Who Watches Those TVs in Hotel Bathroom Mirrors?

January 8, 2010 at 9:29 AM | by MsRebecca | Comments (8)

We've just landed in Vegas for a shot of warmth and little bit of tech. Today, we'll be hitting the show floor at CES, to see what groovy travel gadgets and other technical bells and whistles and widgets may wind up in our hotel rooms a year from now.

After checking in to The Flamingo, we realized we had a good question for the hotel-geekery folks we might meet: What's next? Because, frankly, we think those TVs embedded in the bathroom mirrors are played out.

We love the massive flatscreen TVs that come standard in any good hotel room these days�and we don't even mind the excess of having more than one TV. But, seriously, what is with these low-fi mirror TVs? Did someone dream them up at CES three years ago after one too many post-show Chardonnays?

Our first encounter with one of these "innovations" was at The Betsy Hotel in Miami, where rooms in Deco buildings are, shall we say, cozy. That included the bathroom, where the mirror TV faced ... the door to the bathroom, which was heavy and kept slamming shut. You couldn't see it properly from the bathtub unless you gave yourself a neck injury and, besides, the picture was fuzzy. Fail.

Next up, we discovered one embedded not in the mirror above the sink but above the bathtub at The Crosby Street Hotel. Eureka! But, no. It didn't work, and once we were immersed in our bubble bath close to midnight we couldn't be bothered calling the front desk to ask for someone to fix it. Sigh.

Our mirror TV here in our GO Room at The Flamingo is, like the one at The Betsy, in a spot you can't quite see from the loo, and not at all from the shower. We did, however, like gloating about the mild Vegas temperatures when we caught this weather report while brushing our teeth. We guess TV is a nice distraction from flossing and other sink-related tasks (although not mascara application. We need to concentrate for that) but do we really need it? No. Would we prefer other amenities in our room instead? You betcha. (A glass, for a start, and maybe some coffee to go with the empty coffee-maker.)

But before we write off the mirror-embedded TV completely, we wondered if it was just us being cranky. Do you watch these wonders of technology? Love them? Or can you live without? What other tech-advances would you like to see in your hotel room instead? Tell us in the comments below.

(And we'll try to strong-arm a hotel-geek on the trade-show floor to get cracking on it for you.)

Comments (8)

Return to » Who Watches Those TVs in Hotel Bathroom Mirrors?

i think that was the first time i actually used it. i watched from the tub. love those GO rooms!

@HotelChatter replies on Twitter are evenly split--two love the idea and two think its silly. including my comment above and ms. rebecca's story, it's still an even split!

in Vegas. Did it more for the novelty, think it was at Augustus Caesars maybe? Anyway, did find that I kind of liked having early morning news on while I showered.

Rebecca, If you want to catch the news or weather in the morning while shaving, brushing your teeth or putting on make-up, these are perfect. As there are no bathtubs at the Betsy, you might have confused us with another hotel....we have beautiful showers :-)

I did like watching ESPN from the peekaboo shower at the Ames, so I have nothing against the TV-bathroom relationship per se!

If I encounter a mirror TV I can see from the tub I think I would dig them. I must have been thinking of the shower at The Betsy (it was def. there I saw my first), and my GO room at the Flamingo doesn't have a tub. Booo!

i have only seen it once, in a hotel spa place in austria. except i had no idea these things even existed and the remote was hidden in a drawer by the sink, so i saw the red standby light winking at me and assumed they were filming me in the bathroom. covered the mirror with a towel for 3 whole days before i found the remote and realised what it was. as i was checking out.

While other TV Mirror manufacturers sell inexpensive foreign-made products to hotel contractors for a quick "wow" factor, SEURA believes TV Mirrors can elegantly serve a guest's many needs. Our project management team ensures a luxurious television experience for the bathroom while working with the hotel contractors (so you can actually use it while you unwind!). Properties like Chicago's Elysian, LA's Mondrian, and Wisconsin's Grand Geneva utilize SEURA's technologies and consistently receive positive feedback from guests. SEURA encourages HotelChatter and others to experience the true luxury of television mirrors at these hotels! (Plus, all our products are made in the USA.)

I loved my bathroom in the Trump LV and I used the TV all the time. Maybe because I don't get to vegas often or maybe because this is not a commonality in other cities' hotels, but I thought it was a cool perk to have. Hopefully more hotels will follow the palms with infinity hot tubs in most of the suites, they look amazing.

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