Amazon's Alexa will be able to dim the lights and lower the temperature in hotel rooms

After tablets and smartphones, voice-enabled smart home devices are the latest players to shake up the hotel room experience, allowing guests to order more towels or play music in the room with just a few commands spoken into thin air. 

Amazon has launched Alexa for Hospitality, developed specifically to act as a virtual hotel concierge. With Amazon Echo, guests can ask Alexa for information like hotel pool hours or the location of the fitness center and request room service or housekeeping.  

The device can also be used to control room lights, temperature, the blinds and the TV. Aside from the hotel experience, guests can call on Alexa for Hospitality to check airport wait times, play games, or play white noise to help them fall asleep. 

Likewise, Amazon is working on a feature that will allow Amazon customers to temporarily connect to their account and play music from their personal playlist, be it Amazon Music, Spotify or Pandora, or listen to their audiobooks. Marriott International will be the first to introduce Alexa into its hotel rooms, at select properties across its portfolio including Marriott Hotels, Westin, St. Regis, Aloft and the Autograph Collection, starting this summer. 

Other recent developments in the hotel industry include keyless room entry, with doors unlocking with smartphones, and robot concierges.