Wall-mounted iMacs are now the norm in London’s Bermondsey Square Hotel, although some rooms sport Mac minis. Why? Will Oakley, the hotels general manager tells MacWorld:
“The way we’re designing rooms here it mean that aesthetically it doesn’t overpower the space in the room.” There are practical reasons as well though: “the quality of the screen is as good as any 50in plasma screen you can buy.”
“Another most important thing was the fact that I could use the system to communicate with the guests in a way that we are used to today, which is over your computers,” explained Oakley, “there are various marketing opportunities within all that, but the thought-process is that we can be quickly reactive. If something changes that affects customer demands we can react internally because we are using a computer.”
“It allows us to in some shape or form promote other businesses in the area” said Will Oakley, “or we can have a direct link into London Bridge railway times, for example, so our customers can plan their journey.”
“There’s an immediate quality aspect” Oakley continues, “you’ve got the Mac television; you’ve got the Hansgrohe shower, and high spec hairdryer and mattress. So what we put into the room we wanted to put high-quality, so we get the basics right in terms of sleep and comfort, wash and time spent in the room…and you have all of that in a very neat package that is recognized as being a quality package”
“Overall it was a much bigger investment” he says, “but at the end of the day it’s a computer system. If the programs not there today, it can be there tomorrow or next week because we can have it bespoke written for us”.
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