How nice would it be if you were on away from home on a business trip and still be woken up by the sweet sound of your spouse’s voice? Or, better yet, the chipper voice of your 2-year-old happily announcing: “Wake up. It’s a sunny day today.” (That’s my toddler daughter’s greeting to me everyday–even when it’s raining out.) Be gone pre-recorded-robot-sounding hotel wake up call—it’s time for “Wake Up To Loved Ones.”
This week Hyatt Hotels announced its new plan to make staying at their properties a bit more personal for its more than 500,000 Gold Passport members. The company says it will cover a service that lets your loved ones record a wake-up greeting delivered via your cell phone at the time of your choosing (you have to have a North American or Caribbean phone number). How many you calls you get depends on your level in Passport pecking order (diamonds and platinums get unlimited wake-up calls).
But, here’s the part of the service I found most appealing (or amusing). Hyatt says if your significant other doesn’t possess the voice you enjoy hearing first thing in the morning you can opt to be woken up by the soothing tones of supermodel Christie Brinkley. For every Brinkley message requested, Hyatt will donate $1 to the Make-A-Wish Foundation. I can hear it now: a husband requests the Brinkley option only to have his wife pick up the wake up call. He covers nicely by pointing out that having the gorgeous blonde supermodel wake him from a sound sleep is “for a good cause.”
By the way, if you do decide to go with the Brinkley wake up call you get to choose from two options: One talks about knowing the importance of sleep and being productive; the other urges you to “rise, shine and make it a great day!”
For those of you who have traveled to Chicago and stayed at the Renaissance Chicago O’Hare Suites Hotel, you may be familiar with the celebrity wake up call concept. Renaissance guests get recorded wake-ups done by Chicago’s Second City comedians playing characters such as gangster Al Capone and former Chicago Bears coach Mike Ditka. The faux-Ditka orders guests to “hit the showers.”
For more information on the Hyatt wake up calls click here.