Not so long ago, we ran a story about the Westin chain of hotels planning to supply Nintendo Wiis to hotel guests. Given the exorbitant price at which other chains rent the console, most of us figured that the Westin might price gouge as well. Not so, says their PR team. They’ve assured us that the Wii program will be “completely free of charge to all hotel guests.”

The Westin chain of hotels know what, at the moment, is hot. And what’s most likely to get idiot holidaymakers (or adventurous business travellers with expense accounts) to part with silly amounts of cash money. It’s not a well-stocked minibar. It’s not convenient, discrete access to pornography. No, it’s the NIntendo Wii, which they’ll soon be offering in two ways to guests. One way is to rent the console from reception for $US 50. An hour.