Hey Lifehacker, As a single dad with teenagers who are perpetually glued to their devices, choosing our annual Christmas holiday destination is always a challenge. The trouble is, our usual beachside options can’t match the superfast internet and widescreen TV we have at home!
Hotel remote picture from Shutterstock
Surely there must be some great holiday homes or hotels that offer decent tech as part of their deal? Preferably along with beachfront access for us deprived bush dwellers, so we get our 45 minutes of vitamin D again before getting back to the game on a 50+” LED TV. Any recommendations? Thanks, Hi-Tech Holiday
Dear HTH,
Unfortunately, home entertainment is one area that hoteliers tend to skimp out on; especially at popular holiday destinations where sun ‘n’ surf are the top priority. It’s simply bad business to drop a few extra grand on amenities that aren’t considered essential by most guests.
With that said, it should still be possible to find a holiday home that matches your tech criteria. One option worth considering is the crowdsourced accommodation site AirBnB which lets you search for accommodations in the city of your choice. People with a spare room put up listings complete with photographs, amenities, and ratings from other AirBnB users.
AirBnB properties tend to have above average home entertainment facilities, including high-speed internet and big TVs — it’s one of the main ways for hosts to stand out from the crowd. For example, one of our Allure Media colleagues recently put his place on AirBnB with access to a PlayStation 4, Xbox One and 60-inch Sony smart TV.
Sweeteners like the above are always prominently mentioned in the listing, so it’s easy to see if a prospective property has the technology you require. Just be sure to take the necessary precautions when dealing with this service.
If any readers have alternative suggestions, be sure to let HTH know in the comments section below.
Cheers
Lifehacker
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Comments
8 responses to “Ask LH: How Can I Find A Holiday Place With Decent Tech?”
Really? How about using the holiday time to actually get out and enjoy the location, and detach yourselves from your tech for a few days. What’s the point of even going somewhere for a holiday if you’re going to spend half the time watching TV or playing video games. May as well stay home. Pffft.
Yeah, there’s one right way to have a holiday. Thanks for setting us straight.
Always happy to help.
Because at the end of a long day I like to wind down and play video games for an hour or two, or even watch a movie. It helps to clear my mind of other things and I end up having a better sleep.
You can do that without needing to have super fast internet or a 60″ wide screen TV at the hotel though.
So i am pretty glued to tech like most people, but the only tech i look for in a hotel is non crap wifi.
i load my phone to the brim with movies music and games and that keeps me busy most of the holiday when i just want to relax in my room late night or so.
also got a hdmi adaptor for my phone so i czn watch stuff on the tv (most hotels have hdmi tv’s these days.
tl;dr BYO tech, load a tablet full of media content and look for a hotel with good wifi reviews (check tripadvisor)
I think this is largly the point of this article serpentxx.
Hotel’s should be listing Wi-Fi as an essential service (especially for CBD and built up locations).
I like the tripadvisor tip tho. One person’s ‘usable/servicable wi-fi’ is the next man’s lame duck.
Don’t forget a semi decent TV, a rainy night in, or a seedy day, and you definitely appreciate a flatscreen 32″ or bigger.