The Hilton Inn at Penn completed its $10 million renovations this month. New additions to the hotel include an iPad in each room, which will allow the Inn at Penn to cut down on paper use.
All 238 rooms in the hotel were renovated in accordance with “our desires to reduce energy consumption and our carbon footprint,” the Inn’s general manager Greg Stafford said.
The Inn received a $100,000 energy improvement grant from the state of Pennsylvania to be the first hotel in the state to install an Evolve energy system, Business Services spokeswoman Barbara Lea-Kruger said.
The new system requires that guests insert their digital room key in order for electricity to turn on in their room, which may reduce energy consumption in rooms by 45 percent, Stafford said.
Rooms were outfitted with new carpets and wood flooring, sustainable lead-free paint and toilets that use 50 percent less water than the models they replaced, Stafford added.
Corridors in the hotel also received new carpeting and compact fluorescent lamps, a type of energy-saving light.
Each room’s iPad will allow guests to make requests, find information and receive personalized video messages, Stafford said. Guests will also be able to access complementary internet starting mid-April.
The new addition, which cost $1,500 per room including software and installation, will eliminate all paper from the rooms.
“Forty five years ago, hotels were trying to decide whether they should have color TVs in the rooms,” Stafford said. Although the Inn at Penn is ahead of the game, he believes that in a few years most hotels will also feature iPads.
College junior Caroline Kokubun, whose family has stayed at the Inn at Penn when visiting her, said that the iPads in each room are unlikely to have an impact on the Inn’s ability to attract guests.
The Inn “has a market that they can always count on,” she added.
Guests who had poor experiences at the Inn in the past may not be fazed by the multi-million dollar renovations.
Due to “poor customer service,” during his last stay, William Saums, whose daughter Michele Saums is an Engineering sophomore, wrote in an email that he will not be more inclined to stay at the Inn in the future.
1986 College graduate Hope Schefler Taitz has stayed at the Inn when attending meetings and events at Penn.
During certain large on-campus events, such as Alumni Weekend, the Inn “charges a premium to its current value,” Taitz said. “There becomes a trade-off. If it’s disproportionately expensive, I will stay at a more upscale hotel downtown and take a cab to Penn for the same price.”
“I think they have to showcase the renovations” so people know the hotel has improved, Taitz added. “Would I stay there if it’s stepped up its game? Absolutely.”
