From colored lighting and ambient music to digital art (on your TV), temperature, window blinds and specially designed mood-enhanced wake-up calls (like "wake me gently" or "wake me wildly"), you can direct the room's whole look and feel, all without having to get out of bed.

CNN: America's 10 highest-tech hotels

But if you pressed your face to the glass, as Kendall was doing, you could see the biscuit-colored beach running down to Navy Pier, where they were just now lighting the Ferris wheel.

NEWYORKER: Great Experiment