Top 5 gadget hotels

Monday 30 August

On this week’s show, we transform a hotel room into a gadget-laden paradise, but out in the wide world, there are already some tech-laden havens, bursting with the latest gizmos to make your stay extra futuristic. Here’s out rundown of five of the best gadget hotels…

Hotel High Tech Nueva Castellana, Madrid
It’s hardly giving the competition a chance when you’ve got the words “High Tech” right there in your hotel’s title, but this Madrid city-centre hotel also has laptops and free 2Mbps internet in every room, an iPod/iPhone adapter for playing your tunes over the room’s sound system and a 20in flat-screen TV. Doubles start at a highly reasonable £70 a night.

Burj al Arab, Dubai
The highly recognisable 7-star Burj al Arab is reckoned by many to be the world’s most luxurious hotel. It’ll take around £650 a night to get you through the door – that’s for the “entry-level” one-bedroom suite. Aside from the top-notch facilities found throughout the hotel, your two-floor suite itself comes with a 28in plasma TV, DVD player, laptop, fax machine and cordless phone.

City Inn Westminster, London
The flagship City Inn hotel makes a great start by kitting out every room with an iMac and free Wi-Fi. You’ve also got a choice of CDs, DVDs or Sky satellite telly to view on the flat-screen TV, while the high-tech meeting rooms are kitted out with all sorts of AV goodies for business travellers. Weekend rates come in as low as £99 per night – great value for the budget-conscious gadget lover.

Pavilion Hotel, Catalina Island, California
This stunning 71-room hotel in sunny California may just be 14 steps from the beach, but you might never get there thanks to the complimentary use of an Apple iPad for the duration of your stay, loading with content and apps. The Apple-friendly theme continues with an iHome music system that supports the iPod touch and iPhone, then there’s the obligatory flat-screen HD TV and free Wi-Fi throughout. The only downside is rates the other side of £400 a night.

Aria Resort and Casino, Las Vegas
Trust Vegas to go all in and deliver the ultimate gadget-lovers hotel paradise. Even the “basic” one-bedroom deluxe package at the Aria (pictured) gives you an RFID card that opens the door when it senses you approach and instantly sets the room to your preferred settings. Once inside, the room’s 42in LCD TV will happily connect to a laptop, games console, camera or MP3 player. You can use the TV’s remote or the bedside 7in touchscreen console to control features such as lighting, temperature and music, and set wake-up calls. Then there’s the in-room workstation with 100Mbps internet access, which is also available wirelessly. Best of all is room rates starting at around £120 per night – an absolute steal for a slice of gadget heaven.