Tag: Hotel Technology
View All TagsHotel Technology / Paris Hotels / Dorchester Collection Hotels / Hotel Beds / Hotel Sleep / Hotel Bars / → All Tags
We Can't Imagine Having Trouble Sleeping at The Plaza Athenee But If You Do...
For the most troubled sleepers, not even the finest sheets in one of the best luxury hotels in the world can help you catch some much-needed Zs. But now at the swank Plaza Athenee Hotel in Paris, there's a scientific solution to insomnia and jetlag symptons with the NightCove Sleep Solution that's been installed bedside in the hotel's Art Deco Suites.
Developed by the Sleep Clinic at Hotel-Dieu hospital in Paris, this device is a unique bedside lamp that helps improve the quality of sleep by bathing guests in selected light wavelengths and sound frequencies that are specially adapted for the physiological needs of sleep. Click on "Sleep/Anti-jetlag/Nap" to stimulate melatonin with a red glow and the hush of waves, then greet the day with a "Wakening" of soft music and blue light similar to early daylight.
Like we said, we can't imagine having trouble sleeping at the Plaza Athenee which is one of the most sublime forms of hotel heaven but if you do, at least you know the hotel can help you out.
Hotel Technology / Remote Controls / iPhone Apps / LodgeNet / → All Tags
You No Longer Have to Put a Shower Cap on the Dirty Hotel Remote, Thanks to LodgeNet's New App
We've long been waiting to use our smartphone as a room key in hotels but it turns out that hotel guests may be able to use their smartphones to control things in the room as well.
LodgeNet, a big provider of the on-demand TV systems found in over 500,000 hotel rooms, has introduced a new iPhone and Android app that will enable guests to control the in-room TV right from their phone.
Here's how it works: Download the app to your iPhone, iPad or Droid. When you get into your hotel room, turn on the TV, then sync your phone with the TV using the code that's found on the TV's main menu. Now you're free to do all the things you would do with the remote control but instead, you can do it with your phone.
Hotel WiFi / Mandarin Oriental Hotels / Manhattan Hotels / Hotel Technology / → All Tags
Now There's WiFi In Every Room at Mandarin Oriental NY (But You Still Gotta Pay)
Take a quick look at our Annual WiFi Report: Best of 2011, and you know which hotel you won't see on there? Mandarin Oriental New York. That's because, until now, the hotel hasn't really done anything to wow us, even though more and more hotels are gradually making the switch to better, faster, free-er internet.
Well, they still have some work to do on the "free" part (guests must pay a $15/day WiFi fee), but due to "a dramatic shift" in the number of customers using wireless internet, MONY has graciously implemented Ruckus WiFi wall switches in all the guest rooms. So wherever you sit, you'll always manage to find a decent connection because the router is now right there in your room. Plus, the hotel has installed more efficient access points in meeting and conference areas—though, really, who goes to Mandarin Oriental to do work?
Concierges / Hotel Technology / Texting / Los Angeles Hotels / → All Tags
The Concierge Will Text You Now at the Mr. C Hotel
Texting is so mainstream that even your parents (and maybe even your grandparents) are doing it. But have you ever texted with a hotel concierge before?
We haven't and we didn't even think that was an option until we met Venicio "Choy" Flores, the head concierge at the Mr. C Hotel in Los Angeles. During our interview with Choy (which we'll show next week), he let us know that he is available by text for guests anytime they need him. He even showed us a little correspondence with one guest (below) who was beyond pleased with Choy's honeymoon surprise for the guest and his wife.
Now, we're not saying you should eliminate human interaction entirely when dealing with concierges but the option of texting is a lot easier than having to keep stopping by the desk. Are we right? Let us know if you've texted a concierge before in comments below!!
Stay tuned next week for when Choy tells us what is the craziest request he's ever fielded!
Hotel Renovations / Peninsula Hotels / Hong Kong Hotels / Hotel Technology / → All Tags
Peninsula Hong Kong to Make Over Its Rooms and Tech Offerings
When HotelChatter popped into the Peninsula Hong Kong just over a year ago, there wasn't much that we didn't like at the hotel from the welcome amenities to the in-room telescopes, the bedside tech control panel and the white-gloved service.
But all this "classic lushness" may have been a little too "classic" as the hotel has just announced the start of a major guestroom redesign which will update all 297 rooms in both of the hotel's towers.
Conceived by The Peninsula Hotels in-house design team, the newly enhanced rooms showcase the finest materials and craftsmanship, boasting a bespoke luxury residential feel. With an accent on Classic Modernity, simplicity and chic elegance, the new room aesthetic melds the distinctive design touches and practicality present in today’s luxury yachts, motorcars, and private jets, taking The Peninsula guest experience to the next level.
Hilton Hotels / Geek Hotels / Hotel Technology / → All Tags
A Look at Hilton's Brand New Technology Lounge
Back in April we learned that the Hilton Tysons Corner in McLean, Virginia was undergoing a massive renovation that would actually set the blueprint for all future new Hilton Hotels. Yay, new stuff!
The fruits of the renovation debuted five brand new design concepts from the check-in area to the restaurant and of course, up in the guestrooms. We were able to peep at some of the new designs via computerized renderings but we've only just noticed an actual photo of Hilton's new Technology Lounge pictured right here.
What Is This? / Hotel Furniture / Hotel Design / Hotel iPads / Hotel iPods / Hotel Technology / Hotel Amenities / Newport Hotels / → All Tags
What Is This At Forty 1 North?
