Aggressive Expansion Continues in Mexico with Brand Launch, Entry into New Destinations and Property Openings.

PHILADELPHIA, PA (March 27, 2012) — AMResorts, provider of sales, marketing and brand management services for Zoëtry Wellness & Spa Resorts, and Secrets, Dreams, Now and Sunscape Resorts & Spas, announced today the launch of its new, interactive Unlimited-Connectivity® app. Now available for the company’s most recently opened properties, Secrets Vallarta Bay and Now Amber Puerto Vallarta, the innovative app will be rolled out to all AMResorts brands and resorts by the end of 2012. The free digital application developed by AMResorts and Telmex, a world leader in communications, is accessible for mobile download to iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch, Android, Blackberry phones.

Unlimited-Connectivity® allows guests to stay connected and communicate with family and friends back home using the app-to-app calls feature to call local and international (U.S. and Canada) phones and send messages over the hotel’s Wi-Fi network without incurring any international cell phone roaming charges. Guests also can create user profiles using their email, Facebook or Twitter accounts to contact staff directly, tailor personal deal preferences, book spa appointments, reserve excursions and be just a click away from information about dining, amenities, resort activities, local attractions and much more. Users can register the app with their room number, allowing them to instantly view their folio and request hotel services.

“Understanding our guests’ needs is a priority for AMResorts and innovating is our motto. That is why we know the importance of convenience and of staying connected while on vacation,” said Alex Zozaya, president of AMResorts. “This tool enables our guests to achieve that connectivity without the concern of excessive roaming charges, while simultaneously allowing us to customize their vacation experience to better fit their needs.” The easy-to use, cost-saving app registers as a room extension so guests can send and receive calls throughout the property as if they were in their room.

AMResorts also is introducing a new AMResorts Collection iPad app, an interactive information resource and travel planning tool. A Secrets Brand Collection will be available for download on iTunes. Apps for the company’s other four brands will be accessible by the end of 2012. The iPad app will allow users to input their travel needs and interests and access specific resort recommendations based on their preferences. It is designed to help couples, families and adults plan and book their future vacations with AMResorts, as well as enable agents and planners to quickly identify the property that best fits their client or group function. Attendees of Tianguis are strongly encouraged to stop by the AMResorts booth 1101 – 1206 to be one of the first to interact with the Secrets Brand Collection app at the iPad wall.

2011 in Review
AMResorts enjoyed an exciting 2011 with the celebration of its 10th anniversary milestone, a new brand introduction, entry into new destinations, five resort openings and the continued growth of its diverse portfolio. The company closed the year with 26 resorts and almost 10,000 rooms in Mexico, the Dominican Republic and Jamaica.

In November 2011, AMResorts re-launched the Sunscape Resorts & Spas brand with the opening of Sunscape Dorado Pacifico Ixtapa – its first resort in this popular Mexico destination. The Sunscape brand offers families, friends and singles an Unlimited-Fun® experience – a new vacation concept from the award-winning company. Ixtapa is the seventh Mexico destination to have an AMResorts property, demonstrating its success and confidence in this market.

“AMResorts is continuously looking to further grow in the tourism sector,” said Alex Zozaya, president of AMResorts. “The introduction of new brands like Sunscape allows us to help the owners of resorts who are seeking our strong brand management services in areas where we already had a solid presence, and continue to meet the needs of guests who appreciate the brand standards AMResorts maintains, but are looking for a slightly new experience.”

Also last November, AMResorts celebrated the official opening of the adults-only Secrets Marquis Los Cabos. The opening marked the brand’s entry into the popular vacation destination of Los Cabos, Mexico. Guests of the 235-room Secrets Marquis Los Cabos, a member of The Leading Hotels of the World, enjoy the benefits of Secrets Resorts & Spas’ signature Unlimited-Luxury® vacation concept. The December 2011 debut of the adults-only, 399-suite Secrets Huatulco Resort & Spa became Secrets’ first foray into the growing vacation destination of Huatulco in Mexico’s Pacific region and is AMResorts’ second resort in the area, following Dreams Huatulco.

