Major Resorts Offer to Lock-Up Guest Phones – Exchange for Free Activities, Snacks, & Prime Pool Spots

The average resort guest brings 3 devices with them on vacation and checks one of  them every 12 minutes, that’s 80 times a day according to Wyndham. The hotel and resort chain told the Daily Mail that it realized it had a problem when hotel managers were requesting extra beach chairs for guests who would sit in them staring at their phones all day.

Late last year, Wyndham Grand’s five US resorts began offering an alternative – prime spots by the pool, free snacks and the chance to win return visits when a guest agreed to place their phone in a soft, locked pouch. The phone actually stays with the guest, but only hotel staff can unlock the pouch. As of October, the chain says that 250 people have taken advantage of the program. Better yet, Wyndham Grand is even providing families with a 5% discount if they put their phones in a timed lockbox.

One might think this is a little sad, but at the Grand Velas Riviera Nayarit in Mexico, guests trade in their phones for a bracelet that gives them free access to activities. They must complete 4 activities to earn their phones back. The resort also has a Detox Concierge who will “cleanse your suite of all electronic devices and replace them with games like Jenga and chess.”

Hyatt’s Miraval resort in Arizona bans phone use in public areas and encourages guests to tuck their phones into baggies in their rooms. Name tags worn by staff remind guests to “unplug and be present”.