This summer when I was travelling throughout Canada and blogging twice a day, the only thing I asked for when it came to booking our accommodation was that they had a room that had technological features in it. You'd be surprised how many of them didn't. While we only really needed Internet, it wouldve been nice to be able to plug in my iPhod or have in room wifi access and more.
Well, I am very happy to tell you that the Vancouver Renaissance Hotel Harbourside which is a Marriott property, has just finished their redesign of the entire hotel to be more technologically friendly. We were invited to a luncheon that showed off their new technology and the new menu. Which by the way was outstanding. Not only that, the hotel bottles their own spring and still water, which is earning them major kudos with the environmental organizations.
To start, the lobby will be outfitted with televisions where guests can see their flights, room availability etc, without having to do anything else. Next, the newly renovated VISTA lounge has the most stunning view. I know it's not technologically relevant, but what is, is that they've set up a teleconference or web conferencing system where you can have your virtual meeting to those stunning backdrops of the entire harbour (Olympic logo on barge included). The flat screen tv's offer HD quality performance.
Once you're in the rooms they feature HDTVs, video review billing and video checkout, simulcast and webcast capabilities for all HDTVs and they include a 'Jackpack' Plug and Play Technology – a cutting edge panel that will accommodate all the technology you travel with. Features include: audio plug-ins (for mp3 or ipod), laptop and gaming console plug ins, HDMI cable outlets, broadband internet (with huge bandwidth), split screen viewing, wifi access, and more.
It's nice to see hotels finally catching up to standards we're used to at home, isn't it?