AMResorts continued growth in the Dominican Republic with the debut of two new Punta Cana properties in May 2011: Secrets Royal Beach Punta Cana and Now Larimar Punta Cana. These Unlimited-Luxury® properties are joining the company’s four additional resorts in the destination: Dreams Punta Cana, Dreams Palm Beach, Dreams La Romana, and Zoëtry Agua Punta Cana. The 2013 debut of the Gems at Cap Cana complex, a $400 million development and the company’s largest project to-date, will continue AMResorts’ expansion in the Caribbean.

Looking Forward
AMResorts has two developments underway in Puerto Vallarta, Secrets Vallarta Bay Puerto Vallarta and Now Amber Puerto Vallarta, set to open in April 2012. The $175 million USD project introduces the first Secrets and Now Resorts & Spas properties to the popular destination and is responsible for creating 902 direct jobs. The 602-room, two-resort complex represents Puerto Vallarta’s first new construction hotels in almost a decade, and each will feature AMResorts’ Unlimited-Luxury® vacation concept.

Secrets Vallarta Bay Puerto Vallarta will offer adults an extra measure of romance and sensuality in a beautiful beachfront setting. Guests will be welcomed by 271 elegantly-appointed rooms and suites with 24-hour concierge and room services; multiple gourmet, a la carte restaurants and lounges serving premium beverages; endless day and evening activities; and full-service spa and fitness facilities.

With 331 oversized guest rooms and suites with ocean views and private terraces, Now Amber Puerto Vallarta will cater to couples, friends and families. The resort offers amenities such as wireless internet access, flat screen TVs with surround sound systems, daily refreshed mini bars, 24-hour room and concierge services, multiple gourmet dining offerings and full-service spa and fitness facilities. The resort will foster a sense of understated luxury and comfort, and has received the Amber gemstone symbol as a reflection of the inviting rich sands along Banderas Bay.

The opening of the newly built, 495-room Secrets The Vine Cancun is scheduled for August 2012 in Cancun’s popular Zona Hotelera. The newly built Secrets The Vine is located on the golden Yucatan Peninsula coastline. The Unlimited-Luxury® resort features 495 luxurious guest rooms, all with ocean views, private balconies, Italian porcelain floors, and teak wood furnishings. Its lobby celebrates fine wine in both its design and menu offerings with a designated wine tasting area for guests, the Enoteca (wine cellar). Featuring a Mexican handcrafted wood table with seating for up to 30 guests, a unique wine wall housing as many as 3000 varieties of wine, and sommelier-lead tastings of some of the world’s finest wine collections, the Enoteca promises guests a rich and relaxing wine tasting experience. By 2013, AMResorts is anticipating a portfolio of 35 resorts, more than 13,500 rooms and entry into new destinations including Costa Rica.

About AMResorts
AMResorts (www.amresorts.com) is the provider of sales, marketing and brand management services to five brands of exclusive resort properties in Mexico, Jamaica and the Dominican Republic: ultra luxurious Zoëtry® Wellness & Spa Resorts (www.zoetryresorts.com; 1-888-4-ZOËTRY); adults-only Secrets® Resorts & Spas (www.secretsresorts.com; 1-866-GO SECRETS); luxurious Dreams® Resorts & Spas (www.dreamsresorts.com; 1-866-2-DREAMS); vibrant and contemporary Now® Resorts & Spas (www.nowresorts.com; 1-877-NOW-9953) and fun-filled Sunscape® Resorts & Spas (www.sunscaperesorts.com; 1-866-SUNSCAPE). Zoëtry Paraiso de la Bonita Riviera Maya and Secrets Marquis Los Cabos are members of Leading Hotels of the World.

Images, logos, and informational material about all of AMResorts brands and properties are available at www.amresorts.com/media.

