Hot Promotions - Hilton Resets Its Clocks

By Staff -- HOTELS Magazine, 4/1/2005

With Daylight Savings Time in the United States, can you imagine having to set 250,000 clocks by yourself? This year, the Hilton Family of Hotels is putting an end to the madness by replacing all of the clocks in its 975 hotels with new "smart" clocks that spring forward on their own.

But the cool features don't stop there. The high-tech, custom-designed alarm clocks also feature a connection cable for MP3 players and pre-set music buttons—no more fumbling through the dial in a new city, looking for a station that comes in. And the alarm is one of the world's easiest to set—just three simple steps. The directions are even printed on the front.

The new clocks are being rolled out in response to consumer research, and the popularity of the first edition introduced by the Hampton Inn brand in 2004 (which didn't include the MP3 jack). In fact, according to a recent survey, more than half of business travelers (57 percent) have worried about sleeping past their alarm, and only one in five respondents (18 percent) actually trust a hotel alarm clock to wake them up in the morning.