As most people who suffer from technophilia know, a lot can change in a year. In the year that we released our first Best Geek Hotels List, the iPhone beat out every other cellphone on the market, the MacAir usurped the MacBook and saved shoulders worldwide, Guitar Hero and Rock Band raged, and Facebook surpassed MySpace, at least in our group of friends.
While most hotels are still rather slow to adopt technology -- hello, working free WiFi please?-- we did find a new crop of geek hotels that were worthy of superlatives. Some of these hotels have been geeking it out for a while and some are still in beta. But much of the source code remains the same:
Being geek is a cultural endeavour, so after searching every henhouse, outhouse, and boathouse around the world we have put together our list of the world's top geek hotels for 2008. From artificial intelligence, to high end gadgetry, to geek service, and geek movie worship, the hotels on this list have a certain je ne sais quoi de geek.
The recent 20th annual Conde Nast Traveler awards threw up some not-too-surprising results in the Australia/Pacific section, with Melbourne's about-to-be-even-bigger Crown Towers complex coming up in the number one position, closely followed by Sydney's Park Hyatt.
But coming in at number three was the less mainstream option of the Treetops Lodge in Rotorua, New Zealand. With just twelve rooms, it certainly has less guests coming through the door than places like the Crown or the Park Hyatt, but those that have checked in have been suitably impressed.
The Treetops Lodge is in the middle of the forest so nature and wildlife are the key impressions you'll get. There are plenty of outdoor activities to be undertaken including horse riding, hiking and fishing. The restaurant focuses on locally produced (or caught) food, and also on offering a good range of New Zealand wines.
It's really quite a special place and offers some interesting packages including an indigenous culture and cuisine package which gives guests the chance to see a Maori cultural performance and learn about their cuisine.
Last week in Bangkok the Asian TTG Travel Awards for hotels, airlines and travel agents were handed out, and one of our favorite Vietnamese spots, the Nam Hai near Hoi An was awarded the prize for Best New Beach Resort.
Less than one year into its life--it first opened in December 2006--the Nam Hai is really stacking up the accolades. As well as this best new beach resort award, it's been listed in the Conde Nast 2007 Hot List (in both the US and the UK), been picked as a "best of the best" of new hotels by Gourmet Traveller, and, on top of all of that, we think it's a nice place too. A place to watch as it goes from strength to strength in the future, we hope.
It's that time of the year again when Conde Nast Traveler unveils its Readers Choice awards.
Topping the list for the best U.S. city was San Francisco who has won this distinction for 17 of the past 18 years. Whoa. Good thing San Francisco has a ton of hotels for all of its happy visitors.
So who was #1? The Hotel La Scalinatella, Capri, Italy. If there's anyone who wants to take us there so we can experience this place for ourselves, we will gladly accept.
Conde Nast magazines in the US and the UK have been giving out gongs to the Raffles Beijing Hotel (often just referred to as the Beijing Hotel): it made the Hot List 2007 in both countries, plus its Jaan restaurant gained a place in the US version's Hot Table list.
The Raffles Beijing Hotel is in a 1907 building but was taken over and fully refurbished just last year. The location is great for sightseers, less than half a mile to the Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square, and many of the 171 rooms and suites have good views over Beijing.
Facilities include an indoor swimming pool (and the fact that complimentary cell phones are available while you're by the pool is apparently a big selling point), a 24-hour fitness center, a library with free snacks, and chocolates on the pillow every night.
Not all recent guests would agree with the Conde Nast awards: a few of the complaints have included unfriendly staff who don't speak English well and a lot of extras on the bill--including the nasty trick of offering two bottles of water in the rooms, one free and one with a horrendously inflated price, yet not clearly labeled. A gripe that can't really be blamed on the hotel is the traffic problem in central Beijing--many guests gave the tip of leaving plenty of time to get to appointments or the airport.
We have another Geek Hotel tip in our inboxes today and finally, Europe is getting some representation, specifically Stockholm. Malc writes in:
The Hotel Rival has a 32" HD LCD TV and a Sony DVD player with line in. And whatever is playing, be it the TV, a CD or your laptop plugged in, feeds through to a speaker in the bathroom above the shower and there is a volume control on the wall. Its really cool.
Geeks will also love the free WiFi in the lobby. However, if you still have some anti-social behavior left over from middle school, you may not like the hotel's happening bar and lounge scene.
Already, tips are coming in from readers about their favorite Geek Hotels. Like this one from Flickr member Dead Squid:
My fave geek hotel would have to be the Hotel Avante in Mountain View, CA. No flat panel TV, but retro styling, comfy chairs, solid network connectivity, daily beer busts (ok, cocktails) in the foyer, a HiFi room where you can get out of your room to listen to music, loaner CDs, and a useful desk with something other than a Gideon's bible make for a very, very pleasant stay.
The proximity to Silicon Valley also has a sufficient geek quotient. And notice in the desk, a mini-etch a sketch, a slinky, a yo-yo and of course the geeky Rubick's cube. What? No Casio calculator watches?
We've been to plenty of hotels where the TV hardly worked and the Internet connection was spotty. But some properties are on the other end of the spectrum: true Geek Hotels. What does it take to be a Geeky Hotel? Way more than just free WiFi, that's for sure. Being geek is a cultural endeavour, so after searching every henhouse, outhouse, and boathouse around the world we have put together our list of the world's top geek hotels. From artificial intelligence, to high end gadgetry, to geek service, and geek movie worship, the hotels on this list have a certain je ne sais quoi de geek.