Over the past few months, CTIA (the International Wireless Association) and CSCA (Common Short Code Adminstrator) have started more aggressive audits of the use of short codes, especially shared short codes such as what we use at Movitas. With this, we are beginning to see more audits of our short code, and in some cases our clients have been cited for certain violations. Typical violations we have seen include:

1. No service description
2. No help information
3. No opt-out information
4. No privacy policy or link to privacy policy
5. No mention that message and data rates may apply

In order to be compliant, it’s important that you include specific language anywhere you request a consumer opt-in, including PC pages, mobile pages, and even print advertising. For example, for business name “XYZ” you will need to state it like this:

“Text XYZ to 77950 to receive updates and specials, Max 12 msg’s per month. Txt XYZ STOP to 77950 to stop, HELP for help. Msg & Data Rates may apply.”

You must also include links to our standard Terms & Conditions and Privacy policies.  These links are automatically generated for you for each business name and are available based on whether you are a direct client or are a partner managing multiple clients. Again, using our “XYZ” name as above (replace XYZ with your business name), use one of the following methods:

For direct clients, use:

• Privacy: http://XYZ.movitas.com/privacy.aspx
• Terms: http://XYZ.movitas.com/terms.aspx

For partners who are managing multiple clients, use:

• Privacy: http://XYZ.m77950.com/privacy.aspx
• Terms: http://XYZ.m77950.com/terms.aspx

Please contact us at support@movitas.com for any questions or assistance.

Many international travelers are scared to pull out their smartphones while on vacation – as they should be – calls can cost up to $5 per minute, texts up to 50 cents each, and data costing $15 per megabyte (which barely covers basic web browsing and email). It’s a shame, really, because mobile is a channel that has the unique ability to connect users to your hotel and can act as a source of new revenue. So here is the question – how does your hotel help bridge the gap between mobile as a limitation and mobile as an asset?

An increasingly popular approach is delivered through a new generation smartphone applications that capitalize on the Wi-Fi feature of the most popular devices. One such approach provided by Movitas is a hotel-branded smartphone app that enables guests to use their own smartphones to connect directly to the hotel phone systems. As guests’ phones become virtual extensions of the hotel’s PBX systems, hotel investment in telephony infrastructure takes on heightened value by enabling unsurpassed levels of guest service, connecting travelers to hotel staff, or to other travelers – even optional VoIP based international calls at the hotel’s discretion. This solution can also include mobile based hotel amenity promotional campaigns and local business advertising and listings.

With the Movitas platform, you are introducing your brand, content and products through a downloadable app.  It is a distinctive way to extend your brand identity, promote mobile commerce and enable new audiences to discover what you offer. Here are a few more reasons to consider upgrading your mobile strategy:

1.       It Provides Upselling Opportunities

The Movitas platform provides a self-service Listings and Offers system so you can monetize the content shown on your app. In addition, guests can choose what types of offers they would like to hear about, allowing you to provide them an extremely personalized, engaging and ultimately profitable experience.

2.       It Integrates With Your Systems

With optional  property management system (PMS) integration, you provide additional paths to raise guest spend on food, beverage and amenities and allows guests to check their folios, make special requests and check in/out all on the guest’s smartphone.

3.       Because Vacation Planning Doesn’t End When Your Guests Hit ‘Book’

Travelers have a myriad of pre-trip planning tools at their disposable, but what happens when they get to your destination? The Guidebook and Things To Do sections of your app become in-destination travel companions that offer valuable information your guests need while on vacation.

4.        It Delights With Something Unexpected 

With the Movitas app, you are not only solving travelers’ problem of extensive calling charges, but you are also providing numerous pathways for unexpected value and customer service opportunities.

One of the questions we get frequently when starting the application development process with our clients is whether it’s better to have a mobile website or a native application. We explain to them that with a mobile website, they can have one site that works across multiple devices via the browser. However, they still need to account for design with these sites since some devices have a large variety of screen sizes, some will have touch screens, and others will have QWERTY keyboards. The advantage to a mobile website is instant deployment across many devices. The downfall to this approach though, is that the experience you have may be limited because some device functions may not be available like the camera, or data storage, or GPS. Some of these can be accounted for with new functions in HTML5 or special Javascript, but others can’t.

