Even the Hotel Movie Business is Going Down - Nobody Using In-Room Viewing

[JamesG]

New Technology Trumps In-room Hotel Entertainment
7 Sept 2010


More and more travelers are taking their rented movies on the road with them to play on laptop computers or accessing them over the Internet via Netflix and other streaming services, resulting in the virtual destruction of in-room movie-rental services and impacting hotel revenue, the Los Angeles Times reported on Saturday.



It noted that Sioux Falls-based Lodgenet saw its revenue drop 9.3 percent in 2009 to $484.5 million, then plummet this year when it reported a second-quarter loss of $3.1 million.




Some hotel operators have given up hope of ever seeing a boost in the future for in-room entertainment.

“That revenue is gone,” Matt Greene, general manager of the Hard Rock Hotel in San Diego, told the Times. “It’s nonexistent.”

-IMDB News

[PlayOn]

NetFlix is ruining everything. lol. First, it's closing Blockbuster, now this.

[HuntingtonM15]

Then maybe hotels shouldn't charge $10+ for movies when they can be rented elsewhere for a fraction of that.

[PlayOn]

Originally Posted by HuntingtonM15

Then maybe hotels shouldn't charge $10+ for movies when they can be rented elsewhere for a fraction of that.

I don't order movies from hotels, so I didn't know how much they were. 10 plus bucks?! Dang! On Demand has new movies for $4.55. Guess that will go next, but I hope not.

[JamesG]

Originally Posted by PlayOn

I don't order movies from hotels, so I didn't know how much they were. 10 plus bucks?! Dang! On Demand has new movies for $4.55. Guess that will go next, but I hope not.

Yeah, everything in hotels are expensive.

A can of Coke that you can get for $1.00 at the local deli can be like $3.00 from the mini-bar.


I always make sure to check the surrounding areas of hotels for convenience stores because it is way cheaper to get food from them vs. anything offered by the hotel.

[browneyes106]

The last time I watched a movie from in-viewing hotel system was back in 2002 when my family and I were on a vacation in D.C. and I remember it was $6.00 at the time. We only watched a movie because we were leaving the next morning and pretty much had seen everything in D.C.

The past few times when I travel I do take a few DVD's from my house or that I rented from Netflix. One of my friends and her husband moved from Arizona to Florida recently and before they left on their moving trip they went online to get list of Redbox locations that way they could get new movies every day or so.

[JamesG]

Originally Posted by browneyes106

The last time I watched a movie from in-viewing hotel system was back in 2002 when my family and I were on a vacation in D.C. and I remember it was $6.00 at the time. We only watched a movie because we were leaving the next morning and pretty much had seen everything in D.C.

The past few times when I travel I do take a few DVD's from my house or that I rented from Netflix. One of my friends and her husband moved from Arizona to Florida recently and before they left on their moving trip they went online to get list of Redbox locations that way they could get new movies every day or so.

Another thing is that the hotels' in-room video gaming are like a generation behind of the times.

I remember around the early 2000s that the hotels still had Super NES and SEGA Genesis in the rooms, during the time when the PS2 was launched. Some hotels did upgrade to PSone but not the majority.



Then I heard from others that now some hotels offer GameCube in the rooms. However, I have heard of select hotels that are "Wii-compatable".

[browneyes106]

Originally Posted by JamesG

Another thing is that the hotels' in-room video gaming are like a generation behind of the times.

I remember around the early 2000s that the hotels still had Super NES and SEGA Genesis in the rooms, during the time when the PS2 was launched. Some hotels did upgrade to PSone but not the majority.



Then I heard from others that now some hotels offer GameCube in the rooms. However, I have heard of select hotels that are "Wii-compatable".

I also remember the in room gaming that is behind a generation. My sister went on a trip to Vegas last year and she said the rooms had Wiis with Guitar Hero games.

[JamesG]

Originally Posted by browneyes106

I also remember the in room gaming that is behind a generation. My sister went on a trip to Vegas last year and she said the rooms had Wiis with Guitar Hero games.

Well Vegas, and most casino hotels, are different because some of them use the Wii for the gambling; so they must have some sort of deal or discount with Nintendo.

I couldn't make it but at the beginning of the summer, I was invited to Caesars Atlantic City to play at a Wii Bowling Tournament for money.




Another thing to add is that most hotels rely on their video arcade for most of the gaming revenue; so the in-room gaming was seen as something extra.

Though, many of them are rarely up to date with what is currently out.

[MrCleveland]

I have a portable DVD Player that I bought so when I would go on trips like...(Okay, I'm STILL a bit bitter about last weekend), but I would use that with a DVD I got from my home DVD library.

[JamesG]

Originally Posted by MrCleveland

I have a portable DVD Player that I bought so when I would go on trips like...(Okay, I'm STILL a bit bitter about last weekend), but I would use that with a DVD I got from my home DVD library.

I used to have a portable DVD player that I used to carry around for trips.

I also had a wire that I used to plug my game systems into because the hotels wouldn't allow you to plug them into the room.

[PlayOn]

After hearing all this, I'm suprised hotels themselves haven't gone out of business. lol.