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lodging posts

How to make the most of your hotel television

by Darren Murph posted Mar 27th 2009 at 9:33PM


We've covered a number of newer hotel chains that actually recognize the importance of delivering HDTV programming and HD VOD to guests, but for the vast majority of places still living in decades past, there's Gadling's latest how-to guide. If you're sick and tired of checking into hotels with ancient TVs and lackluster programming, there actually are some options. For one, it's always smart to carry a bit of media on a PMP and bring along every connection cable you can imagine. Furthermore, those with Slingboxen and other place-shifting solutions can usually pipe their content from laptop to TV with the right connections. If you're looking to get schooled in the ways of good travel, hit that read link and open wide.

Internet-based / HDTV content to hit hotels big in 2009

by Darren Murph posted Dec 21st 2008 at 8:12AM


Or, at least that's the impression given off by Acentic's Top Five 2009 Trends for Hotel Television Technology. For those paying attention (and traveling often), lodging venues across the nation have been adding in high-def material at a rapid pace, and that's expected to continue into the new year. Additionally, research asserts that internet-derived material, more WiFi access, additional video-on-demand content and connection pods to link up guest sources will all be part of the shift. With the price of hotels these days, we can safely say we hope all of these changes come at a minimal cost -- and who knows, maybe we'll finally learn in 2009 why an Econo Lodge provides free internet access and a boutique hotel in the middle of everything has the nerve to charge extra.

Chicago's Conrad Hotel getting HDTV services courtesy of RCN

by Darren Murph posted Dec 17th 2008 at 4:40AM


RCN's locking down lodging deals like it's going out of style, and just days after cementing one with Highgate Hotels in New York, here we have another with Chicago's Conrad Hotel. Soon, said luxury venue will be able to provide guests with all-digital cable TV and HDTV services. Each of the 311 guest rooms will present said content on a 42-inch plasma, though there's no exact word on when the agreement will be implemented. And yeah, considering the per-night rates here, you'd better stay locked inside around 90% of the time in order to come close to making it worthwhile.

RCN extends relationship with Highgate Hotels, will provide HDTV to weary travelers

by Darren Murph posted Dec 15th 2008 at 11:00PM

RCN has stuck its nose (and HDTV services, for that matter) in all sorts of lodging chains before, and you can mark it down for another thanks to a revamped agreement with Highgate Hotels. The multi-year contract enables RCN to provide the company's New York portfolio of hotels with its own digital TV / HDTV services sans a set-top-box; additionally, the carrier will be delivering third-party VOD content. At first, the operator will upgrade existing service to the DoubleTree Metropolitan, Radisson Lexington and Park Central Hotels, and it expects to have all five phase-one Highgate properties operational by February 2009.

Hyatt Regency Woodfield home to Sharp HDTVs, SuiteLinq HD programming

by Darren Murph posted Nov 30th 2008 at 7:34AM


Headed to Schaumburg, Illinois to visit those in-laws, are you? You're in luck. Hyatt Regency Woodfield has just announced that every last one of its 470 guest rooms will be locked and loaded (but unlocked prior to your arrival) with a 32- or 37-inch Sharp LCD HDTV, not to mention a copious amount of HD content flowing from the SuiteLinq in-room digital entertainment solution. Both linear channels and video-on-demand material will be delivered in SD and HD, and it appears that everything's in place for enjoyment as we speak. So, are your reservations in order?

LodgeNet and LG collaborate on in-room interactive EPG

by Darren Murph posted Nov 24th 2008 at 9:51AM


We already knew that LG and LodgeNet were pretty well in bed (in a hotel bed, at that) together, but now the relationship is rounding second and heading briskly for third. The two have just announced plans to develop an Interactive Electronic Program Guide (IEPG) as "the first in what is expected to be a series of in-room interactive applications based on the new Pro:Centric standards-based platform." The plan will also work to eliminate pricey set-top-boxes from the equation, and if all goes well, it will be compatible with "a range of existing LodgeNet free-to-guest (FTG) TV and video-on-demand solutions." Also of note, Pro:Centric could eventually provide guests with all sorts of interactivity that is traditionally reserved for more luxurious venues, but we still have serious doubts that they'll ever install HDTVs with accessible HDMI ports for connecting our own paraphernalia.

WestTel bringing FTTP to Grand Cayman

by Darren Murph posted Nov 21st 2008 at 7:06PM


While we here at Engadget HQ ponder a week-long excursion to the splendorous island of Grand Cayman, we can't help but be swayed even closer to pulling the trigger after reading this news. WestTel, along with suits from WestStar TV and ABC Trenching, has just broke ground on a $15 million, seven-year initiative to bring fiber-to-the-premises (FTTP) to the only Cayman island with an international airport. The first phase will focus simply on establishing a fiber infrastructure amongst corporations, initially from Television Centre to Camana Bay, then up West Bay Road to Governors Square. Phase two will see the deployment of HDTV and high-speed internet / voice services to residences along West Bay Road, while followup phases will string it to the rest of the island. We just made your vacation plans a whole lot easier, didn't we?

LodgeNet acts to keep OTA signals alive in analog hotels

by Darren Murph posted Nov 17th 2008 at 6:06AM


LodgeNet is looking out for hoteliers and hotel guests who actually want to watch a little TV while traveling after February 17, 2009 by rolling out a digital transition roadmap to bring venues up to speed. Granted, most hotels don't rely on analog OTA signals to begin with, but for those that still do, it's hoping to "propose a customized solution for each property." In other words, it'll see if analog OTA is still in use, and then offer a marked-up installation of DirecTV and / or a gaggle of DTV converter boxes -- brilliant!

