Amazon's Alexa will now butler at Marriott hotels

[June 19, 2018]  (Reuters) - Amazon.com Inc said on Tuesday that it has partnered with Marriott International Inc to help increase guest access to amenities with Alexa, through its voice-controlled device Echo, in an attempt to expand its presence in the hospitality industry.

Prompts on how to use Amazon's Alexa personal assistant are seen in an Amazon ‘experience centre’ in Vallejo, California, U.S., May 8, 2018. Picture taken May 8, 2018. REUTERS/Elijah Nouvelage

Alexa for hospitality would assist in providing services ranging from ordering room service to requesting housekeeping or calling the concierge for dinner recommendations without picking up the phone.

The company said the partnership will start this summer at Marriott's select properties and the service will be available by invitation to other hotel chains.

Several media reports had said that Marriott had tested both Apple Inc's Siri and Amazon's Alexa to select what was best suited for its hotels.

Marriott did not comment specifically on Apple, but said it has "great relationships with a number of technology companies and is always open to exploring opportunities to innovate and better the guest experience."

Amazon has never disclosed the exact sales figure for its Echo devices. However, the company in January said it sold "millions" of Amazon devices and that the Echo Dot device was the best-selling product among Prime members.

The company's move to tie-up with hotels is another strategy to woo more users for its Echo devices.Amazon Echo owners spend an average of $1,700 a year on Amazon, more than the $1,300 Amazon Prime members are estimated to be spending a year on the e-commerce site, CNBC reported earlier this year, citing a report by Consumer Intelligence Research Partners.

(Reporting by Vibhuti Sharma in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber)

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