Hotels Partner with Tech Companies
Sheraton, for example, teamed with Microsoft to create its new Link@Sheraton lounges where guests can surf the Internet, email loved ones, review local favorite attractions, and print boarding passes. The PCs in these lounges have Web cams and Microsoft applications that walk guests through recording and sending a video clip. In turn, Microsoft hopes to encourage users to try a task they wouldn’t attempt at home, such as using a Web cam to say goodnight to the kiddos back home. Westin went the Nintendo route, by adding Wii consoles and games like the Wii Fit to some of its fitness centers.
The big-name hotels aren’t the only ones getting in on this tech action: The Gansevoort Hotel Group is working with Sony to develop a lounge at its new Gansevoort South property in Miami Beach. The goal here is to move the traditional business center and make it a more social setting near the lobby. Guests will find Sony computers and PlayStation 3 game consoles as well as digital book readers and cameras in the lounge.
Hotels are hoping these tech amenities will help improve the bottom line: “It’s an integral part of not only the success of an operation, but also what makes one brand better than another or more interesting to travelers than other brands,” Elon Kenchington, Gansevoort’s chief operating officer, said.
Adding tech is an interesting marketing technique for both hotels and tech companies, that’s for sure. The downside is that tech gadgets quickly age, leaving these hotels with equipment that some could care less about. On the flip side, technology companies such as Microsoft and Sony have a prime opportunity to show off their latest products in front of a very desirable audience.
What do you think? Would you choose one hotel over another if it offered PS3 consoles or public access computers?
It wouldnt be an over all deciding factor but access to a computer even on vacation would interest me! |
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Diddo here. If there were two the same price that both looked good, but one had a PS3 I'd go there, but I wouldn't pay more for it.
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Being connected with WiFi is huge. All things being equal or even slightly less on the side of the connected hotel, WiFi wins, hands down. Of course I live and breathe on the net, so I guess that's not saying much. :) |
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Personally I don't trust public wifi. So I just use my cellphone's 3G/EDGE data capabilities when I travel. I do like hotel rooms that have nice TVs with the inputs left so you can access them. Its nice to watch a movie from your laptop on a big screen in the hotel when you can. better than ordering pay per view or watching cable. |
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I wouldn't trust any public access PCs to do anything where I have to log in, but it could be cool to see where hotels take this in the next year or two. It seems like a decent way to differentiate. |
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The problem with these "lounges" is that they cost an arm and a leg. I forget the price I saw last at the Omni in San Antonio, but I recall the lounge computers costing more for 30 minutes than I pay my ISP in a month. Even wireless access is seen as a cash-cow. Ever price internet access at Disney World? They know they have no competition once you're in the room, and charge accordingly. I wouldn't pick a hotel based on these tech-stras, unless the hotel advertises the price.
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Thats why you go to the Mcdonalds across the street and get wifi for $1 per hour. |
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I defy you to find a McDonald's across the street from one of the on-property DisneyWorld resorts. :p |
If I'm at Disney World I'm not going to be sitting in my room surfing the net.
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I just wish the hotels that advertise WiFi access included such access with the room rate. Advertising WiFi and then charging me $10/day to use it is like advertising a pool and doing the same. I tend to get angry and take my business elsewhere, I don't like being nickel and dimed. I do appreciate hotels that offer a complimentary "business center" with things like a computer with laser printer I can use, the rest I can usually take care of with what I bring with me. |
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>> I just wish the hotels that advertise WiFi access included such access with the room rate TOTAL AGREEMENT. |
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