Shashou almost missed checking into this business entirely. The dark-haired 25-year-old, whose round face is unshaven and holds up circular horned-rimmed glasses, explains how he got here while wearing a blue, informal open-necked shirt and speaking in a British English that’s morphed into something Mid-Atlantic. Although he grew up in the U.K., his family is from, well, everywhere: His grandfather was Iraqi, while his father was Brazilian, and his maternal grandparents were Russian and Czech. Which is where Shashou is trying to squeeze into this increasingly crowded space - with a cloud-based, off-the-shelf product that connects all of the back-office functions on a single platform (that costs $8,000 to $15,000 a year for a subscription).
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But many brands still rely on the ubiquitous hotel radio or several different software systems to run different parts of their operations, and all that tech doesn’t necessarily speak to each other. Both the Marriott and Virgin Hotels, which is starting to build its own chain, have launched proprietary apps that allow guests to access services, often well before they even arrive for check-in. Many chains already offer apps to book trips, dole out rewards or provide concierge offerings. ALICE, of course, is hardly the first high-tech tool for the hospitality sector.
Like many industries, hotels are being pushed by mobile tech as all sorts of services get revolutionized, from transportation to finance. Shashou will still have to prove it’s the solution the hotel industry needs - and he’s up against some stiff competition. He’s aiming to be in 100 hotels by year’s end, maybe just enough so that the startup he co-founded and where he serves as president might actually break even. She’s called ALICE, and Shashou was busy introducing her at a recent hotel technology exposition in Austin, Texas, after which he told OZY, “I’ve been pitching 25 times a day.” So far, 30 hotel groups have signed up, and the system’s up and running at famous luxury hangouts like the Setai in Miami Beach and Zetta in San Francisco. So perhaps it’s not surprising that a kid who played in the back of the house - the kitchen, the mail room and the laundry - is leading a technological effort to integrate how hotels manage and deliver services while creating a better experience for hotel guests. As a child running around in his parents’ boutique hotels in the U.K., he loved the kitchens - for the food, of course, but also for characters like specialist chefs, who often came from other parts of Europe, skirted the law to work there, and hacked around all day as they produced their creations. For some, a hotel is an indulgence in luxury living, and for others it’s a necessary evil. For Alex Shashou, it was more like a playground.
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