Waiting in a queue at the hotel reception desk to check in or out is high on the business traveller's list of gripes so the news that Hyatt is to install self-service desks at 100 hotels in North America and the Caribbean will be most welcome.

The roll-out follows a successful six-month trial at the Hyatt Regency O'Hare in Chicago and the Grand Hyatt New York.

Guests swipe their credit cards through readers on the new kiosks and are issued with their room key. When you check out, you can pay and print out the receipt yourself.

"In most cases, Hyatt guests can complete their check-in/checkout transactions in under a minute," says Tracy Flynn, vice president of hospitality solutions at NCR, the company who makes the kiosks.

Hyatt hopes to expand the services available so that guests can order newspapers and make dinner reservations at the same time.