HotelChatter

So says Wired's Ken Denmead, whose "Open Letter to the Hotel Industry" cites obsolete consoles, inadequate plug-ins, and ridiculously high rental prices as three reasons why hotel higher-ups need to "get off [their] collective duffs" and rectify the situation, STAT.

Denmead brings up a valid point. What's a gaming-addicted teen to do without "Modern Warfare"?—and we're not talking vacation-related family squabbles here.

We've written about Seattle's Hotel Monaco hosting "Guitar Hero" hour in the lobby, but happy hour gaming doesn't strike us as supremely kid-friendly. Neither do the Wiis available at some of Japan's "Love Hotels." And speaking of sex—we mean Sax—Chicago's Hotel Sax has that massive XBox Studio we reported on, but again, kids and adults commingling under competitive circumstances far from ideal.

New York's Hotel Gansevoort offers Wiis in-room for the young'uns, not horrific N64s, as Denmead laments in his article. We've also caught wind of the Marriott Marco Island—a reportedly family-oriented resort—holding Wii game hours targeted toward the teen/tween set.

But the bigger problem seems to be that there's a dearth of power plugs at hotels, deterring super-techie families from packing their personal systems along with their swim trunks.

So tell us, what hotels have you stayed at that measure up in the gaming department, and are kid-appropriate to boot? Or, what are some of your hotel gaming gripes? Comment below and let us know. We're wondering if hotels will solve the widespread problem without cheat codes cheating customers.

[Photo: shabd simon-alexander]