to facilitate your needs and queries during your stay.

Accor has also extended its existing Fast Check-Out (FCO) functionality to all guests, allowing you to check-out via the smartphone app. And expenses can be managed too: a PDF invoice will be sent to your email.

This hotel in London may be the first, fully digital hotel in Northern Europe – but it won’t be the last.

Accor has announced the global roll-out of “Accor Key” and an objective to equip 20,000 hotel doors in 2021 and all new hotel openings beginning this summer. The complete digital hotel experience in the British capital is the first step to similar implementation over the next five years in at least half of Accor’s North and Central American hotels, which include economical brands like ibis, through Novotel and Mercure, to Pullman and Swisshotel, through to luxury brands like Fairmont, Sofitel, and Raffles.