What responsibility do hotels have to keep up on technology?

a black device with buttons and dials

iPhone Gen1 charger

I recently stayed at the Hyatt Regency Orlando International Airport.
In the room was an alarm clock with an iPod / iPhone charger. 

The issue is the alarm clock charger has the 30 pin connector which was introduced in 2003 and phased out in 2012 in favor of the newer 8 pin “lightning” connector. 

If it was still 2014, I can understand having the older connection in the rooms as most people perhaps hasn’t switched over to newer devices. 

5 years after is unacceptable especially for a hotel chain that markets itself on the higher end. 

I therefore feel that Hyatts C.O.O. should review all of their devices and make immediate changes to bring them up to current technological standards. 

Comments

  1. The issue isn’t with the corporate management company, in this case Hyatt, but rather with the hotel ownership, which is very different.

    Most people think that when they stay in a hotel, the name on the front is the same company that owns the property and land it is on – that is almost never the case.

    So while each brand can set up distinct elements that must be somewhat consistent accross the brands, each hotel ownership group decides the amount of CapEx (Capital Expenditures) to dump into their own property – as you can imagine, the more they put in now doesn’t always translate to making more later.

    Clearly, the owners know their clocks are outdated – but at $100/piece, plus the labor and time spent switching them out, in a large property that can equate to $100,000+ all to replace the damn clock that no one uses. Do you think they will get a good ROI? Probably not.

    Now once the rooms really need a refresh, and they are budgeting the entire process from the start, they have the ability to update this small items. Until that time comes, the shitty clock stays.

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