Networkworld, a magazine with a focus on network technology, has an article entitled Geek hotels: places a traveling techie will love. The article begins by noting that “hotels are increasingly becoming high-tech. And with good reason: People want their 24/7 connectivity and other techie requirements even when they’re away from home. So hotels that want to become (or stay) successful are making sure they offer amenities like wireless or even the latest video games”. While that observation is no surprise to savvy hoteliers, the article goes on to rate their nine best techie hotels based on objective criteria saying that “these hotels have found a way to go above and beyond standard hotel niceties. Some offer both luxurious surroundings and futuristic tech conveniences, some have found a way to offer tech amenities at a reasonable rate, and some are using technology to bring people together”.
The magazine used a range of categories such as “Modular High-Tech” naming the CitizenM hotel in Amsterdam’s Schipol hotel saying that it is hi-tech both in construction (used modular construction) and features (self check-in, RFID key cards etc.). The Gansevoort in New York’s meatpacking district comes under “luxury and hi-tech” with “free wi-fi, 42 inch LCD TVs, CD players and alarm clocks with iPod docking stations. They also offer in-room safes for your laptops or purchases at the area’s many designer boutiques. Of course, the Meatpacking District is also home to trendy restaurants galore, and guests can choose to work off those meals the high-tech way: By requesting a Wii console delivered to their room and working up a sweat playing one of the sports games”. Others like Seattle’s Hotel 1000 come under “Motion Detection at Your Service” where “video phones allow guests to see when the valet delivers their car to the hotel entrance”. Quite nifty. Overseas in Japan the Peninsula, Tokyo merits a mention as “Tech Pampering in Japan” where the rooms offer a host of amenities: wall panels that show outdoor weather conditions; in-room fax machines, nail dryers and espresso machines; and Internet radio automatically programmed to the guest’s country of residence”. Others finding mention are the Hotel Sax in Chicago which offers guests a lounge to play Xbox, the Pod Hotel in New York as the Facebook” Hotel with its i-pod docking stations and the Best Western Hotel Tomo in San Francisco’s Japantown as ” J-Pop Décor, Games and Tech” with its J-pop and comics inspiration with graphic murals in each room.