Hotel Detox – when people pay for not being able to use their mobile phone during holidays
Wyndham Grand has gone as far as offering the best pool locations, free food, and a chance to win another visit to guests who lock up their phones in a pouch kept by the guests but only able to be unlocked by hotel staff, according to the AP. Hotel Detox
So far 250 people have tried locking up their devices in Florida and Texas, and the idea will spread to other Wyndham hotels.
The company also gives a 5 percent discount if guests traveling with families lock up their phones in a timed lock-box. The hotel then gives them a pillow fort, s’mores, a book and instant cameras for both adults and kids to have something to do when they can’t check out Twitter or Snapchat 24/7.
A recent survey of American holiday-makers by OnePoll found that more than 20% said they checked their smartphones once per hour during their most recent vacation, while about 14% said they checked it twice per hour. Nearly 8% said they checked it more than 20 times per hour. In a Deloitte survey in Britain in 2017, 38% of adults said they thought they were using their smartphones too much.
Half of smartphone users spend between three and seven hours per day on their mobile devices, according to a 2017 global survey by Counterpoint Research, a technology consulting firm. In a separate study by the nonprofit Common Sense Media, 69 percent of parents and 78 percent of teens said they check their devices at least hourly.
The hotels that offer the Hotel Detox program may vary depending on location and availability, but some examples of Wyndham hotels that have offered this program in the past include:
- Wyndham Grand Rio Mar Puerto Rico Golf & Beach Resort
- The Westin Cape Coral Resort at Marina Village
- Wyndham Grand Clearwater Beach Resort
- The Westin Cape Coral Resort at Marina Village
- Wyndham Orlando Resort International Drive
The enforced “digital detox ruling” at Ayana Resort in Bali, which extends to all smartphones and digital devices, is an attempt to forcibly untether people from the global addiction of checking the news, compulsively taking photos, updating social media and replying to emails even when on holiday. Outside of that time, guests are allowed and encouraged to take photos and post to social media as much as they want
Instead, guests are encouraged to swim, read books, or play a game of Jenga, or just “truly relax and be in the moment”, according to a hotel spokesperson.
Grand Velas Riviera Nayarit in Mexico is a little more drastic in hotel detox. It has a detox concierge who will remove electronic devices, trading them with board games. At its sister resort, Grand Velas Riviera Maya, guests give their phones to the front desk in exchange for a bracelet that earns them access to resort activities. Once they do at least four activities, their phones are earned back, the AP reported.
