Hotel Puts iPhones & iPads In Guestrooms. Landlines One Step Closer To Obsolescence

Remember when you strolled into your hotel room and plugged your smartphone into that clock radio on the nightstand? It looks like the days of BYO gadget are dwindling, if the OPUS Vancouver hotel is any indication. Check in, and you'll have an iPad 2 and an iPhone at your disposal for the duration of your stay.

And yes, you can take the iPhone with you when you hit the clubs. And also yes, you have to leave it behind when you check out. It's may be enough to make you want to stay a little longer though.

“Technology is a way of life today, not just a perk, and that holds true even while traveling. For the first time ever, guests can take their hotel phone off property, stay connected to the Internet, and receive and make phone calls,” says general manager Nicholas Gandossi.

Not surprisingly, OPUS customizes the iPhones with one-touch access to guest services. Aside from international roaming fees, calls are complimentary. As a security measure, the hotel wipes the phone's data (and the phone itself, we hope) before handing it to the next guest.

All this can't be good for landline phones (which you won't find on your stylish OPUS nightstand). First, tech-savvy and cost-conscious consumers realized they could get by (and maybe save themselves some hassle) with only a mobile phone. Then, mainstream users started to pick up on the idea. Hotels giving the boot to landlines makes it look like this snowball is picking up some speed.