Finally, a hotel chain has listened to the mobile-device-dependent traveler who often seeks a battery charge!
This fall, Marriott Hotels will roll out portable charging stations that will let customers charge up to six smartphones at one time.
The device, for now, will appear in 29 hotels so don’t expect to see the Kube charger pop up in every single Marriott lobby just yet – but that day will apparently come.
“We are focused on rolling out the chargers” for the full Marriott brand, spokesman John Wolf told me yesterday.
For consumers, the benefit is clear.
For people sitting, dining or drinking in those 29 hotel lobbies (I’m trying to find out which ones, so stay tuned!), charging a near-dead iPhone or Android device will be a little easier than it is right now. Using the charger, by the way, will not cost you anything.
Marriott, which will pay for the devices, stands to benefit too in a couple of ways.
First off, if we (meaning visitors or guests) are charging our phones, we might stay in the lobby a little longer and perhaps order food or another cocktail while we wait for a full charge. Secondly, I personally would be so happy for a surprisingly easy charge that I’d tell friends on Twitter, Facebook and other social networks about it – and I’m assuming plenty of other people would, too.
The average U.S. business traveler travels with two or three mobile devices, according to a recent Marriott survey.
The device that Marriott picked lets you charge Apple, Android and Windows mobile devices. Unlike other smartphone chargers that we at TravelUpdate.com have admired at other hotels including a Hyatt Andaz, this one gives customers the option of placing a mobile device on the transmitter to juice up remotely – without a power cord.
Readers: Do you think this is great news, or just ho-hum because you always have a charger with you?
