German Hotel Will Block Wi-Fi for $1,200 Per Night
Villa Stephanie attempts to lure well-heeled travelers with an uplugged stay.
— -- Travelers who struggle to disconnect from their devices don’t just have to trek off the grid to escape technology. One luxurious German hotel now offers to make wi-fi inaccessible as part of its appeal.
For a lofty $1,200 per night, rooms at Villa Stephanie spa resort, located in Baden-Baden, are built inside of a copper grid and contain an optional kill switch blocking wi-fi from guests' phones and tablets, effectively forcing them to shift focus from their screens to their surroundings.
“It is like a light switch,” Frank Marrenbach, the chief executive of the hotel’s management group Oetker Collection, told Financial Times in an earlier report. “It doesn’t matter what your neighbour does, if you switch it off you have no reception.”
In descriptions offered on the hotel’s site, the feature is referred to as “a main switch for electric smog-free environment.” But guests aren’t expected to abstain from all forms of technology during their stay.
A flatscreen TV and hi-fi system are noted as room and suite amenities on a list that includes marble bathrooms, minibars, private saunas, steam baths and balconies overlooking the park.
The resort, which opened in January 2015, also offers a new expansive Brenners spa, pool, fitness area, medical care facilities and health guides to access the Black Forest.
Villa Stephanie did not immediately respond to ABC News’ request for comment.
