Boutique Design - May 2013 - 64

LAST BUT NOT LEAST, HOW IS TECH MAKING
ITS PRESENCE FELT IN THE GUEST ROOM?

The gold standard for user-friendly technology in
the luxury space has to be the Peninsula Group. I
was once told that the originator of those bedside
panels that started the tech arms race 20 years ago
worked as a rocket scientist at NASA. They may
have been pulling my leg, but the Peninsula tech
nerds have been getting it right ever since. Their
attention to detail is amazing and so intuitive that it
never detracts from either the beauty of the interiors
or the expectation of attentive and genuine service.
A couple of examples that stuck in my mind
when I recently stayed at the Peninsula Shanghai:
the remote for the plasma TV sat snugly in a tray
beneath the screen, which charged it when not
in use, just to prevent a remote from not working
every six months when the battery went dead; and
the TV in the bathroom automatically changed
to the same channel as the one in the parlor/
bedroom, but not the other way around!
WHO ELSE DOES IT RIGHT, WHEN IT COMES TO
INTEGRATING TECH INTO THE GUEST ROOM?

7 At the private dining room

within the Tuti Restaurant
at the Marmara Taksim
Hotel in Istanbul, Wilson
Associates included a flatscreen LED (back wall) that
displays a changing array
of high-definition images.

the background music to the ambient noise in a
restaurant for some time now—that’s the kind of
technology that adds value without being intrusive. I think jammers that create quiet zones to
stop cell phone loud-talkers would also be widely
popular, but I don’t want to come off as a grumpy
old grouch, so let’s move on... 
IN-HOUSE FITNESS FACILITIES/SPAS?

Most of the new gym equipment I use, particularly in Asia, now comes with iPod docks and free
Wi-Fi. So, logging into Netflix or YouTube is a great
way to take your mind off the pain and boredom
of fighting the flab. One brand now has a memory
card slot in every machine that tracks repetitions,
weights, etc., so that you can set targets and chase
that goal of eternal youth. As for spas, no tech is
absolutely fine by me, as I’m in a get-away-from-itall mode when I’m in such places. 
64

boutiquedesign.com MAY 2013

LET’S END BY DISCUSSING ANY OTHER
EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES YOU SEE MAKING
THEIR WAY INTO HOSPITALITY SETTINGS.

I think that Bluetooth has been sorely underutilized. By its very nature of having a limited range,
it seems a great option for in-room connectivity,
and could make all those connectors, cables and
plugs redundant. Similarly, a hospitality version
of Apple TV that works with Android, Blackberry
and Windows integrated with an On Commandtype interface on the TV seems like an easy way to
do away with the proliferation of remotes that still
litter most guest rooms. 
For more from Michael Linczyc, go to boutiquedesign.com

C O U R T E S Y O F M A R M A R A TA K S I M H O T E L ( 7 )

7

At the Dorchester Collection’s Hotel Bel-Air in L.A.,
the guest has the ability to control the lights, order
room service or a spa treatment and check email
and voice messages from an iPad, the TV and a
touchscreen on the telephones. The Armani Hotels
in Dubai and Milan (recently completed by Wilson
Associates’ Singapore office) have a similar array of
intuitive, redundant technology to allow the guest
to control lights, summon the butler and even see
who is at the door controlled from an iPad or TV
screen. And if all else fails, these kinds of places
tend to have an old-fashioned wall switch to turn
on the lights and close the drapes. Sometimes low
tech is the best tech.
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Boutique Design - May 2013

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