Art Imitates Life in High-tech Seoul (posted by Esther)

.........genetic testing a now luxury?

From Australia's The Age:

"There's everything for the sleek geek in this city's hotels, writes Christina Pfeiffer.

Seoul's booming luxury hotel market is being driven less by international visitors than by the city's 10 million technology-savvy residents. Many Koreans live in small apartments with extended family, so inner-city weekends away are highly appealing.

To meet the demand, the five-star hotel chains, known here as super-deluxe, have colonised the city in the past few years.

Some hotels are going to great lengths to create environments and services to attract tech-savvy city dwellers. High-speed internet, flat-screen displays and fitness clubs equipped with the latest exercise gear are becoming standard.

The Samsung-owned Shilla Hotel offers a mobile phone in every guest room (guests pay for calls) among its high-tech refinements. Television volumes are linked to the in-room phones and automatically decrease when the phones are engaged; bathroom lights brighten gradually (handy for late-night visits) and toilets have an array of comfort features.

Wireless services extend to the hotel's sculpture garden. And there is an anti-ageing clinic offering state-of-the-art programs including genetic and heavy-metal contamination testing."

more at:
http://www.theage.com.au/news/seoul/hightech-luxury/2008/04/03/1206851076987.html