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A Night in the Hotel of the Future
Roland Piquepaille writes "Michael S. Lasky was lucky enough to test the amenities of the "Room of the Future", Room 267 of the Hilton Garden Inn in El Segundo, California. Among other things, the room provides a wall-mounted, 42-inch flat-screen HDTV Panasonic plasma television, a biometric room safe, free broadband, accessible via laptop or the TV, or a Panasonic massage chair. Needless to say, Lasky didn't have enough time to test everything during his one-night stay, but was quite pleased. Check this column for a summary and a picture of the "Room of the Future.""
EL SEGUNDO, CALIFORNIA -- 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.
Futuristic Features
"Not all the devices that we expect to be a hit with guests are," notes Barbara Bejan, the hotel's general manager. "But that's fine, since the room's main purpose is to see what guests like and dislike."
Among the niceties of this high-tech hotel room are:
a wall-mounted, 42-inch flat-screen HDTV Panasonic plasma television connected to a Technics receiver with surround-sound Bose speakers;
a Philips DVD/CD player;
a second, smaller flat-screen LCD monitor next to the Jacuzzi bathtub;
motion-detection lights that activate when guests enter the room;
a biometric room safe that uses a thumbprint as the lock and key;
free broadband, accessible via laptop or the TV;
a Panja touch-panel remote control that manages lighting levels and room climate; opens and closes the drapes; controls the TV, radio, and DVD player; and even repositions the head and foot of the king-size bed;
a compressor-less mini-refrigerator that is completely silent;
a Panasonic massage chair, a heated toilet seat/bidet, a computerized five-nozzle shower, and a defogging bathroom mirror.
Features that click with customers may eventually be implemented in other rooms in the Hilton family of properties, which also includes Doubletree, Embassy Suites, Hampton Inn, and Homewood.
Already a hit is free guest-room printing, Bejan says. Hilton teamed with PrinterOn, a site that enables remote printing. After guests log on to the PrinterOn page devoted to Hilton Garden Inn, they can send a print job to the hotel business center's color printer, which is available around the clock. Or, guests can forward the print job to another hotel in the chain, which will secure the printout until they arrive at the location.
PC World Tests the Room
When Hilton invited PC World to stay a night in the Room of the Future, I jumped at the opportunity. It might be work, but it's work in what Bejan calls "a boy's playroom."
A Smart Card reader lock system allows entry with an enhanced credit card such as the American Express Blue card. I used the hotel-supplied card and immediately spotted the TV camera by the front door. The camera was handy later that evening, when I used the room's Airphone to view and talk with a visitor before opening the door.
Security extended to the in-room safe, which was large enough to hold my laptop. A single flick of my thumb was all I needed to secure my belongings. Another touch of my thumb opened the safe, an easier method than remembering a combination or trying to properly punch buttons.
The wood-paneled room's T-shaped wood desk with its ergonomic chair offered adjustable lighting and a convenient ethernet port for the free Internet access. No notebook? I could have used the wireless keyboard to surf, with the 42-inch plasma TV as a monitor (for $10 a day).
But it was difficult to sit behind a computer with so many other toys available to test. The Panasonic massage chair, a leather recliner with a remote control, seemed uncomfortable at first. After I started its massager, the stress of the day melted away. Wait--now the room was too bright! Using the Panja universal touchscreen remote, I closed the curtains and blinds, dimmed the lights, turned on the TV, and switched channels. I was all but ready to move in permanently.
High-Tech Bathing
I walked to the bathroom, which was replete with a glassed-in shower offering five nozzles and computerized water-temperature control. While it sounded luxurious, it proved ultimatel
But what if you leave your wallet there?
I forget what 8 was for.