Hilton upgrades amenities
Aiming to satisfy tech-savvy guests, Hilton Hotels Corp. and ABC are pairing up to bring “time-shifted” episodes of popular shows such as “Lost” and “Grey’s Anatomy” into some guest rooms.
Starting this week, 55 so-called Sight+Sound rooms at two Hiltons, one in Chicago and one in San Francisco, will feature 42-inch plasma high-definition televisions, digital surround sound systems and cable wires capable of connecting a suitcase full of MP3 players, digital cameras and gaming consoles.
Recent episodes of five top ABC shows will be available for $1.99 each any time of day.
“This is in response to how people are living their lives today,” Hilton Hotels Chief Executive Tom Keltner said.
Guests who check into one of the rooms, which will cost $20 more than a basic room, will have access to free high-speed Internet, five XM Satellite Radio channels, 40 DirectTV channels -- including 14 in high definition -- and the ABC programming.
In addition, they’ll be able to order personalized sports programming from DirecTV under another Hilton partnership. An Angeleno visiting Chicago, for example, will be able to watch a Dodgers game.
“It never fails that I have to travel on Sunday, and I end up missing part of my football game,” said Tim Harvey, Hilton’s chief information officer. “SportsCenter helps me a lot, but there’s nothing like being able to watch it.”
Hotel rooms have offered pay-per-view TV for years. But Beverly Hills-based Hilton is the first chain to team up with a broadcast network to provide access to what Hilton calls “just missed” shows.
Under the deal with ABC, episodes of “Lost,” “Grey’s Anatomy,” “Desperate Housewives,” “Ugly Betty” and “Brothers and Sisters” will be available.
The shows will be available one minute after the end of their regular broadcast and will remain in the Sight+Sound system for as long as 28 days. Recaps of what has happened so far during the season will be free.
“This is a very logical step,” said James McQuivey, a television and media technology analyst for Forrester Research Inc. “It would be very surprising if it didn’t become the norm across the industry.”
Walt Disney Co.’s ABC network has led the way among the networks in trying to expand its reach.
It was the first to make its content available on Apple Inc.’s iTunes store and the first to post its shows on its website. It also has signed deals with Ralphs and Gas Station TV to air specialized ABC programming on TV sets near checkout lines at grocery stores and on gas pump service stations.
“ABC is just going hog wild,” McQuivey said. “They’re looking around, saying, ‘We’ve made this thing. Where can we put it where people will watch?’ ”
Mike Benson, executive vice president of marketing at ABC Entertainment, said the network wanted people to watch TV the old fashioned way.
“All these other platforms just allow the audience to get what they want,” he said.
With the hotel “bed wars” over mattress comfort and sheet thread count running their course, hoteliers are looking for the “next frontier” in the amenities race, PriceWaterhouseCoopers lodging analyst Bjorn Hanson said.
These days, most hotel guests want high technology. Baby boomers want easy, reliable high-speed Internet, and “young Gen-Xers have a different view,” Hanson said.
“Instead of the equivalent of what they have it home, they’re looking for a wow factor or something superior,” such as surround sound and high-definition flat-screen TVs.
Many hotels, in fact, have upgraded to flat-screen televisions and installed iPod docks. Marriott International Inc. outfits some rooms with plug-in panels that allow people to connect their laptop, MP3 players and camcorders to 32-inch high-definition monitors with split-screens.
