A Night In The Hotel Of The Future

[Janak Parekh]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,111042,00.asp' target='_blank'>http://www.pcworld.com/news/article...d,111042,00.asp</a><br /><br /></div>A nifty little article for a late-night Friday offtopic post...<br /><br />"Admittedly, the Hilton Garden Inn's gadget-crammed Room 267 is not your typical lodging. But stay just one night there, and you'll want it to be. The invitation-only "Room of the Future" is housed in a special Hilton University wing of the property near Los Angeles International Airport. It comes furnished with a legion of next-generation products to enhance guests' business productivity, comfort, and entertainment."<br /><br /><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/parekh/news/20030606-Hilton-HotelRoomFuture.jpg" /><br /><br />We're talking 42" HDTV plasma display, DVD/CD player, smaller LCD screen near the Jacuzzi, biometric security, free broadband, smart touch panel, massage chair, heated toilet seat, and more, including free guest printing. All that's missing is a Pocket PC... and me. :lol:

[CESkins]

Sounds like the ideal getaway spot for a gadget/techno freak but I can only imagine what it would cost to stay in that room per night. If someone else is willing to foot the bill, I would volunteer to spend a few nights and write a review for Pocket PC Thoughts. ;)

[lurch]

Do you think they'll "ask me to stay" if I beg hard enough???

http://www.missionaryexchange.org/aaron/homerdrool.gif

[trachy]

Room of the future? Sounds more like room of the present. When I think of futuristic I think of something that can't be had today. Something visionary. None of this is all that spectacular. It's just cool because it can be had while on the road.

[Trade Wind]

haha...I pass by this hotel everyday to and from work on the Metro Rail D Line. ;-) I had a early dinner with a friend there about a month ago and I discovered they have a TMobile Hotspot operating as well. I wonder who I'll have to squeeze to get in this room...

[Eos]

Janak, Guys,

Just wanted to tell you that I've been using a pretty simillar guest room at the Zurich Development Center in Switzerland. A Sweese Project for the International Business Community, visiting Zurich. These of us who may find interest and visit Zurich, could learn more about it (possibly booking) at: http://www.zurichdevelopmentcenter.com. Doubtless you can enjoy the future - today.

Rgds.,

Saar Avigour
Editor
a.s.i.p/channel 3
pocket.co.il



A nifty little article for a late-night Friday offtopic post...

"Admittedly, the Hilton Garden Inn's gadget-crammed Room 267 is not your typical lodging. But stay just one night there, and you'll want it to be. The invitation-only "Room of the Future" is housed in a special Hilton University wing of the property near Los Angeles International Airport. It comes furnished with a legion of next-generation products to enhance guests' business productivity, comfort, and entertainment."

http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/parekh/news/20030606-Hilton-HotelRoomFuture.jpg

We're talking 42" HDTV plasma display, DVD/CD player, smaller LCD screen near the Jacuzzi, biometric security, free broadband, smart touch panel, massage chair, heated toilet seat, and more, including free guest printing. All that's missing is a Pocket PC... and me. :lol:

[lurch]

Room of the future? Sounds more like room of the present. When I think of futuristic I think of something that can't be had today. Something visionary. None of this is all that spectacular. It's just cool because it can be had while on the road.
To me, it's still the room of the future.. that stuff may be available right now, but I don't have any of it, so therefore it's the future for me... :)

[disconnected]

One thing not mentioned was the availability of lots of TV channels.

I was going to stay at the new Meridien hotel in Minneapolis a couple of weeks ago. It had a higher weekend rate than most of the competition, but I was attracted by the advertised 42" Plasma TV screen.

On closer review, I discovered that the large screen was mostly for watching movies. One of my addictions is watching semi-obscure sporting events on TV; if I'd been at home that Friday I could have watched a European golf tournament in the morning on the golf channel, Annika Sorenstam in the afternoon on USA, and a replay of an Italian bike race in the evening on OLN. The Meridien only saw fit to have about a dozen TV channels, and none of those three. I supppose it wasn't terribly important because I did actually intend to leave the hotel occasionally to see a little of the city (or at least the Mall of America :oops: ), but it was still disappointing enough that I didn't think it was worth the price. (I switched to the Hyatt, which was a lot cheaper, and at least had USA and the golf channel, albeit on a smaller screen).

Lack of TV channels is actually one of my biggest pet peeves about hotels.
Somewhat off-topic, I guess, but my others are --

I want to open the windows; I do NOT like that hermetically sealed in feeling.

The smell of some of the new cleaning or air freshening products they use in some expensive hotels lately is almost poisonous to anyone with allergies (especially if you can't open the windows).

I want a down (synthetic is fine if realistic) comforter on the bed, not a stiff, shiny, useless (and probably not cleaned often enough) bedspread.

I want the lightbulbs to be strong enough to read by, and see by. (I once stayed at a W hotel in Chigago which was way too cool and trendy; the ceilings were black, and all the lights were like little spotlights; you could read by them, but if you weren't right under one you couldn't even find the clothes in your suitcase.

I would like the desk chair to be adjustable so I can actually reach my laptop on the desk, and I would like to be able to plug in the laptop without crawling around on the floor. If there is ethernet (and there should be), the connection should also be at the desk; I've actually stayed at at least two hotels where they put the ethernet connector in the bedside table for some reason, although there was not even an open electrical outlet anywhere nearby).

There should always be an open electrical outlet by the bed. I'm in the habit of reading my iPAQ in bed, and then plugging it in to recharge just before I go to sleep; in hotels this mostly involves dragging the nightstand away from the wall and unplugging the hotel clock radio.

Wireless access would also be nice, while I'm dreaming.

Sorry about the long post; the inconveniences of high-priced hotel rooms is a hot-button for me. :evil: