Would you rather have a hotel landline or a smart phone?

Visitors to the Opus hotel in Vancouver could be forgiven for puzzling at the iPhone docked in their hotel room, and wondering how to call customer service about it without a landline.The Opus hotel in Vancouver already offered guests an in-suite iPad, but now they're nixing their landlines in favour of iPhones. (opushotel.com/blog

But the in-suite hotel phones are, in fact, deliberately missing. The iPhone 4s are their replacements - ones that come with a lot more range.

The Yaletown hotel invites its guests to take the Apple smart phone out of its charging station and roam the city with the device - avoiding roaming fees on their own phones by using a local number.

"Technology is a way of life these days, not just a perk, and that holds true even while traveling," notes the hotel on its blog.

"We thought the in-room Apple iPad needed some company."

Guests can also download free apps, visit the virtual concierge, and call the hotel from anywhere in the city.

The iPhones are preloaded with telephone numbers and apps that visitors may find useful, and are wiped clean of all personal data when each guest checks out.

A hotel staff member who answered the phone Monday said that the iPhone is included in the price of the room, but would not comment on what, exactly, would happen if the phone was lost or damaged.



The fledgling service will replace all of the Vancouver hotel's landlines by the end of July. The Opus hotel in Montreal does not offer the same service.

What do you think of this Vancouver hotel's upgrade? Do you think this idea will catch on? Would you worry about losing or damaging the loaned phone?


(This survey is not scientific. Results are based on readers' replies.)