Eccleston Square Hotel, London

It's iPads that won the Eccleston the gong for In-Room Technology Innovation of the Year - OK, let's just call it Best Hotel Gizmo - at the European Hospitality Awards last year. The Eccleston, which opened in May 2011, confronts head on that familiar hotel fear: walking into a hotel room and realising you have to master what looks like 50 controls for lighting, temperature, the TV and, oh no, that otherwise tempting-looking spa bath. Instead, the Ecclestone has localised everything on a single device: an iPad2.

The tablet not only controls heating, lights, the TV, wake-up time and the curtains but also allows you to book a restaurant table, a spa appointment and even the time the housekeeper drops in.