We like to keep it fun but informative here at HotelChatter so our newest series, What is This? is devoted to odd-looking items in hotel rooms that upon first glance look as if they serve only a decorative purpose. But everything happens for a reason, right? And we're here to tell you what these things really do.
On Monday we were snooping around the gleaming Italian-tiled atrium inside Forty 1 North. What we also happened to find inside the rooms was this plastic framed hole in the wall. No, it's not an air freshener. And no, it's not art. In fact, it doesn't 'do' something as much as it allows for something else to happen.
What could it be?
Portable WiFi / Viva Vegas / Hotel Technology / Hotel WiFi / → All Tags
There's a Mobile Hotspot for Sale Right In This Hotel
We've long lamented about the terrible internet connections in Las Vegas (never free, never fast) so we got a little excited when we saw one of these Best Buy Express vending machines in the lobby of the MGM Grand which offered all sorts of techy gadgets for sale, including a 3G mobile hotspot from Rocketfish Mobile.
What got us even more excited was the note from Best Buy on the left that said "No contract required. Plans start at $10." That was less than what we were paying at the MGM Grand a day (The internet is included in the $20 + tax resort fee.) But of course we weren't going to buy the hotspot there and then, we weren't that desperate. And we're glad we didn't.
Design Thursdays / Power Outlets / Viva Vegas / Hotel Design / Hotel Technology / → All Tags
Something We'd Like to Never See Again in Our Hotel Room
Welcome to our newest new feature, Design Thursdays! Thursdays are now our day to focus on hotel design through photo tours, video walk-throughs and interviews with hotel designers. Got a cool hotel design story we should know about? Let us know.
Ok, today's purpose of Design Thursdays is actually a Design Don't. We stayed at the massive MGM Grand in Las Vegas the other month and when we went to plug in our cellphone near the bed, we found this--a full up power outlet and an unsightly jumble of cords. Obviously, those cord controllers were not working.
We did find a free outlet on the other side of the bed but along the wall near the foot of the bed, making it impossible to keep our phone next to us while sleeping. The outlet was also a little loose.
The MGM Grand is undergoing major room renovations right now so we hope that more convenient outlet options--such as the one we love at Encore--are in the works.
Hotel Openings / Four Seasons Hotels / Baltimore Hotels / Hotel Amenities / Hotel Technology / → All Tags
Four Seasons Baltimore to Open on November 14 (And Without Seattle's Guest Rooms)
When we last checked in with the upcoming Four Seasons Baltimore, we saw that their website was using stock photos of the guest rooms at the Four Seasons Seattle. Yet with the hotel just one week away from opening, we are relieved to see that their guest rooms are all theirs.
Above is a Four Seasons Executive Suite with a harbor view. It sure is pretty with its floor to ceiling windows, sofabed, deep-soaking bathtub, two 40" flat screen LCDs (with another in the bathroom) and get this, a universal phone charger. Hallelujah. We hope more hotels start adding these to their amenities soon.
We couldn't actually make a rezzie online for opening day on November 14 (you can call the hotel at 410-576-5800 to see if there are rooms open) but we did find a room available on November 21 for $359 a night for a city view room.
Geek Hotels / Bitcoin / Howard Johnson Hotels / Disneyland Hotels / Red Roof Inns / Hotel Technology / → All Tags
Could You Be Paying for Your Next Hotel Stay in Bitcoin?
For a brief moment this year, the Howard Johnson in Fullerton, Calif., near Disneyland, was taking an unusual form of currency--bitcoin.
Bitcoin is an electronic currency that's only accepted in the digital world. It's not recognized by any government, it's entirely unregulated and the only ways to get your hands on bitcoin is to either buy it with real cash or spend days "mining" for it on the internet. For more on how it works, you can (try to) read the bitcoin entry on Wikipedia.
Yet, Jefferson Kim, the owner and manager of both the Howard Johnson and the Red Roof Inn in Buena Park was eager to use bitcoin for hotel reservations saying that he would "personally like to see the BTC succeed." On the hotel's website, he detailed how to pay for a room with bitcoin.
One person who took him up on this? Wired contributing editor, Joshua Davis, who wrote about bitcoin for a piece in the New Yorker (the October 10th issue.) Davis booked a room at the hotel online for 10.305 bitcoins.
Hotel Technology / Siri / iPhone Hotel Apps / Hotel Booking Tips / → All Tags
The One Where Siri Finds Us a Hotel Room
When Apple first unveiled its iPhone 4S, our first thought was could the new voice-activated app/virtual personal assistant, Siri, find us a hotel room? And would her findings be better than our own? Now that we have an actual iPhone 4S in our hands, we decided to investigate.
We held down the home screen button and waited for Siri to pop up. Once she did, we simply said, "I need a hotel room." A few seconds later, Siri spit out a bunch of hotels near our current location.
This being Santa Monica, Calif. there were a bunch of hotels nearby. 21 to be exact.
The thing is, not all of these listings were desirable. American Motel? No thanks. A few were also not hotels like the listing for Centro LLC and another for HotelConnect USA LLC.
And with the few hotels that we would actually stay at, like The Huntley, all Siri pulled up was a map of where these hotels were related to our current location. When you clicked on the listing, Siri then showed you the hotel's phone number and exact address. No website, no average rate, no hotel reviews, nada. Damn, Siri, we expected more from you!
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