You know the drill. You pull up to a Comfort Inn motel with the vacancy light on, you argue with the attendent about getting a room away from the ice machine and then you take the 24-karat gold-plated iPad the attendant hands you and head off to your room to stockpile some free soap. Boom.
At the (slightly fancy) Burj Al Arab hotel in Dubai the gold-plated iPads are flowing freely. Each guest receives one at check-in so they can use custom “Interactive Customer Experience software” to enhance their stay at the hotel. Let’s recall that Burj Al Arab is the hotel notable for looking like a sail in the wind, having the world’s highest tennis court (which obviously doubles as a helipad) and being located on a man-made private island less than 1,000 feet from Jumeirah beach.
The gold iPads are engraved with the Burj Al Arab logo and act as a “virtual concierge,” providing information on hotel services, restaurants and events. The iPads will be available for sale in the Burj Al Arab “boutique” along with gold iPad minis, gold iPhone 5s and gold BlackBerry Q10s. OK hospitality industry, keep up. [Born Rich]