Guests’ Perceptions, Preferences, and Experiences of Smart Automation in Hospitality Service Delivery

This phenomenological study aims to understand hotel guests' perceptions and experiences to synthesize their encounters with smart automation at different stages of service delivery. The study addresses the knowledge gap regarding the subjective experiences of end users of smart automation in the hospitality industry and seeks to uncover the essential structure, or essence, of technology interactions within guests’ lifeworld (Lebenswelt). Using a qualitative phenomenological design, the researchers conducted semi-structured interviews with eleven hotel guests in Nueva Vizcaya, Philippines. The researchers analyzed the data using Colaizzi’s seven-step method, including horizontalization and clustering of meanings to generate themes. The findings revealed a fundamental Duality of Technological Perception. Guests viewed smart automation as a symbol of modern efficiency and luxury that empowered them with a sense of frictionless control over their stay. This was accompanied, however, by panoptic anxiety, in which guests felt that invisible automation had been placed there to watch them—surveillance, in the guests’ own words. Ultimately, the experience captured the essence of the Dichotomy of Empowered Autonomy and Emotional Isolation, in which machine perfection displaced the human touch at the core of traditional hospitality. The study concludes that guests seek not full automation but a synchronized hybrid ecosystem in which automated systems handle mechanical functions while human staff provide emotional and cultural hospitality.