SEATTLE — At Hotel 1000, which markets its high-technology trappings to those visiting this tech-driven city, occupants can get high-definition movies delivered over the Internet to a giant flat screen. That is, they can if they point the remote at exactly the right spot: an unlabeled clump of wires peeking out from under the monitor.
At the W Los Angeles-Westwood, guests can use something resembling a plastic parking meter to order margaritas from a poolside chaise. Most stick with the waiters.
At the new Grand Del Mar resort in San Diego, a breakfast tray left outside the room will beam a silent complaint to the management until it gets picked up. At least, it will after the hotel gets some new gizmos to make it work.
Many such hotels are trying to catch up with a population that is more comfortable with technology than ever. The $133-billion lodging industry's cutting edge sees a business opportunity in traveling lawyers pining for high-speed Internet access, twentysomethings looking for a place to plug in their iPods and vacationers preferring YouTube over the boob tube.
But although the trend is gathering steam, it's a tricky proposition for an industry that is more Flintstones than Jetsons.
"We're a business that's still trying to come to grips with the toaster," complained John Burns, president of Hospitality Technology Consulting in Scottsdale, Ariz. "If you have to turn the knob to make it lighter or darker, we have to think about that."
Still, customers want what they want. In a survey of business travelers this year, 58% said free high-speed Internet access was "very" or "extremely" influential in determining where they stayed -- triple the proportion from five years earlier.
Though location, price and overall reputation still matter more, "what's really remarkable is that the amenities that have risen fastest in terms of consumer preference are all technologies," said hotel marketer Peter Yesawich, whose Orlando firm conducts the annual poll. "There's an expectation that what people have in their home, they will find when traveling."
Generally speaking, that hasn't been true for a long time. The hotel industry's contributions to innovation might have peaked three decades ago when it introduced HBO to the masses. And that happened only because hotels didn't have to pony up any money: Companies such as Lodgenet Entertainment Corp. install satellite or cable TV connections for free, then give hotels a cut of their pay-per-view revenue.
