The UK’s largest hotel chain, Premier Inn, has announced that they are launching their first fully self check-in hotel at St Mary’s Gate, Sheffield, reducing check-in time to under a minute for guests. The self check-in automated pods have already been successfully trialled at the London King’s Cross Premier Inn; they allow guests to take complete control of their own booking when they arrive at the hotel. The check-in process currently takes an average of 8-10 minutes, but the new technology employed by Premier Inn will dramatically cut this time down.

Customer experience at Premier Inn will be even smoother as workstations will be housed in the reception area and manned by team members solely dedicated to helping guest enquiries. The kiosks self check-in will improve customer experience at Premier Inn as it will manage the more formal element of the check-in procedure, leaving the Premier Inn team free to focus on the needs of their guests.

Bob Cotton, Chief Executive of the British Hospitality Association commented, "Its great to see Premier Inn investing in innovative technology. These kiosks will undoubtedly increase the level of service offered by Premier Inn - delivering a fast, efficient and speedier experience at check-in."

Sarah Simpson, Product and Service Manager for Premier Inn commented; "Premier Inn checks in over 23,000 guests every day across the UK, and as the UK’s leading hotel brand we continually innovate to meet the changing needs of our guests. Feedback has shown that business travellers like the time saving benefits that the kiosks provide, whilst leisure guests benefit not only from this but also from the increased accessibility, interaction and level of good service they have with team members at the guest workstation."

The Sheffield St. Mary site is now open to the public and is located on Young Street, St Marys Gate. The new hotel will feature 126 bedrooms.