An era where connectivity goes on a holiday with you
These days social media appears to be playing a very vital role in most industries, and one of the best instances is the travel industry, which now has two hotels - one for Tweetaholics and one for Instagram lovers.
Spain’s Melia brand of hotels last month unveiled the new Sol Wave House in Majorca, calling it the world’s first “Twitter hotel” that brings together the real and virtual worlds to offer a brand new experience.
According to its website, Sol Wave House connects every guest to their very own social community, where they can meet, interact, have fun, compete, experience, flirt, tweet and much more.
The hotel’s Twitter-themed rooms are decorated in white and blue – the colour scheme of the social networking site. Plus, there’s a dedicated Twitter concierge and a “Twitter Party Suite” that provides concierge services during the visitors’ stay.
On Twitter (@SolWaveHouse) the hotel identifies itself as the first Tweet Experience Hotel and has so far won over some 1,600 followers. Guests can contact the check-in desk and hotel staff using the #SocialWave hashtag, and even order service, a drink by the pool or anything else they might desire.
Early this month, the newly renovated 1888 Hotel in Sydney opened its doors, calling itself the world’s most “Instagrammable” hotel. It rewards users who have more than 10,000 Instagram followers a night’s free stay. Its rooms go for A$150 (Bt4,500) per night.
Photo sharing is at the heart of the Instagram-inspired 1888 Hotel, which encourages its guests to take “selfies” (self-portraits) in interesting nooks of the hotel for a monthly photo competition. Once again, they stand to win a free overnight stay.
These two hotels are not really the first to meld real-life with the cyber world in this digital era.
Back in 2008, New York’s Pod hotel was dubbed the Facebook Hotel as it created its own online community called the Pod Community Blog.
Upon checking in at the Pod Hotel, guests could opt to become part of the community by registering their details and participating in guest-only forums entitled “Drink with Me, Eat with Me, Shop with Me, Go Out with Me”.
Last year, the Ushuaia Hotel in Ibiza gave guests wristbands that could be used to instantly update their Facebook status.
All the guests had to do was swipe their bands at different sensor points around the hotel property for their Facebook status to carry messages like “Hanging out at the Ushuaia Ibiza Beach Hotel … Jealous?”
Now that we have Twitter, Facebook and Instagrammable hotels, perhaps there will soon be a Line or Skype hotel? Clearly social-media junkies need no longer go on holidays on their own in this era of total connectivity.
Are you ready to check-in, tweet and share your status at a “connected” hotel?
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