So if mobile web won’t let you get to the user’s camera, or the microphone, or device information, then the first thought is to go native. Native applications are applications that are built specifically for iPhone, Android, Blackberry, or whatever device you may have. With native applications, you write code that lives on the device and utilizes design functions, API’s, and other device specific information. The advantage to this is that you can develop a very slick, fast, and contained application. Through this, users should be able to access their information offline, maybe they can render complex graphics for games, or a number of other things. The disadvantage however, is that any changes you want to make require another deployment of your application, and often times this is across multiple devices. Things as simple as changing a title for a navigation link can take a few days as you compile for each device, test, submit your deployments through the various stores and often times it may take a few days to weeks to get that change live. In some situations this is just something you have to live with, such as games.  Yet, there is another solution:  hybrid applications.

Hybrid applications are a combination of offline and online functionality within a native application. You see this in applications such as Facebook, Yelp, LinkedIn, Twitter (or any of the Movitas apps!). Hybrid applications can take a few different formats. The first is an application that requires you to be online to get data or information. The typical experience with this is when no signal is available, then you are greeted with a warning that you must be in 3G or Wi-Fi access to use the application.

Another format of a hybrid app is one that has a native interface and then pulls data via API’s into the application that may sync with a native database or another solution. Sometimes this solution also has separate experiences for online versus offline users. Apps like Rhapsody give you an offline screen that lets you access your saved content, but when you’re back online you have full access to music that you can stream. The advantage to these hybrid formats is that you can easily update data from your core applications, while also providing the user with a clean native experience.

Even though there is still a challenge with updates requiring deployments across all markets, it’s more manageable then a completely native application if you’re constantly updating data or providing social features.

The last form of hybrid applications are ones that use a mobile site to display information within an application shell. This can be done with tools such as PhoneGap or Appcelerator Titanium. The way these tools typically work is that they provide an interface via javascript to the native API’s, which then allow a webview to interact with native functionality such as the cameras, the GPS, the device information, etc. The advantage to this is that it allows you to use the same code across multiple applications, which reduces the knowledge needed to create the apps, and in some cases if the code is hosted outside of the app, then one update can update all apps via existing web code. A number of companies use this approach, including Facebook.  They have developed their own application shell for each device, and integrated caching techniques into their apps. With this shell Facebook has been able to implement a very slick HTML5 application that’s accessible via mobile web and also has additional functionalities that relate to each downloaded app to improve the user experience. The negative to this approach if caching is not enabled like Facebook, is that users may experience slow loading speeds. Additionally, users who are not connected to the web may not be able to access the content.   Mentioned above, though, this can be fixed by storing data and providing offline interfaces like Rhapsody does.

So why is this hybrid approach advantageous to your business? First is that it can reduce the need for your developers to know multiple languages and deploy custom solutions for each. Second, it shares the same code across devices to allow for instant updates for all users. Third, the deployment process is reduced since you can implement many functions via hosted solutions that the app feeds from. With all of these, you can benefit from having more windows into your app at a lower cost!

Lately, when I travel to a new destination in the U.S. on vacation, I rely on my social networks to find and share information. I constantly use Yelp to find the best restaurants, cafes, and shopping near my hotel.  I read user reviews to help make my decision.  I’ll bookmark a favorite blog that offers a good summary of the key places to check out. I check-in to Foursquare when I get there and I take lots of photos on my phone and post many of them to Twitter and Facebook to brag share with my friends. It’s also my way of keeping a mini-travel journal.  Granted, I am a young-ish modern woman working in mobile, so of course I have a constant presence on social networks. However, I notice that my social media activity increases when I travel.  But what happens when I travel internationally? I don’t have an international data roaming or calling plan.  I could buy a Lonely Planet app or some other guidebook app, but that really only fulfills my need for a summary of the destination.  What about looking up things to do and reading reviews? Checking-in? Sharing my experiences in real-time on Facebook or Twitter?

