It took the world a while to make the first social network-themed hotel, but it’s easy to assume that this is only the first one of many.
As expected, the shade of blue of the Twitter logo is present everywhere at the Sol Wave House hotel on the Mallorca island. However, the design of this hotel is not the only thing that relates it to the popular microblogging service. Right after checking-in, people get access to the hotel’s Wi-Fi network. On top of that, they get to install a customized version of the Twitter app on their smartphone, version that will later use to communicate with each other. Got that? If you don’t own a smartphone, you don’t belong here!
The #SocialWave hashtag, one of the hotel’s exclusives, is used by people who want to flirt with other inhabitants of the hotel. Mind you, that’s not the only thing they can do. Sharing pictures, sending private messages and tweeting each other are among the other possibilities.
Besides the regular rooms, there are also several #TwitterPartySuites. Staying in one of these grants people a discount of 20% at all bars and restaurants, VIP hammocks and customised mini bars. In all rooms, restocking the minifridge bars is as easy as tweeting the #FillMyFridge hashtag.
While sitting by the side of the pool, people will inevitably get thirsty. Whenever this happens, they can order cold drinks by sending a message to the @SolWaveHouse Twitter handle. The way I see it, though, an important part of all the Twitter experience is missing: the ability to retweet messages or mark them as favorites. I’m not saying that it’s not possible, just that it doesn’t make much sense.
Gonzalo Echevarria, the General Manager of the Sol Wave House, stated: “The hotel takes a new step in meeting the expectations of an increasingly experiential and social customer profile, through new technologies.”
As far as the comments go, both on Daily Mail and on YouTube, let’s just say that they’re not that favorable. To put it mildly, people think it’s weird. One of the most hilarious comments refers to the pretentious people who are using Twitter nowadays, but will jump into another boat at some point. If Twitter ever shared MySpace’s fate, such a hotel would become even more awkward. The Youtube comments, while not as many, are much harsher, which proves that such a hotel isn’t among the best marketing strategies ever.
If you liked this post, please check the Star Trek hotel room and the world’s first LEGOLAND hotel.
