Algonquin College Students Design Hotel Room of the Future

Posted on Friday, June 14th, 2019

Take Off!, a global hospitality competition.

UPDATE: At the Take Off! competition in Paris, the Algonquin College team of Bachelor’s of Hospitality and Tourism Management students placed second overall! Original story below.

Three Algonquin College Bachelor of Hospitality and Tourism Management students have created a ground-breaking concept for a hotel room of the future – a highly customizable, multi-sensory, AI environment. The team is headed to Paris next week to participate as finalists in Take Off!, a global hospitality competition.

Brielle Pelletier, Yuxiang Jiang, and Tsvetan Stanchulov, also known by their team name as “Cultures United” won against over 500 worldwide competitors with their pitch on how Artificial Intelligence can enhance the experiences of hotel guests. As finalists, they will present their concept to Accor’s top hotel management.

“The idea of this year’s competition was to improve the guest experience through AI and technology,” said Pelletier.

When asked about their project, the team shed some light on the inspiration behind this initiative. “E-Atmosphere is a concept that was created out of real life experience,” said Jiang. “We were sitting in a conference room and asked, how much more productive can we be in this scene?”

The team stated the importance of maintaining the aspect of human value, and not taking jobs away from the hotel industry. “We don’t want to see our industry fail from technological disruptors. The foundation of hospitality itself is based on human experience. It cannot be provided to you through a machine,” said Stanchulov.

As for the global competition next week, and the pressure they face, Pelletier said “We’re excited to represent the BHTM program and Algonquin College in Paris!”

Take Off! Is a global competition that enables students to be evaluated by top-level Accor professionals, and by recognized teachers with various cultural backgrounds.

You can also catch the team on CBC’s All in a Day talking about their project, E-Atmosphere. Listen to the interview here.


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