Hilton partners with app to assist visually impaired guests

Hilton Worldwide has partnered with the Be My Eyes app to help visually impaired travellers to navigate around the company’s participating hotels.

Be My Eyes’ app connects visually impaired people with volunteers who use live video to help them accomplish tasks and manage their surroundings.

Hilton has established brand-specific teams of agents to assist visually impaired guests through the app. Agents will be able to help guests with tasks such as identifying and adjusting the in-room thermostat, operating coffee machines and navigating around the hotel’s meeting spaces and amenities, such as bars, restaurants, gyms or spas, including ordering from menus.

The agents are part of Hilton’s Reservation and Customer Care team, according to a Hilton spokesperson. The service will be offered at the company’s properties across the US and Canada.

The spokesperson declined to specify the number of hotels participating in the partnership, but noted it is available in all Hilton’s brands, except for NoMad, Graduate, Small Luxury Hotels of the World and the Autocamp camping brand.

Hilton said it is the first hotel company to partner with the app, and the spokesperson said there are no charges associated with the service. 

The hotel firm began working with Be My Eyes last year to help improve the ability of the app’s AI model to recognise hotel furniture and fixtures, and this year has expanded the partnership to train agents to help guide guests through video. 

Mike Gathright, Hilton’s senior vice president of customer excellence and innovation, said: “We believe that every guest – regardless of ability or any other factor – deserves a reliable and friendly travel experience, and we are proud to partner with Be My Eyes to make that more of a reality for thousands of Be My Eyes users.”