Hotel Makes You Surrender Your Gadgets When Checking In

Going on a little vacay but can't seem to untether yourself from your gadgetry? Well, Marriott's Renaissance Pittsburgh Hotel may just have the kick in the pants you need to unplug and disconnect.

The hotel will require guests that buy the "detox" package to surrender their gadgets at the door:

This is chance to revive yourself from an over stimulated world. [...]
Your laptop, cell phone, and all other digital devices must be surrendered upon check-in, and will be held for you until your departure. Prior to your arrival, the television, phone, and ihome dock station will be removed from your guest room and replaced by literary classics.

Link - via The Next Web

Wow, that's stupid. I don't see this lasting very long. People who want to get away from their gadgets can do so for free in their own homes. Turn off the TV, unplug the phone and read a book. You don't need some hotel to take your stuff from you and force you to. Well not if you are over five years old anyway.

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@Smango, you'd be amazed. I know plenty of people who are addicted to their gadgets (and every one of them an Apple customer). They say they're going to use their toys less, but they just can't keep away. They behave like other addicts, secreting their iPhone where they think nobody will know it's there and sneaking off to use it when they think nobody is looking.

We were having a proper "away from it all" vacation and we all agreed we would leave all our electronic gadgets at home. I dug out an old Nokia (a 3210 IIRC) which we agreed we might need in emergencies, but other than that we agreed no gadgets.

When we reached the cottage I was pleased to discover that not only was there no TV - indeed we had been told there was no point as there was no TV reception, but there was no mobile phone signal. We noted however that one of our party spent a lot of time taking the car to go to the nearest village to shop for things she'd "forgotten". Turns out she was doing it to get a signal on the iPhone she'd brought with her.

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what about a family emergency and they cant figure out what hotel you are staying at....how would they get in touch?...what about if they just misplaced the hotel number,it would be so much simple to just hit call on the number you need so you can contact them...Instead of taking phones away,just silence them or shut them off. Honestly,i wouldn't go to this hotel. To each his own.

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@myra, how do you think managed before the advent of the mobile phone? I haven't had a mobile phone for almost a month now and I haven't missed it at all. I haven't had a laptop for about a year. I have my old desktop PC and you know what? I'm online a lot less because the PC isn't in the family room, but I don't miss it.

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Great business plan Marriott-FREE PUBLICITY for a policy that will be cancelled once they see their drop in occupancy, or somebody steals or tampers with the stuff in the "holding area."