Hotel room of the future

It has a comfortable bed with no mattress.

It has picture frames that can be filled with artwork or photographs emailed by the occupant.

It has a toilet that senses the user arriving, and opens the lid.

It has a shower that, when the customer finishes using it, washes itself, so housekeeping people don't have to.

It is GUESTROOM 2010, a demonstration room set up for hotel financial and technical professionals to examine and be inspired by.

GUESTROOM 2010 was built by producers of HITEC, the Hotel Industry Technology Exposition and Conference, at the Minneapolis Convention Center, site of HITEC 2006.

"Our association develops and helps our members learn about technology," said Frank Wolfe, CEO of the Hotel Financial and Technical Professionals.

Five-thousand people from 40 countries are attending the exposition, looking at technology which can set their hotels or casinos apart from the rest.

They're examining items like the EcoPower faucet, equipped with a small turbine powered generator to charge a power source to run the hands-off faucet.

They're learning about items such as Switchable Privacy Glass which changes from transparent to opaque at the flip of a switch.

"Let's say you need some sunlight in the morning just after you awaken," says CEO Frank Wolfe. "You turn the switch on, and if you notice across the room, the windows just became clear. Need a little privacy, you turn the switch and [the windows turn opaque] suddenly you have privacy."

GUESTROOM 2010 is the result of a call for technology. As they planned for HITEC 2006, members of the Hospitality Financial and Technology Professionals considered items nominated by members and non-members alike, which would make hotel rooms more pleasing to customers, and make running hotels more economical for owners.

The bed without a mattress is the Ammique, made in Bath, England. Instead of a mattress, the sleeping surface is made of 20,000 spring-loaded pistons, the tops of which are hemispherical, little larger than a dime.

"We could just take a nap here," the CEO told KARE 11's Ken Speake.

Speake found the 20,000 pistons to be the most comfortable surface he had ever reclined on. There wasn't time for a nap, although Ken found it interesting to consider sleeping an a $40,000 bed.

The Shower-Shower Automatic Shower Cleaning System was developed to eliminate the need to manually clean shower surfaces.

"It eliminates the danger of having a housekeeper fall as she is cleaning the shower," said CEO Wolfe.

"That is a not insignificant source of injury to housekeepers," he said.

On the other hand, the Clocky makes it more difficult for hotel guests to sleep through the alarm they set.

The clock has wheels, and when the guest presses the snooze button, it rolls off the table, falls to the floor and rolls away. When the alarm goes off the second time, the guest is forced to get up and find the clock to turn it off.

There are 38 items in the display room that make it attractive to customers. All, according to Frank Wolfe, are available right now or will be within six months.

And all are making GUESTROOM 2010, one of the more popular exhibits at HITEC 2006.

By Ken Speake, KARE 11 News

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