November 6 2:31 P.M.
If you plan on staying at the Crieff Hydro hotel in Perthshire, Scotland this holiday season, don't bother bringing your Nintendo DS. Or your Sony PSP. Or anything that might play games, actually.
In an effort to promote family "quality time," the hotel -- said to be the country's oldest -- has asked holiday visitors to leave their game devices at home, reports the BBC.
Managing director Stephen Leckie argued his case. "As a father-of-four, I'm well aware of the role that computer games play in youngsters' lives and they undoubtedly have a place," he said. "However with Christmas holidays being the ideal opportunity to spend quality time with our families, we're asking our younger guests to set their consoles and games aside for just a few days of the year and, instead, sample some new activities which they may never have tried before." Sounds admirable, although asking kids to leave their awesome new gifts at home isn't a great way to ingratiate yourself to the younger demographic.
In fact, some hotels are taking the opposite stance by catering their experience directly to gamers. Take San Francisco's quirky Hotel Tomo, which pays homage to Japanese culture while hoping gamers pay for the luxury of staying in a hotel designed from the ground up to accommodate their hobby. All 125 guestrooms feature 26 inch LCD screens, bean bag chairs and a J-pop mural wall, though the serious gamers can opt to stay in one of two "Player's Suites," which sport 6-foot LCD screens, multiple game consoles and sofa beds.
Now that's what I call a merry Christmas.
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Posted: 6 Nov 2009
