Music and room service on offer from new W Hotels app

When it comes to hotel apps, not all are created equal, as the excellent travel guide app from Fairmont and the concierge iPad app from InterContinental have shown.

But this week, trendy design hotel chain W Hotels pushed the bar a little higher with the release of the W Hotels Worldwide app, embracing travel, music and food all in one.

The free application, available in the iPhone app store, offers information on the Starwood-owned brand's hotels, as one would expect, with photos, maps and weather for each destination.

But it also lives up to the chain's scrupulouslycultivated image of "cool", adding music content and several other features that make plenty of other apps in the industry look a little staid.

Michaelangelo L’Aqua, W Hotel's music director who is behind the Symmetry Live series which has seen stars perform in the brand's properties, has lent his hand to the new app too, selected a host of tracks which can be played on the go.

Thanks to a collaboration with Coca Cola's energy drink 'burn', new DJs will be given a chance to develop their skills at the 'W Hotels and burn DJ Lab' ahead of a global tour and, of course, being featured as streaming entertainment inside the app.

Another unique feature is the ability to access hotel services, bringing up the room service menu of the hotel in which the guest is staying, for instance, or allowing the tap of a button to alert staff of a requirement remotely.

The app also links directly to the W Hotel Store, allowing users to order items from their iPhone.

This week, travel website TripAdvisor released the results of a US survey that suggested 60 percent of Americans have downloaded travel apps onto their mobile devices, and a further 38 percent have used them to plan a trip.

The hotel review giant, which offers several free mobile apps of its own, said that smartphone adoption around the world was "skyrocketing" - meaning that customers could soon see other brands following W Hotel's unique approach to stay ahead in a crowded marketplace.

Download the app: http://itunes.apple.com/app/w-hotels-worldwide/id435830939?mt=8&ls=1#