Is traveling holding you back from catching up on House of Cards or Orange Is the New Black? Well, it doesn’t have to anymore: Marriott International Inc. has confirmed to Bloomberg that it is currently trialing access to streaming services like Netflix on TVs in several of its international hotels.
The American hospitality company is providing travelers in eight of its hotels access to Netflix, the world’s biggest subscription-streaming service, along with other streaming media services, including Hulu and Pandora, the company said. The change is part of the brand’s effort to construct a new in-room entertainment service.
Marriott – which opened its 4,000th hotel in June 2014 – is one of numerous hotel chains that have contemplated offering Netflix’s streaming video service to clients, as it would attract people who want more than the standard televisions channels and usual on-demand movies. The move would also provide Netflix another way to satisfy existing customers, while introducing its service to new ones.
“We have invited leading technology companies and content providers to work with us to design the next wave in in-room entertainment focusing on on-demand programming,” said John Wolf, a spokesman for Bethesda, Maryland-based Marriott. “We are currently offering guests in eight test hotels the opportunity to stream their content through our high-definition TVs whether it is Netflix, Hulu or Pandora.” Top of FormBottom of Form
Though hotel guests can already connect to Netflix on their laptops and tablets via Wi-Fi, the new method of integration presents an opportunity for both hotels and Netflix to produce additional revenue. Marriott is reportedly mulling a few options that include a “premium” Internet package, which would involve TV streaming for all three media services on top of the standard WiFi.
However, it’s not clear whether the new service will allow guests to login in to their own account or if the hotels will supply folks with generic access to the services.
A Netflix spokeswoman said the company is “always trying to find ways to make viewing more convenient for our members,” but declined to comment further, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Marriott currently houses more than 700,000 rooms in over 80 countries, while Netflix, based in Los Gatos, California, services more than 50 million streaming subscribers worldwide.
