Once upon a time the promise of a hot shower and a clean bed was enough to raise the flagging spirits of the long-haul business traveller.
But rest and relaxation now run a poor second to hooking up to a Wi-Fi network and hunting down a power point for recharging smartphones, MP3 players, notebooks and other devices.
As our gadgets increasingly become work tools and home comforts we just can't live without, the high-end hotel chains are starting to take note.
The chief information officer for MGM Mirage, Scot Campbell, says that in the good old days of hotels, after guests had checked in they would probably find their room much more comfortable than their own dwelling.
"We have gone through a period where hotels are often not as nice as home but in the next evolution of hotels they are getting really cool again," says Mr Campbell.
While you may be wondering exactly what the future will add to a typical hotel room, Campbell says it's more about what won't be there.
At the core of this new ''cool'' factor is technology, he says.
By that, he means you will find it embedded into almost everything, with the room's television acting as the key control device for dimming lights, opening the curtains and re-ordering a beer from the mini bar.
Rooms are now being built where everything is on a network and there is a fibre-optic cable to every room.
For example, you won't find an alarm clock in one of these next-generation hotel rooms.
Instead, you will set up your television with a ''wake up'' option that allows you to customise the way your day begins.
It allows for a subtle wake up, so firstly the television may come on, and then the lights will eventually turn on and after that the curtains will open, all over a period of time that you can decide on.
Another conception of the future hotel room sees the television act as the key internet portal and entertainment hub, while smaller devices such as phones and tablets will connect remotely to the room's network and television, acting as a hand-held control device.
Once hand-held devices are capable of interacting with the hotel network, predictions include a Minority Report-type scenario, where location-aware systems might feed you information as you move around the hotel.
The head of the hospitality-technology supplier Kytec Group, Mark Balding, says hand-held devices such as tablets could be used to review the restaurant menu or watch a movie.
"Technology in hotels is driven by guest expectations of receiving facilities that are as good, if not better, than what they have in their workplace and in their home,'' says Mr Balding.
''That [guests] can use one or two devices to browse the internet, receive email and make a phone call is fast becoming an expectation."