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Hotel WiFi / Peninsula Hotels / Hotel Tech / Hotel News / → All Tags

Peninsula Hotels Want to Have the Best Hotel WiFi in the World

They've got helipads and helilounges, BMW Minis and even special macarons, but now Peninsula Hotels is making moves to have the best hotel internet network of all.

The big news comes from our buddies at Australian Business Traveller, who note that that first Peninsula to enjoy "gigaspeed Internet" and " 99.99% coverage – no dark spot or black spots" will be the Peninsula Beijing. Why China? Think about that for a second. China makes complete sense, though we admit we're surprised it's not their flagship property in Hong Kong getting all the special tech first.

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Hotel Tech / Plug Panels / Noble House Hotels / Palm Springs Hotels / → All Tags

Hotel Plug Panels are Finally Popping Up As the Necessary Amenity They Are

Where: 1600 N Indian Canyon Drive [map], Palm Springs, CA, United States, 92262

At this point, we're kind of collecting instances of plug panels showing up in hotel rooms. The latest is an unexpected find, at a hotel that's probably one of the last where someone would choose to do business: The Riviera Palm Springs. Basically if you're staying at The Riviera, you're more than likely just using your room as a place to sleep, dry your swimsuits, and occasionally nap to cool off in the air conditioning.

Regardless, the hotel is surprisingly up on its tech—as we saw with this outlet and A/V panel built into the mirrored TV table, just above the minibar.

Thumbs up...except for one huge problems we're beginning to notice when hotels get proactive and install plug panels: this won't fit Macbook Magsafe plugs! You know what we're talking about—those big white blocks on the end of Macbook cords, with the plug sticking out of it. Sure, you can attach the included Macbook extension cord to get around the big white block part, but then the outlet must be for grounded plugs (which this one luckily is). Ughh, tiny aggravation after tiny aggravation. Welcome to the modern world.

[Photo: HotelChatter]

Hotel Tech / Hong Kong Hotels / Swire Hotels / → All Tags

The Case of the Hotel Room Door with No Doorknob

Where: 29 Taikoo Shing Rd, Hong Kong, Hong Kong

WIth a hotel like the East, one of the newer additions to the Hong Kong hotel scene, you've just got to set yourself apart. Thus, they've adopted the tagline "A business hotel with a life." While it's true that the East, where we stayed for two nights, is ideal for the business traveler so long as they don't mind being 20 minutes from Central (but easily reachable on the subway), the hotel is also one we'd hugely recommend to those who appreciate modern technology and good design, because this hotel is bringing it in spades. Not to mention that it's a sister hotel of our recent crush, The Upper House.

For another thing, there's the doors to each guestroom. Where's the doorknob? There is none. Instead, your room key card is embedded with a chip that unlocks your door after touching it to the orange pad, just above the doorbell and below your room number. Then slightly apply pressure to the circle that sits where the doorknob would be, and you're in.

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Hotel Tech / Hotel Privacy / Radisson Blu Hotels / → All Tags

Are Your Internet Activities Illegal? Radisson Blu is Watching You

Have you ever been staying at a hotel with fast and free WiFi only to find that when you sit down for some internet time at night, that the speed of the connection has slowed? This is usually due to other users in the hotel downloading porn or accessing other streaming video content. It's sad, but it's true and we wish it was rarer.

Hotel chain Radission Blu, like many others, turn a blind eye to what guests do in their rooms within reason, unless it involves accessing child pornography. They'll be the first chain in the world to pioneer use of NetClean's "child abuse-free zone," where software will monitor files for such illicit content.

Radission Blue currently operates 235 hotels around the world, but this system will be initially tested only in the chain's Scandinavian properties before they roll it out all over. But what will happen if the hotel finds out that a guest is surfing child porn? NetworkWorld asks the same question: "

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Hotel Tech / Hotel Beds / Yotels / Pod Hotels / → All Tags

Still Not Sold on Yotels? Maybe This Jetsons Bed Will Do the Trick

With all the gadgets we haul around these days, we get excited when we check into a hotel that caters to our tech obsession. Things as simple as a charging station for all our phones and cameras and iPods makes us very happy. So you can imagine how we felt when we saw this teched-out multimedia hotel bed.

It’s called the Somnus-Neu (which is something to do with the god of sleep), and it may soon be coming to a pod hotel near you. The creator, Grier Govorko, tells Fast Company magazine that he is in talks with Yotel and hopes to have the beds in production later this year.

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Westin Hotels / Hotel Websites / Hotel Applications / Hotel Tech / → All Tags

Westin Launches New Mobile Site For Cell-Phone Enabled, Laptop-Disabled Travelers

Westin Hotels just launched a new mobile site at westin.mobi, offering basic functionality like finding hotels, reserving rooms, and checking reservations.

The project is part and parcel of Westin's ongoing efforts to expand their digital offerings, and it also puts the brand in the same category as other hotels with expanded cell-phone friendly offerings. Now they too are available to travelers who head into strange cities with no reservation, no laptop, a last generation smartphone but a functionally limitless bank account. So if you're among that quirky crowd, the Westin family welcomes you.

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Hotel Promotions / Hotel Tech / Omni Hotels / → All Tags

Omni's Got A Sweet Summer Amenity: Flip Video Cameras

Have you seen our HotelChatter Video Room Tours? We ask because some of them are filmed using our compact Flip video camera, and it gives you just a little taste of what you could be in for this season if you're staying at an Omni Hotel and take advantage of their "Omni Flips For Summer" package.

Starting at $175 a night at Omni properties, and continuing through September 6, the deal includes a room, breakfast for four with "Flip-jacks," access to a "Summer Fun Counselor" for discovering local awesomeness, and the option to borrow a Flip Ultra video camcorder for your stay. If your video memories are good enough for the big screen—or rather, the internet—upload them to Omni's Local Scoop website for a chance at winning a trip to the 4-star Omni Bedford Springs Resort.

To book the Flip package, check out their special page for it here, or call 1.800.THE.OMNI to see if your preferred location has it available.

[Photos: Omni Hotels]

Tips / Hotel Tech / Hotel Deals / → All Tags

DealMine Puts Your Points Deals in Your Pocket

Where: United States

An idea from the dot-com bubble years resurfaces after the technology has caught up: deal searching from your mobile phone.

We spend enough time surfing the web without trying to do it from a mobile phone as well, but we can sympathize with business travelers who need to multitask on the move. Anyone who has tried to surf web sites with a slow connection and a little screen knows it's no joy, however. A new service, DealMine, may be the ticket for one task however--keeping track of mileage/points promotions with your frequent guest plans.

We haven't put this service through its paces, but the way it works is you register your frequent flyer and frequent guest programs, then sign up for the deals you want to receive. Then if you're about to say, rent a car for a week, you can quickly see that you'll get double points and an upgrade with Alamo for Hilton HHonors--as in this screen shot. Sending flowers? You can figure out if you'll get more points from Hilton, American Airlines, or American Express.

DealMine is also a comparison shopping site, but that aspect works much better for a Sony Camcorder than it does for a hotel room in London on October 17. In theory you are supposed to be able to see prices across sites and factor those in with the mileage programs. But if you've got that much time to mess around with your mobile phone, well, we're sorry...

Related Stories:
· Get Discounts and Rewards On The Road With DealMine.com Wireless [PRWeb]