TiVo invades the hotel room, comes to Mondrian in South Beach

by Darren Murph posted Nov 12th 2008 at 6:23AM


It's about time, no? TiVo has finally cut a deal to get its heralded time-shifting box into hotel rooms, and while the first agreement is relatively small in scope, we can see huge potential for this initiative. The outfit has signed on with Morgans Hotel Group -- which owns the Delano in South Beach, Royalton and Hudson in New York City, and Sanderson in London -- in order to bring TiVo functionality to every guest room in the soon-to-open (December 1st) Mondrian in South Beach (Miami, FL). There are no specifics given as to which model will be installed, but it definitely doesn't mention TiVo HD nor the word "high-definition." Still, we'd take an SD TiVo as part of the stay, but we won't stop wishing there was a way to transfer all of our currently unwatched programs at home to the box in the hotel room. Full release is after the break.

Update: We've received word that the units will be TiVo HD boxes connected to HDTVs. Stellar!

Continue reading TiVo invades the hotel room, comes to Mondrian in South Beach

RCN pipes HD programming into Boston's Mandarin Oriental luxury hotel

by Darren Murph posted Oct 22nd 2008 at 10:39AM


This isn't the first hotel deal RCN has managed to land, and we have every reason to believe it's far from the last. The cable carrier's lastest grab is the Mandarin Oriental luxury hotel in Boston, Massachusetts, where it will deliver HDTV programming, all-digital cable and a dedicated data network connection to serve as the hotel's failsafe for internet connectivity. The multi-year deal will bring the services to 136 guestrooms, 12 luxury suites and the condominiums, apartments and retail stores located within the hotel. Now, if only we could afford a room to check it all out, we'd be set.

Hotels feverishly upgrading rooms with HDTVs, casually forgetting HD programming

by Darren Murph posted Sep 15th 2008 at 11:15PM


Surely you've noticed this by now if you happen to end up in hotels often -- there's an HDTV there on your wall, thought nary a single HD channel appears when you flip it on. It's an unfortunate trend that's sweeping the lodging industry, as more and more chains cave to the pressures of having sexy, thin TVs all while disregarding the need for HD programming. Of course, most are playing the cost card as the reason why they have yet to offer up any HD channels on those wasted HDTVs, although not all hope is lost. At Hilton, you can expect each and every room to have a flat-panel TV and HDTV service by June of 2009, and LodgeNet, which began offering high-definition service in 2005, expects to keep up the good work in the future (though no definitive numbers were given). Please, travel venues -- don't force us to watch stretch-o-vision while away from home.

[Thanks, Ben]

RCN signs on to provide Chicago's TheWit Hotel with HDTV

by Darren Murph posted Aug 2nd 2008 at 11:30PM


With the battle in full force between AT&T and local cable carriers RCN / Comcast, we're seeing more than just price wars breaking out. RCN has decided to flex its muscle in a different way by inking a deal to provide Chicago's TheWit Hotel with HDTV programming. Currently, the venue is still under construction, but by the time the doors swing open for guests in May of 2009, the carrier should have high-def material piped to all 298 rooms. Mmm, the sweet, sweet scent of competition in the air.

First US-based aloft hotel opens in Rancho Cucamonga, California

by Darren Murph posted Jul 27th 2008 at 12:44PM


Some might say that Rancho Cucamonga, California is a strange place for a ribbon cutting ceremony, but we figure that there's hardly a better place in America to have HDTV within an air conditioned room. Sure, it's not exactly in Death Valley or anything, but the aloft Ontario-Rancho Cucamonga is close enough to Zzyzx to warrant an excuse for staying indoors during the summer. The 136-room venue just opened its doors to guests last week, becoming the very first aloft hotel to actually open for business in the United States. Each guest room has its own HDTV and connectivity panel, and the hotel-wide WiFi should keep you satisfactorily connected during your stay. Anyone plan on stopping by?

Wynn Las Vegas nets HD VOD and WiFi

by Darren Murph posted Jun 20th 2008 at 6:16PM


We've already seen Cox bring HDTV to The Donald's Las Vegas Hotel & Tower, but now cross town street rival Wynn is about to get its own dash of HD upgrades. Cox Business/Hospitality Network will be providing wired and wireless internet to Encore at Wynn Las Vegas, and furthermore, it'll be stringing free-to-guest programming in both SD and HD flavors to both the Encore and Wynn proper. Patrons will notice revised navigation menus rendered in high-definition, and the HD VOD platform will enable them to get instantly gratified when returning from a long night at the tables. Specific stations aren't listed, but CB/HN promises that guests will be treated to "a wide variety of HD and digital channels and on demand Hollywood blockbusters in HD." Your move, Luxor.

LG, Control4 team up on HDTV automation system for hotels

by Darren Murph posted Jun 18th 2008 at 8:29AM


The news is flowing hot and heavy from the hospitality sector today, as just moments after LG announced a slew of new LodgeNet-enabled flat-panels, along comes word that the aforementioned outfit and Control4 are teaming up to develop a swank new automation system for the lodging industry. More specifically, the two will co-develop an "integrated automation system for HDTV sets that will allow hotel guests to control lighting, room temperature, draperies and entertainment systems through the television with a single remote control." Better still, the eventual solution will be integrated into LG's hotel TVs, eliminating the need for yet another set-top-box in the room. Regrettably, there's nary a mention of when this (amazing sounding) system will be available (nor where it will be available), but we can definitely see this swaying the avid traveler when it comes time to book the next business trip.




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