I think the hub request was about the future of hotels in a global village. If this is not what you wanted, well, read it anayway, because its pretty darn interesting. There's things going on and new sci-fi developments, which very much close the gap between the fiction and reality.

Actually, the reason I find this question worth answering is because I recently read a report on this matter by an an e-Commerce Manager at Starwood Hotels & Resorts. Would you believe a hotel room which automatically changes the music and lighting and all the decor based on your body's bio-rythm? Or a globalised database which stores your preferences, so all you have to do is name your destination, and you'll automatically get a room which matches your stored preferences. There's lots more in the report, all of which I'll outline below.

Plus there are a few other secret research and testing facilities being run by some hotel chains, and you'll be surprised that they actually use real hotel guests as guinea pigs to find out what works and what doesn't. More on that later.

The things I mentioned above were written in an article on his personal website by Jitendra Jain, e-Commerce manager at Starwood Hotels & Resorts in Dubai. Covers a lot of ground including intelligent menus for restaurants wherein you can select ingredients, cooking methods and other suggestions fro each dish based on your preferences.

There's also interesting concepts like a DNA code-key, which can be used for everything from your credit to opening the hotel door. And also the possibility that hotel rooms of the future could be customized to the tiniest detail for each guest. From what I understand, it would involve a lot of automation, but the point is that everything down to the shower, the ebd and the lamp shades will be exactly as you wanted it.

Now let's bring it to the present. If you want to find out what present day cutting edge hotel technology actually is, you need to visit, or stay at, the 'laboratory' rooms of certain hotel chains. These experimental rooms have all sorts of gizmos and weird stuff which the hotel is trying out, and they let select guests stay in these rooms in order to get feedback about the experience.

For instance, if you're looking for hotels in Los Angeles, then you want to book into the Hilton Garden Inn LAX. They have a 'technology room' in the University Wing which you can book into, provided you have an invitation. More details here.

The Courtyard Marriott-University of Delaware in Newark, DE has an X-Room where they test out things like Remote-controlled luminary pillars, wireless electricity, and environment friendly hair dryers and showerheads.

Looking for geeky hotels in Chicago? Look no further than the Westin Chicago River North. Ask for Room 1627, which is their 'test lab'.

Hyatt Corp. went one better and built an entire testing hotel in Scotsdale, AZ for their Hyatt Place brand, where they tested out things like vacation music which follows you around, and touch screen menus for ordering food. Most of the technology has now spread to all the Hyatt Place hotels.