(Yicai Global) Nov. 21 -- Checking in without the assistance of a receptionist, opening the door without a card key, paying for breakfast by face scan and tweaking facilities like lamps, air conditioners and curtains via WeChat apps ... These scenes are not imaginative visions of the future from science fiction movies; rather, they have become reality in the newly-opened InterContinental Shanghai Wonderland.

Called an architectural miracle, the InterContinental Shanghai Wonderland is built into the near-vertical face of an old limestone quarry in the eastern megacity's Songjiang district about 20 miles southwest of downtown.

It has two underground floors and six above -- and it is a smart hotel.

The inn struck a cooperative deal with the WeChat messaging and third-party payment app of Shenzhen-based Tencent Holdings on Oct. 20. The two will integrate functions such as WeChat Pay, WeChat's face recognition function and other of its apps and functions into every detail of the hotel's customer service and management based on WeChat's smart hotel solutions.

Upon arrival guests booking rooms on the WeChat platform and completing payment only need wink at the face recognition machine located at the hotel's front desk and their orders flash onto a screen. Connecting an ID card with an order generates an electronic room card on a guest's mobile phone, state-backed The Paper reported from the scene. 

The whole process of auto-check-in takes less than 30 seconds.

With the electronic key card, the customer only needs to click the app and the door opens automatically. The app also integrates functions like room service and smart control. When checking out, guests may also register their billing information in advance and arrange for issue of invoices, thus further shortening the time spent on these final formalities.

"This reflects the open concept of WeChat platform, which means offering WeChat's underlying capabilities to all partners in a standardized way to create a cooperative ecosystem," said Bai Zhenjie, operations director of WeChat Pay.

The Intercontinental Shanghai Wonderland has also tried out other smart features.

For example, by connecting with the hotel service center and guest room system, a smart speaker with screens equipped in each room also controls room facilities and voice-activated room-service requests.

Editor: Ben Armour