Luxury, the 21st Century Way

Call me a Luddite, but today’s technology makes my head spin. My 11-year-old daughter, Sophia, on the other hand, takes advanced devices completely in stride. So imagine my glee when I saw her eyes widen during our recent visit to Hotel 1000, the most wired-to-serve property in Seattle.

Open since June 26, in a brand new building, Hotel 1000 has invested $3.5 million into infrastructure, resulting in ingenious tools for meeting clients’ needs. For starters, it’s the only hotel in the U.S. where the guestroom door opens simply by touching a card key to a pad. In the mini-bar, a sensor detects when a client runs out of a favorite refreshment. The room’s electronic Do Not Disturb and Housekeeping signals ensure privacy at all times, and guestroom doorbells reduce corridor noise caused by knocking.

“A lot of other hotels are looking closely at our IT,” said Hotel 1000 associate sales director Kini Parente. “We’re redefining the benchmark for luxury and providing all the comforts of home, while tailoring our service to the personal expectations of every client, whether leisure or corporate.”

Shortly after we entered our room, Sophia mastered the touch-screen telephone. With the flick of her finger, it offered everything from stock quotes and weather forecasts to airline flight arrival and departure times. When not in use, the phone posted a series of thought-provoking quotes by luminaries like Jimi Hendrix, Vince Lombardi and Thomas Watson.

Our 40-inch LCD television was playing a slide show of Renaissance art and music, a feature that travel agents can customize according to each client’s taste. That’s before Sophia got her hands on the remote control and immersed herself in the TV’s surround-sound programming. Meanwhile, I delighted over simpler pleasures, like the complimentary high-speed wireless Internet access and free domestic long-distance phone service.

A tour of Hotel 1000’s meeting space demonstrated tech-enabled touches throughout, including built-in video conferencing capabilities, smart podiums and plasma display screens.

“We’re seeing a new trend of corporate traveler,” said Parente. “We’re attracting clients at the top of the luxury market, but they’re wearing jeans and using a Blackberry.”

In the Golf Club, located on the hotel’s lower level, clients can putt and swing in a virtual setting. The only of its kind in downtown Seattle, the facility simulates play on 50 top-tier courses around the world, from North Carolina’s Pinehurst to Scotland’s St. Andrews.

“This is a great feature to offer in Seattle because of our weather,” said Parente. “It’s good for beginners and pros alike, and groups can buy out the space for breakout activities.”

Along with fairways, the club simulates galleries of fans, crosscut greens and various weather and course conditions.

The design of Hotel 1000 proves that wired and whimsical are not mutually exclusive. In the Studio, a lobby-level gathering place for continental breakfast and evening cocktails, we savored croissants and fresh fruit while sitting next to a circular flaming pit, akin to a modern-day fireplace. In BOKA, the hotel’s ultra-chic lunch, brunch and dinner restaurant, Sophia monitored the changing colors on the walls, a clever lighting effect in a vibrant setting. In our two-person guestroom bathtub, we laughed in unison when turning on the water, which flowed down from the ceiling. At the push of a button, an electronically operated privacy screen went up and down between the bath and sleeping areas.

To make sure Sophia was sufficiently impressed, we spent a mother-daughter afternoon in the Spa, whose couple’s treatment room caters to duos of all ages. At the end of our two-night stay, Sophia proclaimed Hotel 1000 to be the hippest hotel ever, high praise indeed from a savvy 21st-century girl.