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'Sound Matters' at The Hard Rock's New HRH Tower
The juke box and Sound Matters control panel.
There is plenty to say about the Las Vegas Hard Rock Hotel & Casino's new tower. However, let's leave that for another day. For now, let's focus on the Sound Matters Sound Bar and the touch panel juke box system with over 2,000 songs that is in every one of the all-suite rooms here in the new tower.
First and foremost, the Sound Matters system sounds incredible. We have experienced a ton of in-room sounds systems in our time, and this one tops them all, it is that good. The jukebox idea is also a good one. It gives you the ability to play plenty of the rock songs you usually here down at the casino level in your room.
One odd thing about the featured play lists, though: John Mayer is featured right along Best of HRH, 90s hits, and 80s rock -- really? John Mayer at the top level just seems odd, maybe if he was playing The Joint this weekend, but he isn't Santana is.
Tags: Snapshot / Hotel Technology / Viva Vegas / Hotel WiFi / → All Tags
The Sad Scene That is The Flamingo's Internet Junction
It's 2010, right? That's what we thought. But during a recent visit to Vegas, this is the sad sight we were confronted with when we needed to print something. It is, friends, the Internet Junction at the Flamingo Las Vegas.
We can't decide what's worse: That we had to pay $13.99 for in-room WiFi here or that it cost us $6.41 to print a couple of pages at the Junction. (Then, of course, there's the matter of that name. Wordplay can be cute, but "Business Center" would work just fine, wouldn't it?)
Tags: Hotel Technology / Hotel Gadgets / Plug Panels / W Hotels / → All Tags
The W Hollywood Will Provide 'Sanctuary' For Your All Your Gadgets
After touring the W Hollywood yesterday (sorry, no photos allowed just yet) we learned that the hotel will be using Sanctuary Chargers in-room. Awesome! But wait, what are Sanctuary chargers you ask?
Sanctuary is a product from Bluelounge that enables you to charge all of your gadgets in one box, by offering a multitude of charging cords from cellphones to iPods, iPhones, PDAs and other gadgets that use a USB or mini-USB port to charge up. In fact, The Sanctuary is capable of charging over 1,500 different types of gadgets. Here's how MacWorld describes using the product:
Using The Sanctuary couldn’t get much simpler: remove the tray, plug in its AC adapter, find the correct cord for your device, thread it through one of the notches, replace the tray, and voilà. A green LED light on the power brick will tell you that your devices are receiving power—if it starts to blink or dim, it’s a sign that you may have too many things connected, and that The Sanctuary has had to reduce its power intake.
Tags: Best Western Hotels / Hotel Bookings / Hotel Technology / iPhone Hotels / iPhone / iPhone Applications / → All Tags
Best Western's iPhone App Taps Into Facebook
It ain't Shazam, nor a fancy-schmancy application like Chanel's, but Best Western's new iPhone app does have its pluses. When we first heard about the smart phone tie-in, we were slightly taken aback. The budget chain doesn't strike us as very cutting edge or tech-forward, though they have been renovating certain locations for a more modern feel lately.
All the cool kids seem to have an iPhone app these days, so BW has jumped on the proverbial bandwagon. With it, you can search and book rooms, create a travel itinerary and highlight nearby attractions via GPS, "capture and categorize favorite locations," and use the app to share travel highlights via e-mail and Facebook. Which is actually more than what typical iPhone hotel apps on the market have done.
Tags: Twitter / Hotel Contests / Social Networking / Hotel Technology / Open Thread / → All Tags
Have You Ever Won a Free Hotel Stay on Twitter?
it's too bad that Twitter doesn't have any sound effects, because for many, it would be the cha-ching of a cash register. For individuals and companies alike, social media is the new hotspot for contests and giveaways which, in the past, belonged in supermarkets with pads of entry sheets, or with mail-in postcards after watching a TV commercial about a sweepstakes.
As one-on-one (or millions-on-millions) as Twitter is, it is an extremely easy way for hotels to attract new guests, flatter loyal ones, and generally get their name out there with the messages they approve.
Thus it comes as no surprise that hotel Twitter contests have risen in popularity over the last few months, as they dredge about for new followers and engage people to keep their brand in mind.
Tags: Hotel Technology / Hotel TVs / Hotel Bathrooms / Viva Vegas / → All Tags
Who Watches Those TVs in Hotel Bathroom Mirrors?
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?
Tags: Odd Hotels / Abu Dhabi Hotels / Formula 1 Hotels / Hotel Art / Hotel Technology / → All Tags
The Yas Hotel in Abu Dhabi Reminds Us of Twigs and Berries
Everyone often jokes that the Cooper Square Hotel in New York looks like a giant glass vibrator but this new hotel in Abu Dhabi has actually one-upped Cooper Square and with blinking lights too!
