All I Want Is a Place to Relax
Andy Byrd is clear about what a hotel should provide. As global client development director of Arc, the marketing communications agency, he travels frequently across
It is usually midnight by the time he returns to his room after dinner. He wants a comfortable bedroom with a big bed and a good shower. “Relaxation is important and for me the hotel can take away the stress by making sure things happen when they should.”
He is not alone. It turns out that hotel groups may have overestimated the demand for gadgets. Over the past five years, they have poured money into replicating an office in the guest’s room. Four or five star hotel bedrooms routinely offer business travelers television with internet access, waist-height jack plugs, ergonomic chairs and extra-large desks.
John Wallis, Chicago-based senior vice-president of sales and marketing with Hyatt International, admits: “we all now travel with our laptops and we are all far better at getting in to our e-mails. Five years ago we invested in fax machines, which nobody uses, then it was internet access through TVs, which nobody uses.”
Business travelers now say they do not need an office bedroom as much as a haven in which to relax. They want big beds, big., powerful showers and good entertainment systems. They do not always want a business centre but they do want massage in a spar, a quick turn in a gym or a meal within 30 minutes.
Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group has decided that any new property will have a spa. Other hotel groups are also developing existing fitness rooms to incorporate spas.
“Spa revenues can add to and replace to revenue we used to get from telephones,” says Mr. Wallis.
Hyatt has always allocated a large space to bathrooms, the Grand Hyatt in Hong Kong and
Hotel groups are also capitalizing on the increasing popularity of in-room entertainment systems. One Aldwych in
Hilton International’s strategy for helping guests unwind includes the “relaxation room”. This concept was developed in response to survey in which 2,000 business guests around the world were asked what they wanted. Hotels in
People’s need to unwind is very apparent nowadays,” says Anthony Harris, Hilton International’s chief executive. “They say they need the high-tech but they don’t want it infringing into their relaxation time. We tested one new bedroom in
In the end, of course, as Mr. Byrd suggests, what business guests probably want most is for everything to work as it should, whether it is a CD player or early morning call.