Unplug: Only $1200

A German spa hotel will let you cut off all Wi-Fi and cellular signals in your room, so you can live in the moment http://t.co/04NEVz4XoU
— Co.Exist (@FastCoExist) July 3, 2015

I first heard of Villa Stephanie in [an editorial in the New York Times](http://nyti.ms/1CPFy6a). There are some usage figures there that I find shocking—an amazing percentage of people reach for their smartphones upon waking *before* they reach for a toothbrush or for coffee—and I admire the perspective of the hotel's CEO—“It is not a sign of smartness to constantly look at incoming messages,”, but I find the pragmatism in the story linked by Fast Company more attractive

It's possible that the customers of Villa Stéphanie are confusing connection with distraction. It's easy to retain all the utility of your phone or tablet just by switching off notifications instead of paying around $1,200 per night to have a hotel do it for you. But this fetishization of disconnection suggests that we feel overwhelmed by modern life. Nostalgic recreations of less technological times are one way to escape, but maybe we should be looking for ways to balance technology with a peaceful mind instead.