These are the questions that came up when first designing the local social functions of the Movitas Connect product. There are a billion conversations happening in your social media galaxy all the time, of which you may or may not need to pay attention to, particularly during vacation.  You may reach out to your networks to help plan your vacation, but then those conversations and information gets mixed up in the billion other conversations that happened and you really don’t want to waste time filtering them out when you are only traveling for a week or so.  Plus, you are going international, so will you even be able to access that information without getting international roaming charges?

So what we’ve done is focus communication in the local social realm, essentially filtering the information and conversations for you, so you can get the stuff you want to know about faster, by bundling the functions you are used to in one app.  And you won’t have to worry about roaming charges, because it all takes place over Wi-Fi.  (Just be sure to turn off cellular data roaming and keep your Wi-Fi on).

After you have downloaded a Movitas app, you can sign up using your Facebook or Twitter accounts or sign up using an email address.  Signing up with Facebook or Twitter automatically creates your app account profile and links these accounts so you can post status updates in the app and choose to also share them on Facebook or Twitter.  Not only can you view guidebook summaries, browse services and things to do in the area, but you can also read reviews and tips from other travelers, add your own, and share any local businesses, offers, check-ins, reviews and tips you find interesting.  Most importantly, Movitas apps allow you to stay connected to only the people that you want to communicate with while on vacation.    Add people you are traveling with and people back home.  Call and message them anytime over Wi-Fi.  So communication with people back home is taken care of.  Brag Share what you are doing and cool places you’ve visited on your trip.  Call or send them a message if necessary. Then, back to local social – what are other travelers doing in the area? View real-time activity and see what the buzz is about right where you are.  If you are looking for more people to join an excursion to bring the cost down, reach out to the local social network and see if people want to join.  Make new friends that share your same interests.

One, international roaming charges are a sacrifice you don’t have to make.  Two, there is an app for all of your traveling needs.  Three, concentrate on the local social networks to communicate, connect, and find information.  Happy travels from Movitas.

Recently there have been a lot of conversations going on around responsive web design, and rightly so. Making your designs fluid allows your website to be viewed appropriately on any device, at any screen size, or any resolution. By combining responsive design practices with the Movitas platform’s ability to target specific devices, we are now able to create amazing sites optimized to whatever device the user may be viewing them on.

Depending on the goal of the site, a designer can choose to either create a design that scales perfectly at any screen width (ex: movitas.com) or decide to style a site completely different depending on screen width or device (ex: sapc2012.movitas.com). For the Movitas site, we chose to create a fully responsive website using flexible content, images and videos. The site scales to match the users screen and has all of the same html and css. For the Avaya 2012 Sales and Partner Conference, we chose to style the site differently for mobile phones than for PC and tablets. We wanted a fully functional PC site but wanted the mobile version to have a more app-like presence.

Deciding whether to create a fully responsive site or to style your sites differently depending on device varies greatly from project to project. There is no single right answer but I have found that, for most basic sites, a fully responsive design can do the trick. It requires less styling and still gives the user a website scaled specifically to whatever device they are looking at. However, sometimes it is necessary to do more than this.

There can be a great benefit to having a different look and feel on one device vs another. Having a tailored mobile experience that is different from a pc site can make the site feel more native and affect the user interaction a little different on small screens. This is especially beneficial on sites that are high in functionality. It can be very important to display functions in a different way on smaller screens than you might with more real estate to spread them out. Items like navigation can be spread out across the interface very uniquely on mobile where as with a larger screen you might choose to display a top nav bar or side nav bar. In the past someone might create a whole new site to accomplish this but that requires unnecessary work and is double the maintenance.

Instead we can accomplish this with two methods. We can employ responsive web techniques like css3 media queries and also use user-agent detection to alter the body id depending on device. Media queries allow us to target screen widths and write css to only affect the site at that width. For example: the header of sapc2012.movitas.com by default has a left margin of 10%. As the screen width gets smaller this becomes to much so we want to shrink it. We do this with media queries.

