MIAMI—Better than 3,000 attendees were on hand as the HD Boutique 2006 Exposition and Conference got under way here yesterday with many vendors reporting a balanced mix of design professionals and hotel executives shopping the aisles. In addition to the nearly 500 attendees, the fourth annual event featured some educational sessions as well. One particularly noteworthy session took a look at blending the latest in design and technology in future hotels. Called HOT: Hotel Of Tomorrow, the session chronicled the project which brought together a number of supplier partners, as well as Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide, to create a think tank focused on building, branding and operating hotels over the next 20 years. Ron Swidler, svp/Gettys, who led the project, discussed the 10 macro trends the hotel of tomorrow is based on. They included robotics; experience economy; total connectivity; nanotechnology; personalization; world flattening; biotechnology; creative commerce; modularity; and renewable resources. The hotel of tomorrow included such features as a retractable bed; chairs with videoconferencing ability; a robotic “Botler,” which would follow the guest around the property; a Hot Hand-held, which would replace a key and provide the guest with a look at his/her room; and a Kinetic corridor, which would follow the guest to his/her room through a series of lights.
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