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The Royalton Hotel To Put iPads In The Guestrooms

Go To The Hotel's Web Site Where: 44 W 44th Street [map], New York, NY, United States, 10036
July 21, 2010 at 8:46 AM | by | Comments (0)

With so many new hotels opening up in NYC these days, we wonder what the older, once hot hotels are doing to compete with this brash new generation of hotels who take rooftop parties, flat-screen TVs and wireless internet access for granted. Every so often we will be checking in on these old stalwarts to see what they're doing to stay relevant in a fiercely competitive market. For now, we're simply calling this feature Where Are They Now?

Change is the new game at The Royalton in NYC on 44th Street, aka "Hotel Row." The hotel initially opened as an Ian Schrager boutique hotel in 1988 and was actually Philippe Starck's first hotel design project. But since then, the hotel has gotten a full interior reno (in 2007) and currently, the restaurant Brasserie 44 is closed while it undergoes renovations to be more party-friendly. Now it looks like the guest rooms will get some bling in the form of iPads.

Yesterday, the hotel announced that all guestrooms will be equipped with iPads by the time Fashion Week rolls around (September 9-16.) The iPads will be loaded with a virtual concierge program from Intelity that will allow guests to order room service, get tickets to events, arrange a car service, get in touch instantly with the general manager and peruse menus from the restaurant.

Guests will also have access to some specially created Morgans Hotels content like "The List," a destination guide created in conjunction with UrbanDaddy.com as well as music compilations, information about events around town and some access to movies and TV shows.

Rooms this weekend start at $309 a night before taxes. So how does this compare with a new kind on the block (or somewhat nearby?) Rooms at the brand-new Andaz 5th Avenue on 40th Street start at $295 a night and include free WiFi and free mini-bar amenities. The rooms are slightly bigger but alas no iPads.

It's a close call and even though we are kind of obsessed with iPads right now, the freebies at Andaz may win out. Still, we're psyched that the Royalton is taking this step.

Hotels mentioned in this story

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