Lifestyle

Alexa, book me a holiday: Inside Bournemouth’s high-tech beach huts



The temperature is about to hit nearly 40 degrees in London and the entire city is wishing it could be anywhere else, and especially by the sea.

But the beach huts from your childhood are long gone now. They may still be wooden clapperboard huts but now they’re high-tech, featuring smart kettles, robot vacuum cleaners and home assistants. 

A new partnership between Bournemouth Beach Lodges and Amazon has seen three of the popular lodges kitted out with Amazon’s smart home tech. 

There’s an Echo Show 5 featuring Amazon Alexa which can offer local recommendations on where to find the best fish and chips or what the weather will be that day. A Smarter iKettle means you can ask Alexa to turn on the kettle for your morning coffee simply by saying “Alexa, good morning”. 

Alexa is on hand to help with suggestions of things to do as well as power the lights, kettle and vacuum cleaner in the lodge (Amazon / BCP Council)

As well, there are Alexa smart plugs so you can turn off the lights using your voice, a Fire TV Stick in case the rain keeps you inside, and a Neato Robotics Botvac to clear away sand you trek in from the beach. Each lodge also features a kitchen, private decking, shower room and toilet, heating and Wi-Fi. 

Speaking about the partnership, Chris Saunders, head of operations at BCP Council, said: “We are looking forward to a number of the Bournemouth Beach Lodges being converted into smart spaces. We hope that residents involved in the trial will be even more inspired to explore and experience beautiful Bournemouth and our neighbours Christchurch and Poole.” 

The lodges were installed in 2017 and this is the first time they have been upgraded to include smart voice tech. It makes sense: more and more people are looking to smart tech to provide those extra bits of help on holiday, whether it’s booking a flight or expecting these kinds of products in the place they stay.  

The view from the Bournemouth Beach Lodges (Amazon / BCP Council)

It’s important that the UK keeps up to date with the latest holiday tech. Bournemouth regularly features in the top five seaside towns to stay in the UK, and with more people exploring no-flight holidays as a result of climate change concerns, it’s a great way to provide a high level of service in a traditional British setting. 

See you at the beach. 

Book a stay at the Bournemouth Beach Lodges here. If you want to stay in the tech-enabled Lodges, make sure to contact hello@bournemouthbeachlodges.co.uk to find out more. ​

 

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