Amazon's Alexa takes fight with Siri to Marriott hotel rooms

Seattle

AMAZON.COM Inc's battle with Apple Inc over digital assistants is moving to a new venue: hotel rooms, where Alexa and Siri are both vying to be the voice-controlled platform of choice for travellers.

Marriott International Inc, the world's biggest lodging company, is testing devices from the two tech giants at its Aloft hotel in Boston's Seaport district to determine which is best to let guests switch on lights, close drapes, control room temperature and change television channels via voice command. In December, Wynn Resorts Ltd became the first hotel company to install Alexa-powered Echo devices, starting with suites at its flagship Wynn Las Vegas property.

Technology companies are using hotel room as showrooms for new services and devices that can also control so-called smart homes. Amazon and Apple are competing for dominance in the nascent market, which promises to let consumers access and manage household systems such as heating, cooling, lighting and entertainment by speaking a request at home or u…