The Hotel Staple Some Properties are Stealthily Shedding

More times than not, a busy day away involves hightailing it back to your hotel room, slipping into a plush robe, and catching up on your latest streaming obsession. However, some travelers might be surprised (and puzzled) to step foot into their hotel room and see no screen in sight. Years ago, a screen-free hotel room would seem sacrilege. But now? It’s quietly becoming the ultimate lodging flex.

“People are on screens constantly now, whether it’s for work or just day-to-day life,” explains Teresa Raffo, co-founder and co-owner of Mendocino Cove in Northern California. “Travelers are looking for places where they can actually switch off for a bit.”

Shelsi Lindquist

For properties like Hotel Sylvia in Newport, Oregon, the analog accommodations are a subtle way to pay homage to the past. According to Jenny Nelson, vice president of operations for VIP Hospitality Group, the grounds once housed an “eclectic old hotel with a literary theme.” Since the original property didn’t have TVs in each room, guests would “spend hours” in the library and other communal areas, reading, playing games, and forging new friendships. Now, with the help of VIDA Design firm, Hotel Sylvia follows suit.

“We chose to not have TVs and phones in the rooms because we did not want guests to have the distraction or the noise of those items,” Nelson says. “We embraced the literary theme and built on it with a tribute to Sylvia Beach, the history of the hotel and expanded on it.” Literary-themed rooms named after iconic authors—Hemingway, Shakespeare, Christie, and Angelou—offer a cozy respite to kick back, relax, and finally make a dent in your “To Be Read” list. Meanwhile, the rest of the property is peppered with “third spaces” and boasts a soothing color palette to champion disconnection. 

Ditto for Big Sur’s Post Ranch Inn, which famously forgoes televisions and alarms to foster IRL interactions. “Without televisions in the accommodations, Post Ranch Inn encourages guests to disconnect from screens completely and instead focus on the beautiful surrounding landscape and the people they’re sharing the experience with,” says Mike Freed, the hotel’s co-founder and owner.

Plus, who wants to spend all their time buried in blue light when mesmerizing views of the Pacific Ocean coastline are well within reach? 

Some hotels have a steadfast stance on televisions, Mendocino Cove strikes a happy medium by leaving 11 rooms screen-free. “We know some guests really want to unplug when they come to Mendocino, so we wanted to give them that option,” says Raffo. “We’re not saying everyone should vacation without a TV, but we wanted to offer that choice.” 

Should guests want to pause Netflix, they can take advantage of the site’s menu of amenities including a pool, sauna, and eight pickleball courts. Or, explore the great outdoors, which Raffo says is a main draw for the Northern California destination. “A lot of people come to Mendocino specifically because they want a break from their normal routine,” she adds. “It’s such a beautiful place, and for some people the whole point of coming here is to slow down, get outside, and spend less time in front of a screen.”

Shelsi Lindquist

Hoteliers aren’t the only ones celebrating screen-free escapes: Guests are equally happy. “They embrace this hotel experience,” Nelson says. “The design, amenities and lack of distractions in a hotel on the oceanfront is a perfect combination for ‘getting away from it all.’” Raffo agrees and says the lack of televisions makes rooms “more peaceful.” 

“It changes the feel of the room in a pretty simple way,” she says. “You’re less likely to come back, turn on the TV and stay inside. Instead, people tend to spend more time outside, talk, read, or just relax.”

As artificial intelligence and smart-everything start to invade our day-to-day lives, it’s possible more hotels will be adopting an analog approach. And hoteliers like Freed certainly hope so. 

“‘Time’ has become our most valuable and protected commodity,” he says. “The shift is definitely influenced by the desire to have more quality, focused time with partners, which is significantly enhanced when we unplug, disconnect, and commit to time for a digital detox.”

That said, you can always bring the screen-free spirit to wherever you stay: The next time you check into a hotel, we dare you to leave the remote and robe untouched and check out all the other wonderful amenities the property has to offer.