    //Written in sass  (http://sass-lang.com/)
    #header h1
      background-image: url("/DynamicImage.aspx?id=19281")
      height: 69px
      position: absolute
      width: 152px
      z-index: 10000
      margin: 0 0 0 10%

    @media only screen and (max-width: 967px) and (min-width: 870px)
      #header h1
        margin: 0 0 0 5%

    @media only screen and (max-width: 869px)
      #header h1
        margin: 0

This says that the default left margin is 10%. If the screen size is between 967px and 870px the left margin is 5% and if the screen size is less than 869px the margin is 0.

User-agent detection allows us to alter the body id and write css to only affect those devices. On the Avaya site this came in very helpful in designing the alerts bar to look differently on a PC than on a mobile device.

//ALERTS BAR
.alertsBarClass
  +linear-gradient(color-stops(#65839a, #547089))
  +box-shadow(inset 0 1px 1px 0 #000000)
  a
    &:hover, &:active
      +border-radius(5px)
      +linear-gradient(color-stops(#7993a7, #7993a7))
      padding: 1px 3px

.alertsBarLogin
  a
    +linear-gradient(color-stops(#6c849a, #334d65))
    border-color: #334d65

//PC ALERTS BAR
.pc
  .alertsBarClass
    height: 69px
    position: relative
    top: 0
    z-index: 1
    padding-right: 10%
    +linear-gradient(color-stops( #65839a, #547089 ))
    +box-shadow(1px 1px 5px 0px #000)
    border: none
    a
      margin: 18px 15px
      border-radius: 0 0 0 0
      height: 49px
      margin: 0 -1px
      border-left: 1px solid #778da1
      border-right: 1px solid #374a5b
      padding: 10px
  .alertsBarLogin a
    line-height: 63px
    background: none
    border-left: 1px solid #778da1
    border-right: 1px solid #374a5b
    border-top: none
    border-bottom: none
    line-height: 50px
    a
      &:hover, &:active
        +linear-gradient(color-stops( #7993a7, #6c849a ))
  .alertIcon
    margin: 0
    width: 118px
    zoom: 1
    *display: inline
    img
      display: block
      margin: 0 auto

Here we have created a default style for the alerts bar (the one you would see on a mobile device) and we then overwrite (or add to those styles) for the site when viewed on a PC. Here we have changed the size, position, color, border and more all by adding the class of “pc” in front of our css(sass) and not having to change any of our html. This can be very powerful in controlling a sites look and feel across devices.

By combining these two methods we can have complete control over what our designs look like across all screen sizes and device. We can make a site completely fluid across all platforms or we can choose to set a different design for Blackberry, iPhone, iPad, PC, etc. With everyone accessing the Internet on all sorts of mediums it is important to make sure that all sites are optimized for however the user is viewing them and by combining these methods, we can do just that.

Movitas partnered with Apple Vacations to create the  On the Go app for iPhone, Android and Blackberry (coming soon).  Not only can travelers in Mexico and the Caribbean download the app to access local information, things to do, local deals, read reviews and tips, and get real time updates about what’s happening in the area, but they can also make unlimited roaming free calls to the friends they are traveling with or family back home in the U.S.

Read the full article here: http://www.travelweekly.com/Mexico-Travel/Apple-Vacations-launches-unlimited-calls-app/?a=mexico&source=sharethis

The introduction of the Groupon mobile site and smart phone app has played a large part in changing how we consume content while on the go. Users are checking out the latest “Getaway” deal on their mobile phones and others are stopping into their neighborhood Tapas restaurant because it was featured on Groupon ‘Now!’.  So if you are thinking about dabbling in the collective buying space, remember that much of your audience will view your offer on a mobile device, and you are risking drop-offs in the conversion process and a poor user experience if you link your offer to a PC site.