According to the Gizmodo tech blog, the just completed Yas Hotel has a massive canopy consisting of 5,000-odd LEDs and glass panels, which can reportedly change color and play low-res video. It's actually being categorized as the world's largest LED project. Which all sounds fine and good, except at this angle it looks like a giant penis. (Sorry, we can't mince words here. That's what it looks like.)
Even worse, the 500-room luxury hotel covers a Formula 1 race track making it the pit stop for all things testosterone-y. All it needs now is a garage for the Ambiguously Gay Duo's car.
Tags: Guess The Hotel / Hotel Technology / → All Tags
Can You Guess This Hotel's Technology Box?
Good morning sunshine! Now that you've had a large cup of coffee and are settled into your desk, let's see if your brain can shake off the case of the Mondays and successfully Guess The Hotel.
What you're looking at here is something called a Technology Box that stores different cables for your electronics. There's no need to call the front desk to request a cord and there's no need to break open the minibar to buy an ethernet cable for $12.99. The rooms in this hotel are pricey but you do have everything you need in them, except wads of money. That's the only thing missing here.
We know that simply showing a picture isn't fair to you so here's the next batch of hints to help you along.
· It's a new hotel in a bright light city.
· It won't be the newest hotel in this city for much longer.
· The hotel check-in is on the 23rd floor.
Are you ready to try your hand at this guessing game? Then put your guesses in comments below. We'll reveal the hotel tomorrow after we check-out.
Tags: Hotel TVs / Hotel Technology / London Hotels / → All Tags
The Met's New TVs Are All White (And All Free)
TVs are tricky things. You want what’s on them, obviously, but they’re not always the prettiest elements to a bedroom. What to do? You can squirrel it away in a cupboard looking slightly ashamed of it. You can wall-mount it so it’s out and proud.
Or you could take a leaf out of the Metropolitan London’s book and buy in some TVs that actually blend in with your carefully planned colour scheme. It’s just replaced the tellies in all 150 rooms, swapping boring black for snazzy white 32-inchers.
Not only are they pretty but they’re by Samsung, have 67 channels, 90 radio stations, internet and music and DVD libraries on there – and none of it will cost you a penny. We thoroughly approve.
Tags: Hotel Elevators / Hotel Services / Hotel Lobbies / Hotel Technology / Seville Hotels / → All Tags
Seville's EME Hotel Gives You A History Lesson With Your Stay
Don’t ya just love learning something new every day? Especially when it takes zero effort? The EME Hotel in Seville hears you. And to save you precious holiday time swotting up in an encyclopedia, it’s selecting random facts for you.
In just one visit the week before last, we came away with the following facts: the date of the philosopher Hegel’s death, the scoop on a Formula 1 rivalry, something Robert Pattinsony (which we forgot, what with gawping at the picture used to illustrate it), and the date the Whigs and Tories split in England in 1680. Not bad, huh?
The fount of all our knowledge? The elevator, which flashed various factoids at us as we cruised to the Santo Terraza bar on the fourth floor. We couldn’t take our eyes off it, and are much the wiser for that.
Tags: Hotel Key Cards / Amsterdam Hotels / Hotel Technology / Noisy Hotels / → All Tags
High-Tech Room Keys at The Hotel Patou But Shame About The Noise
Following on from our Do Not Disturb gallery yesterday, today we present to you the funky room keys at the Hotel Patou, Amsterdam, where we stayed this summer.
The Patou is a trendy little hotel on designer haven Hooftstraat, and as befits such a stylish gaffe, it eschews actual keys (too retro) and cards (too common) for these ingenious electronic key fobs.
Ingenious? Well yes. Because they are exceptionally light, hence easy to hoof around, have a nice leash to make losing them tricky (let’s face it, you’re in Amsterdam, and losing your key will be a pretty sure thing), and they don’t deactivate if you stick them next to your phone, as cards can do.
Tags: iPhone Hotel Apps / Hilton Hotels / Hotel Technology / Hotel News / → All Tags
Will Hilton's iPhone App Really Be as Functional as They Promise?
Hilton Hotels announced today that they would be unveiling not just one or two but seven iPhone apps in the next week or so for hotel guests to use. The apps will be brand-specific, i.e. Doubletree will have its own app, Conrad Hotels will have its own app and so will Embassy Suites. It's an app-travaganza! (Word is that an app for the Waldorf-Astoria collection is in the works as well.)
Now, you already know how we feel about iPhone apps. A few weeks ago, we rounded up all of the hotel iPhone apps that were currently available in the iTunes store. Most of these have little to add to the already popular app of sitting at your computer and booking a room online. But Hilton told USA Today that their apps will be different and will have more functions than just booking a room.
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