Newest Hotel

Is it a glimpse of a dystopian future or just a commonsense approach to technology? Either way, Gatwick Airport's newest hotel offers something different: a vision of a post-employment economy where tasks are automated by computers. At Bloc, a hotel of 245 rooms, there are just two members of staff on duty. Despite its unglamorous location in a renovated office block above the airport's South Terminal, Bloc has grand plans to shake up the hotel industry. Thanks to a partnership with Korean technology giant Samsung, almost everything here can be controlled by smartphone. Once guests have made a reservation online, they are given a code that can be used to log into an app, enabling them to check in without standing at a reception desk. In the room, the phone can operate the air-conditioning, switch on lights, turn on TVs, and open blackout blinds. Even keys have been rendered obsolete -guests can unlock the door to their room using their phone (with something called"near-field communication" technology). At the end of their stay, checkout is also done via the app, meaning that guests can complete their entire stay without speaking a single word to a member of staff.