Internet killed at German luxury hotel

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Hotel allows people to disconnect from the rest of the world.

A "kill switch" has been installed inside every room at a luxury hotel in Germany, providing their guests the power to disconnect from the world during their stay at the hotel. Rooms' walls have special coatings to block about 96 percent of Wi-Fi signals coming from other sources in the area, according to The Financial Times.

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Highlights

By Atarah Haely (NEWS CONSORTIUM)
Catholic Online (https://www.catholic.org)
6/29/2015 (8 years ago)

Published in Home & Food

Keywords: Internet, Kill Switch, Technology, Vacation, Rest, Relaxing, Digital Detox, Germany, Luxury Hotel, Spa Resort, Smartphone, Villa Stephanie

MUNTINLUPA, PHILIPPINES (Catholic Online) - Villa Stephanie is a spa resort hotel in the town of Baden-Baden, which has most of its guests using that silver kill switch.

Once the switch is turned on, it activates a copper grid that blocks all the wireless signals, allowing the stay to be more relaxing. Around half of Villa Stephanie's guests use the kill switch sometime during their stay, explained Oetker Collection chief executive, Frank Marrenbach. Oetker Collection owns the luxury hotel.

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In the recent years, a number of hotels, resorts and other tourist companies have offered a "digital detox," helping their guests fully enjoy the stay with peace and relaxation. However, none of the other places have gone as far as Villa Stephanie in having individual kill switches.

The chief executive expressed that features, like the kill switch, will be present at other places in the coming years because of people's continuous search for a temporary disconnection from this day and age.

"It is not a sign of smartness to constantly look at incoming messages. This is not smart, this is stupid. Smart is to devote time when it is time to do so. Smart is to read things in a profound way," Marrenbach told The Financial Times.

However, there are still more tourists who prefer to have an Internet connection while on vacation, but notes suggest that the kill switch feature may soon become a trend.

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