BETHESDA, Md.—Marriott Hotels and Netflix have announced a partnership to change the guestroom entertainment experience. Guests staying at select Marriott Hotels will be able to subscribe to Netflix or sign into their existing accounts by using the Netflix app on the hotel’s internet-connected guest room televisions.
For Marriott guests who increasingly want to view streaming content on the road, the enhanced entertainment option means Netflix members can set aside their mobile devices and watch Netflix shows and movies on wide-screen HDTVs for the first time in hotels.
“Our collaboration with Netflix responds to changing consumer preferences in the way our guests access and watch content, while recognizing the leading role Netflix is playing in driving this transformation,“ said Matthew Carroll, vice president brand management, Marriott Hotels. “Because consumers are choosing to take their streaming content with them when they travel, Marriott Hotels is making the industry’s first rollout of Netflix a priority.”
With this agreement, Marriott Hotels is the first hotel brand authorized to offer guests direct access to their Netflix accounts as part of its guest room entertainment offering. Netflix is currently available at six properties, with six more launching this summer. The brand plans to expand Netflix to 100 of its properties by the end of 2015, and to nearly all of its more than 300 properties in the U.S. by the end of 2016.
The service is currently offered at New York Marriott East Side; San Jose Marriott; Princeton Marriott; Newport Marriott; Dallas/Fort Worth Marriott Solana; and Bethesda Marriott Suites. Soon, Netflix will be introduced at the Marriott Marquis Washington, DC; San Francisco Marriott Marquis; Atlanta Marriott Marquis; Dayton Marriott; San Juan Marriott Resort & Stellaris Casnio; and Anaheim Marriott.
Marriott Hotels designed and adapted its Netflix app for the hotel environment. Guests staying multiple days only have to login to their accounts once throughout their stay. When guests checkout all account information is automatically wiped clean from the televisions.
“Our members tell us they want to watch Netflix anytime, in any place where they have an Internet connection,” said Bill Holmes, global head of business development, Netflix. “Through our partnership with Marriott, they’ll get to watch their favorite movies, TV shows and Netflix originals on big screens just like they do at home.”
According to a report from Accenture, more than half of U.S. consumers watch Internet television. In testing at hotels, the number of guests using any of the Internet apps on the guest room televisions was as high as 26 percent, depending on the property, with a significant majority choosing Netflix.
While the introduction of Netflix is currently focused on the Marriott Hotels brand, the service is also available in over two dozen U.S. hotels representing other Marriott International brands. The company will expand Netflix to its other brands in the future.
