On the one hand, Marriott International has been facing a public relations disaster over its brief attempt to block personal wifi hotspots at its properties.
On the other hand, Marriott is trying to court the cool crowd by doing trial partnerships with some of the buzziest names in digital entertainment: GoPro, the maker of sports cameras, and the streaming content services Netflix, Hulu and Pandora.
A Netflix trial
At eight locations, Marriott is giving guests the ability to stream their content via their subscriptions to Netflix, Hulu, and Pandora through the rooms' high-definition TVs.
If popular, the move may presage a new cloud-based ecosystem for in-room entertainment for hotel franchisees nationwide in the US.
According to Bloomberg News:
"[Marriott and Netflix] have considered various ways to offer the service, such as including Netflix in a premium Internet package available to guests for a fee."
Netflix alone has nearly 60 million subscribers.
Going with GoPro
At 17 Caribbean and Latin American locations, Marriott resorts will lend guests GoPro cameras during their stays.
Guests will be prodded to share via social media their creations labeled with the hashtags #GoPro, #travelbrilliantly and #viajegenial for a chance to have their work presented on Marriott's Travel Brilliantly website.
The creators of the best visual content will have a chance to win prizes. Here's a sample promotional video of what's possible: