WEBVTT - Marriott Makes "Building Block" Hotel

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<v Speaker 1>A hotel that's created like building blocks. I'm Rich Dmiro.

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<v Speaker 1>This is Rich on Tech Daily. This was a really

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<v Speaker 1>fun story to do. Marriott is building a hotel in Hawthorne, California,

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<v Speaker 1>which is just down the street from SpaceX, using a

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<v Speaker 1>really unique technique modular. Now. I'm sure we've all seen

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<v Speaker 1>those modular homes going down the highway, but this is different.

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<v Speaker 1>This is sort of new for the hotel industry. So

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<v Speaker 1>we saw a brand new courtyard slash town Place Suites hotel. Yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>they're building like two hotels into one. Nowadays, this has

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<v Speaker 1>over three hundred and fifty rooms. But here's the crazy part.

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<v Speaker 1>The rooms are actually being built all the way out

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<v Speaker 1>in Boise, Idaho. So they ship them to LA via

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<v Speaker 1>tractor trailer, so on big trucks, which is crazy to

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<v Speaker 1>imagine eighteen wheeler. It's easier to make this thing in

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<v Speaker 1>Boise and ship it to LA than just to build

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<v Speaker 1>it there. So what happens is once all these rooms,

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<v Speaker 1>which literally looks like blocks, once they arrive on site,

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<v Speaker 1>crews stack them on top of each other.

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<v Speaker 2>Inside the room is everything you need.

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<v Speaker 1>So there's like the TV, all the furniture, the bed,

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<v Speaker 1>it's all placed inside.

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<v Speaker 2>It's all finished.

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<v Speaker 1>All the crews have to do is unwrap everything, place

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<v Speaker 1>it where it goes, and then of course dust it all.

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<v Speaker 1>Then crews just connect all the rooms to each other,

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<v Speaker 1>so they connect the water, they connect the electricity, and yes,

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<v Speaker 1>if you're wondering, since this is in LA, there are

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<v Speaker 1>seismic rods for earthquakes, so these things are stabilized. And

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<v Speaker 1>the company that builds them say, well, of course they're

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<v Speaker 1>going to say this, but they say that the rooms

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<v Speaker 1>actually have a higher quality because they're made assembly line

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<v Speaker 1>style than if you build these things on site, because

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<v Speaker 1>they can really track the quality from start to finish.

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<v Speaker 1>And it's a lot of the same people building these

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<v Speaker 1>hotel rooms over and over versus people that you hire locally. Now,

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<v Speaker 1>the folks on site didn't want to give me an

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<v Speaker 1>exact number, but they told me that each one of

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<v Speaker 1>these modular units runs about ninety thousand dollars. Of course,

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<v Speaker 1>that information is proprietary and it changes for every project.

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<v Speaker 1>But I just kind of wanted to give you an

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<v Speaker 1>idea of just how expensive these things are. So what's

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<v Speaker 1>the benefit to all this, Well, mainly time, that's the

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<v Speaker 1>number one benefit. They can build a hotel like this

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<v Speaker 1>in one year versus double that time conventional style. So

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<v Speaker 1>you're talking the faster that this hotel gets open, the

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<v Speaker 1>faster they can start accepting guests, and that means the

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<v Speaker 1>investors get a return on their money much faster. They

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<v Speaker 1>also say the quality is the second thing that's really good,

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<v Speaker 1>because it's you know, there's much more quality control when

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<v Speaker 1>you're building these things in a factory versus on site.

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<v Speaker 2>And they also say there's less environmental waste.

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<v Speaker 1>Now. Mariott did fifty modular hotels in twenty seventeen, which

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<v Speaker 1>is a lot for them, and they're doing six projects

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<v Speaker 1>as we speak, but they're looking to do many more.

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<v Speaker 1>In fact, the day that we were on site at

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<v Speaker 1>this project, they had a whole bunch of people out there, builders, investors,

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<v Speaker 1>all kinds of stuff showing off just how cool this

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<v Speaker 1>project is and just how this can benefit them for

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<v Speaker 1>whatever hotels they're working on.

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<v Speaker 2>It's a different way of doing things. I think the.

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<v Speaker 1>Guests are going to notice that these rooms are quieter because.

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<v Speaker 2>They all have double walls.

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<v Speaker 1>Because when you put two of these modulars together, well,

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<v Speaker 1>guess what, there's walls on each side.

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<v Speaker 2>So they go together, which is really nice.

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<v Speaker 1>And if you're wondering about the size, they are the

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<v Speaker 1>standard hotel room size of about twelve to fourteen feet across. Now,

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<v Speaker 1>if you want to see this room go from unfinished

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<v Speaker 1>to finished, it's quite the site to see with all

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<v Speaker 1>the stuff stacked in the middle. Just go to my

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<v Speaker 1>website richon tech dot tv. You'll find a link to

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<v Speaker 1>the video on my Facebook page. Thanks so much for listening.

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<v Speaker 1>If you want, please rate and review this podcast if

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<v Speaker 1>you find it useful. That way, Apple will show it

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<v Speaker 1>to more people. Thanks for listening.

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<v Speaker 2>I'm Rich Demiro. Talk to you real soon.