Brook Pointe Inn has announced it will start accepting BitCoins as a suitable form of currency starting Jan. 1.

BitCoin is a consensus network that enables a new payment system and is completely a digital form of money. It is the first decentralized peer-to-peer payment network powered by its users with no central authority or middlemen. BitCoins are starting to be a very popular trend in the world today, and Brook Pointe Inn has decided it would be important to offer this as a service to guests who would like to pay in BitCoins.

“We believe the best way to help BitCoin become a major player is to not speculate in the currency but to accept the coins and show others that it is real,” stated Ben Plikerd, owner of Brook Pointe Inn. The cost of staying in the hotel for a standard room will be .10 btc (BitCoin) per night. In order to book a room using BitCoins, you are asked not to book with online agent sites such as Expedia or Trip Advisor, but utilize Brook Pointe’s Internet reservation system on their website www.brookpointeinn.com and select the billing option. The BitCoin transfer will occur during the check-in process.

Brook Pointe Inn has decided to allow BitCoins because it is a more universal and more flexible to their visitors. “Guests come from all over the world to stay with us. We need to have a payment system that is more universal,” Kari Olinger, manager of Brook Pointe, replied when asking her what she thought about allowing a new currency.

Brook Pointe Inn is a 30-room hotel that has been in Syracuse for more than 20 years. Brook Pointe is located on 20 acres of rolling hills, woods, beautiful grassy knolls and nearby a babbling brook. On Jan. 1, 2012, it was purchased by Ben and Kristi Plikerd; they immediately made drastic improvements to the property including upgrading to a computer based booking system as opposed to the rolodex and paper calendar system being used previously.

The Plikerds have made vast improvements on the technology the hotel is utilizing such as: a smart furnace, new televisions and constant 89 degree temperature in the pool. Brook Pointe Inn will continue to push forward into bettering the services offered to guests.

“Technology moves at the speed of light and we need to try to keep up with it, or we are going to get lost,” said Ben Plikerd. The improvements made to the 30 room hotel have been major upgrades, and continued advancements are in the plans. A state-of-the-art conference room is to break ground sometime in the near future. Ben: “Everything that we do, here at Brook Pointe, is to stay up with the current trends of technology to help benefit our community and our guests.”

More information about BitCoins can be found at www.bitcoins.org.

For information about upcoming Brook Pointe Inn events and services, you can look at them on their website: www.brookpointeinn.com or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/brookpointeinn.