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Hotel room HDTVs still stuck with standard definition TV have an upgrade on the way
It's a sad truth experienced by too many travelers, far too many of the HDTVs installed in hotels over the last few years don't have any high definition programming coming to them. While the experienced traveler is prepared for all circumstances we've all been stranded somewhere with only stretched, blurry SD programming as our only option. The USA Today recaps the issue, with execs from Marriott, InterContinental Hotel Group (owners of Holiday Inn & Crowne Plaza hotels) and Hilton chiming in about their plans to expand HD services over the next year. That won't completely erase the horrors of our last hotel stay, but at least we can be at ease knowing a change is coming.
Richard Lawler02.09.2010
Kindle offered during your stay at the Algonquin Hotel? Yes Sirree!
Manhattan's Algonquin Hotel has a long tradition of nurturing the literary-minded -- Dorothy Parker, Robert Benchley, even Harpo Marx hung out there in its heyday. Keeping up with the times, the folks running the Algonquin today apparently still have literature on their minds, and are offering Amazon's Kindle pre-loaded with a book of their choice for guests of the hotel during their stay. If they don't have all seven volumes of À la recherche du temps perdu loaded up and ready for us when we get there we're totally heading to the Holiday Inn. [Via Kindle Boards]
Laura June Dziuban12.09.2008
Macworld hotel booking under the magnifying glass
Are you planning on attending Macworld Expo in January? If you are, you might want to start the process of booking a hotel room (if you have not already) so that you can ensure close proximity to the Moscone Center and (theoretically) better rates.Today on Twitter, @MacworldExpo tweeted the following message:Beware of imposters. IDG World Expo is the only company authorized to contract with hotels for rooms for Macworld. http://tinyurl.com/5emlyeThat link goes to the Macworld Expo Hotel site, where you can review the approved show hotels and rates. While we think that attendees should certainly be warned about "imposters" or "fraudulent" booking companies, there is something about the underlying message that just doesn't sit right with us.
Christina Warren10.21.2008
Macs being installed in cruise ships, hotels
Yesterday we posted a tip about using your iPhone on a cruise ship, but what about if you want to use a Mac on a ship or in a hotel and you don't have a MacBook to take along with you?AppleInsider's Prince McLean is reporting that installations of Macs in hotels and on cruise ships are going strong, with thousands of Apple machines being sold for installation in those locations by Apple's Enterprise Sales Group. Back in June we mentioned the Fontainebleau's plans in Vegas -- they're also installing another 1,400 24" iMacs in rooms at the flagship resort in Miami Beach. Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines has Mac minis installed on its Freedom Class (3,600 passenger) ships, and is working with Apple on IT infrastructure for its upcoming Oasis Class (5,400 passenger) liners. The deployments planned will have up to 16,150 Ethernet drops per ship, racks full of Xserves, and thousands of client Macs. Whether it's an in-room email and information kiosk, a public information center, or an intelligent set-top box, the Mac is definitely making inroads into the hospitality and travel industry.[via AppleInsider]
Steve Sande08.20.2008
This is what a coin-operated NES looks like
While it's not unusual to be loved by anyone for hotels to include video game services, Japan used to do it arcade-style with coin-operated consoles (like the one shown above). 100 JPY (approximately $1 USD) would net you 10-15 minutes with a Famicom (NES), which means you'd have to lay down about $2 or $3 to for a satisfactory amount of this blogger's hotel staple, Punch-Out!!. The Super Famicom (SNES), though, was a bit more coin-hungry, and the $1 equivalent would only last five minutes -- yikes. Still, we're sure that if we visited Japan during the magical time that these boxes were hooked-up to hotel TVs, we would have let go of a few coins for some quick bouts of Mario and such.[Via Kotaku]
Candace Savino04.18.2008
Hotels are wising up, providing Wii Sports and Guitar Hero to bored guests
We keep telling ourselves we're going to play through Mario 64 some day on one of those ubiquitous N64s embedded into hotel entertainment systems, but we never get around to it -- primarily because of our unhealthy addiction to "next-gen" graphics and gameplay. Lucky for us, hotels are starting to get in on the action and hand-delivering consoles to guests, sticking a Wii in the fitness center, and offering Guitar Hero nights in the hotel bar. Best of all, Hotel Sax Chicago networked its Xboxen for Rock Band and Guitar Hero multiplayer with other hotel guests. Unfortunately, most of these hotels are charging an arm and a leg for the priveldge -- $50 an hour of Wii rental? Ouch! -- but it's starting feel like these places have at least figured out which century we're living in.[Via Joystiq]
Paul Miller04.02.2008
Come for the soft beds, stay for the Wii Sports
What's a good way to get folks into your hotel? We have no clue, what with being a game blog and all, but it looks like some hotels might have found a good way to get folks in their doors: gaming. We imagine if you have something the people like and want, they'll flock to you. That must be the thinking behind some hotels in the U.S. incorporating some of the most popular games into their repertoire of activities available to patrons. Games such as Wii Sports and Guitar Hero III. While we can't comment on whether this is a good decision from a business perspective, we can comment that this is a good decision from a customer service perspective. Now top Wii Sports bowlers and fast-fingered freaks in Guitar Hero III need not worry about getting rusty while they're attending that convention in Tuscaloosa.[Via Joystiq]
David Hinkle04.01.2008
HD PPV movies coming to more hotel rooms
High-def and hotel rooms are nothing new but they are still exciting to us. nSTREAMS is the next hotel solution provider to offer the picture quality we all love so much. Their service is going put PPV HD movies in, hopefully, your next hotel room. No word on cost of each movie but it's likely that each hotel can set their own price. It is just nice to see more hotel chains embracing the idea of superior picture quality and installing systems like these. If they install it, we will come.
Matt Burns04.03.2007
HDTV content coming to a hotel near you
Tell us how much you hate it when you are staying at a high-end hotel that features HDTVs and they don't have high-def content on them. It sure annoys us. LodgeNet is working on changing that though. They are indicating that 2006 will be the year that HDTV content finally makes inroads towards the 160,000 guest rooms that LodgeNet services. Don't think that these hotels are installing HD just for you though as this is something to set them apart from the competitors. Truthfully though, we don't care who they do it for as long has they have HDTV content on their high definition sets.
Matt Burns05.11.2006Hotels are getting widescreens, but are they giving them high-def?
Hotels amenities are getting HOT. It is not good enough anymore to simply put a whirlpool tub in a hotel room and call it high-end. These days you need WIFI, touch screen phones, and flat panel HDTVs. But the issue is, are they giving these HDTVs high-def?We understand that hotels need to give their guests the best of the best these days, but a coupl of calls to high-end Detroit hotels, tells us that most of the hotels staff do not even know what high-def is. They were excited to tell us that they have flat screen TVs though in many of their suites, but the HDTV thingie just confused them more. Note to Rick Hilton: The four of us would be more then happy to be your executive staff on everything high-def and flat screen.
Matt Burns04.10.2006