From magic-finger massagers to video-on-demand, the more high tech the hotel amenity, the more costly the room. Mobile computers promised to decrease the need for travel, but instead we just pack them along with our toothbrushes. Indeed, bathroom telephones, towel warmers, and the ubiquitous computer-in-the-keyhole are just the beginning. Will we soon see complimentary floppies on our pillows? Might we one day blast off to soak in whirlpool spas in outer space? Wired asked several experts to check in on the future of hotels.
The Experts
Kevin Maher
director of governmental affairs, American Hotel & Motel Association
Richard Mahoney
executive vice president and chief financial officer, Westin Hotels & Resorts
Stuart H. Mann
professor of operations research, Penn State University's School of Hotel, Restaurant, and Recreation Management
Richard Moore
associate professor, Cornell University's Hotel School
Automated Check-in
Automated checkout, via methods as low tech as leaving your key behind or as high tech as entering info into a room's TV, is nothing new. Automated check-in, similar to the service offered at car rental shops, is the next logical step. Moore foresees that less-expensive hotels will become automated to reduce labor costs, while more full-service hotels will offer hassle-free check-in as a service amenity. To experienced business travelers, he says, "standing in line doing a routine procedure adds no value to their stay." (Does it add value to anyone's stay?) But for those who prefer a bellhop to a button, Maher believes there will always be holdouts, such as "higher-end, service-oriented properties and resorts."
Fast Internet Access in Rooms
Soon you may have to check in to a hotel just to get some work done on the road - T1s for traveling telecommuters are fast becoming a reality. Already, Maher points out, "increasing demand by the business traveler for additional services has made voicemail, express checkout, and office centers more common in hotels and motels." As with past technologies, Moore thinks fast Net connections will first be advertised as a value-added service but will quickly become common - "recall steam heat, air-conditioning, and free color TV," he says. However, Mahoney insists that retrofitting hotels will be "an overwhelming task," and high-speed wireless technologies may negate the need for wireline connections in the first place.
Hotel in Space
Unless Motel 6 buys Mir, don't expect to spend your two-week vacation in orbit anytime soon. "I don't see anything happening in space for a great number of years that would require a hotel," Mann says. Perhaps if they build it, however, we will come - just look at Las Vegas! While several Japanese construction companies are seriously researching extraterrestrial living, Maher doubts that they are likely to "undertake a project of this magnitude alone," and a space resort probably won't be a very high priority in the budget of any other country. "Don't hold your breath on this one unless," as Moore deftly puts it, "weightless sex is outta this world."
Capsule Hotels Catch On in US
If a Japanese salaryman misses the last train home from Tokyo, he can rest his weary head inside a cubicle "hotel" room 1.1 meters wide by 1.2 meters high by 2.2 meters long - complete with an alarm clock and a porno-equipped TV for US$35 a night. Our experts don't foresee a capsule hotel being built near Grand Central Station anytime soon, though. As Mann says, "culturally, we are too different to accept this size space for sleeping." After all, most Americans haven't snoozed on anything smaller than a queen-size bed since college. Indeed, lying in a capsule might inspire unpleasant dreams. "From a public relations standpoint," Maher says, "the closest association most Americans have to capsule (sleeping) is prison or shelter living."
This article originally appeared in the December issue of Wired magazine.
