BEVERLY HILLS, CA The Peninsula Beverly Hills has installed NXTV s technology services, which provide the 196-room hotel with high-speed Internet access and a state-of-the art in-room entertainment system.
The hotel is the first in the world to install the system.
As a result of the installation, guests now have a new series of selection in in-room programming. Using DirecTV, digital television is now being broadcast in guestrooms. Offerings that have been customized for the hotel include Bloomberg TV, MSNBC, CNBC, CNN, Headline News, HGTV, A&E, Starz, Encore and Showtime, among others.
Through exclusive deals made with leading, and local film studios, the hotel is able to offer current box office releases in a movies-on-demand format. Guests will have a selection of over 50 digitized movie options, which can be purchased at any time, and viewed on and off over a 24-hour period. Full VCR functionality lets guests replay, skip ahead and pause a movie.
“The real beauty is the system lets you watch a movie, bookmark it, and come back to it,” said Ellis O Connor, executive assistant manager of the hotel.
O Connor said that the hotel will be adding on games that can be played through the system, using a remote joystick. And the system is set up to enable upgrades, as digital television technology evolves, he said.
“We foresee using this system over the next 10 years,” he told HOTEL BUSINESS..
High-speed Internet access is also a component of the NXTV package, allowing guests to access the web, and their e-mail through their laptop, using an ethernet jack installed next to the desk or through a conventional phone line. A daily service fee of $9.95 is charged for the service.
Guests can also access the web on the guestroom televisions, using a wireless keyboard from anywhere in the room. (3/29/01) Ruthanne Terrero