Towel boy.
Nintendo of America

by Tom Loftus

Westin Hotel & Resorts guests jarred awake by nocturnal rumblings coming from another room now have something else to blame: the Nintendo Wii. This week two Westins, the Westin Times Square in New York City and the Westin Bellevue in Washington state added the video game console to their fitness centers as part of the hotel calls its WestinWORKOUT program. An additional eight Westins will receive their Wiis later in May.

Video games in the gym?  Surely this must be one of the signs of the Apocalypse! But this is the Nintendo Wii, the console credited with getting couch potatoes back onto their stubby appendages--called "legs" in the pre-remote control era--thanks to its unique motion detection controllers. 

Sidenote: I've played the Nintendo Wii and can vouch for the sweat (as well as the humiliation) generated in a quick match. 

The "Westin Wii's" will come outfitted with Wii Sports, the title credited with causing tens of thousands of dollars of household damage nationwide as players flogged their controllers as if they were playing the Centre Court at Wimbledon, as well as Wii Fit, the platform's first exercise game. According to Nintento's Web site, Wii Fit will allow players to do everything from engage in muscle toning and flexibility exercises to checking their body mass index. 

Does this signal the end of the hotel gym as we know it?  More important, where do you get your towels?