Recently, a Movitas client was interested in discovering new ways to drive bookings of their prestigious resort during the Caribbean’s low season. Groupon’s national platform emerged as the ideal partner to help our client gain valuable exposure during this lull in travel.  Prior to the creation of their Groupon campaign, our client’s mobile site averaged around 500 site visits per month. Within the first day of their Groupon campaign, that number tripled. By day 10, their mobile site had almost 8,000 site visits and almost 40,000 pageviews resulting in a flood of bookings. It turns out that once mobile users viewed the Groupon offer, the most popular way to seek additional information was to click through to their website. Since Movitas helped this client create a visually appealing and informative mobile site, the mobile user encountered a seamless transition from Groupon offer to website. It is important to keep in mind that many Groupon users are viewing offers on a mobile device, so if you don’t have a mobile site, you are risking valuable conversions and the overall effectiveness of your Groupon campaign.

This is the second post in a series of user scenarios detailing how Movitas apps enhance traveler experience.

Movitas apps help you, the hotelier, help the traveler.  Leverage the opportunity of allowing guests to use their own smartphones while helping them avoid crazy roaming charges.  How? Travelers use your hotel branded Movitas app to connect to your PBX, enabling them to call and message friends, family, and even your hotel staff directly for free over Wi-Fi.  Travelers can also use the same app to view hotel amenity information, menus, and local things to do.  And since your hotel app is linked to your reservation and ordering systems, your guests can reserve dinners, spa appointments, transportation, anything, anytime, driving more on-property revenue.

Take for instance, a honeymooning couple on vacation in Cancun, Mexico.  How would their vacation experience be enhanced by your hotel branded Movitas app?

Newlyweds, Rachel and Juan, arrive at their hotel for their honeymoon.  With such a hectic wedding schedule, they haven’t had time to pre-plan any activities.  Now, they are looking forward to a relaxing vacation after the wedding.  They left for the honeymoon the day after the wedding and didn’t really get to say goodbye to everyone in the rush.  After checking the newlyweds in, the front desk clerk tells them about the hotel app.  They are immediately interested, having only absorbed the words “free wifi” and “Facebook” in their post-wedding delirium.  Rachel is super excited and can’t wait to tell everyone on Facebook that they arrived safe and sound.  As soon as they settle in and get down to the beach, they order some cocktails, relax a bit, take in the sun and the beautiful surroundings.  Rachel makes sure her Blackberry’s Wi-Fi is on and that her Data Roaming Service is turned off so she won’t incur any roaming charges.  She downloads the hotel app and signs up using her Facebook login which automatically creates her profile.  Rachel says to Juan, “You should check this out, we can find all kinds of information about the hotel, the restaurants, we can even request room service! Sweet!”  Juan takes out his Android phone, enables his Wi-Fi and disables his data roaming, signs up, creating a user profile, sets his messaging and deal preferences and immediately checks out which excursion deals are available.  He says, “We can do a Chichen Itza tour!” He bookmarks the excursion offer. 

Rachel clicks on the Me icon in the alerts bar and updates her status, “Arrived safely in Cancun, thanks to all of our wonderful friends and family for a perfect wedding celebration!  Cancun is gorgeous!” She checks off Facebook and Twitter to make sure she shares her status with those networks.

Later that evening, as they lounge in their room, Rachel and Juan wonder where they should go to dinner.  Juan says, “Doesn’t this place have a bunch of restaurants? What do you feel like eating?” Rachel, already looking at the restaurants on her phone, says “How about sushi?  Do you want to look at the menu?” She hands her phone to Juan.  He says, “This looks cool.  I’ll call them to make a reservation.” He taps the call icon and connects directly to the restaurant to make a reservation.

After their dinner, Rachel and Juan enjoy some cocktails.  Rachel is checking out the hotel schedule for tomorrow on her Blackberry.  Rachel and Juan plan to go to yoga at 9 am on the beach.  They also decide to book the Chichen Itza tour for Wednesday.   Juan sends a message to the tour desk to make the reservation. 

Rachel and Juan continued to use the hotel app during their honeymoon.  They ordered room service, viewing the menu and ordering from their phones, they checked out local things to do and went off-property after reading all the positive reviews of a particular nightclub. They checked in with family and friends through status updates and calling.  All in all, it was a successful honeymoon, a nice blend of being active and doing absolutely nothing, enhanced by the fact that everything they wanted to do or know was one click away.