It’s not often a worker at the airport makes you feel good … and it seems like the party’s over for the good people passing through the City of Brotherly Love.
The police ended the fun by arresting nine people this week. They’re being called a “prostitution ring,” but that just seems so negative. Rather, they appear to me to be dedicated to putting smiles on faces in airport hotels.
So, while we know it’s an airport hotel, we don’t know which one is hooker-heaven: the police are holding back the details. For frequent business travelers, however, this shouldn’t pose a big problem: just stay at a different one on each trip through. Eventually, you’ll find someone to help you turn that frown upside down!
Can you identify a prostitute? USA Today wants to know! Head over to the original story and let them know if you’re savvy enough to pick up the key signs.
Earlier this month, Melanie listed a couple of hotels that are investing in new technology to keep their guests pampered. As Melanie so correctly points out, guests are no longer content with an iPod dock. In this list, you’ll find ten ways hotels are adding new technology to their rooms, and how it can help make your stay more enjoyable (or more complicated.)
Whether the new technology makes it easier to book a room, stay entertained in your room, or make you more comfortable, all investments made by hotels should be applauded, especially when so many chains do the opposite and cheapen out.Mobile apps
Making the move into the online application world makes sense for hotels – they make their money off selling rooms, and the easier it is to book a room, the more money they’ll make. Many of the large hotel chains already offer mobile versions of their web site, but some have commissioned their own mobile application.
Being able to open a mobile app, locate the closest hotel and book it right on your device saves the hotel the cost of phone agents, and makes for happier guests.
Self service check-in kiosk
I’m in love with these new self-service check-in terminals. Thanks to these, I walk into the lobby, swipe my card, and get a room key. All without having to wait in line for the front desk. I’m not entirely sure how I can get a key with four taps on a screen, when the front desk staff seem to require five minutes staring at their screen to perform the same task, but I secretly hope more hotels introduce these new terminals as soon as they can.
Internet phones and feature phones
VOIP and feature phones take the boring hotel phone way beyond its original purpose. At some properties, these phones also offer the news and weather, assist with in-room dining choices and let you read email.
With all this information at your fingertips, you also no longer need the in-room hotel guide, which obviously saves the hotel a ton of money (and countless trees). Of course, as with all new technology, there will be people who’d rather keep things the old fashioned way, but the geek in me loves large screens and more buttons.
Loaner ipad and ebook readers
Sure, a lot of what goes into the “loaner iPad” is just marketing, and it does look good when publications mention your hotel chain and show people how hip you are, but there is also a convenience aspect involved.
I’m not sure I’d go out of my way to book a hotel that has free loaner iPads or Amazon Kindles, but I’d certainly not say no if one were offered for the duration of my stay.
Other hotels are using the iPad as a way to provide their concierge service with more up to date information, mobile maps and other mobile resources.
Faster internet
Lets ignore the pains of paying for Internet for a moment, even when you get free Internet, the speeds are often horrid. Many hotels installed their Internet infrastructure in the early 2000’s, and haven’t changed anything since. The problem with this is that Internet usage has changed in the past decade. In 2001, most people just wanted to grab some email and write a document. Nowadays, we are getting on a VPN, watching streaming video and checking out stupid Youtube clips sent by coworkers.
Bottom line is that the infrastructure in many hotels is not up to the task. Thankfully, some hotels understand this, and replace or upgrade their systems. In the photo above, you’ll see what a great hotel Internet service looks like. This example was made at the Hotel Arista in Naperville.
Online check-in
Surprisingly, the hospitality industry is playing catch-up with the aviation industry, and this in a world where the aviation industry is usually years behind the rest of the world. Online check-in is slowly appearing at some hotel chains. The advantage of this is that you can make sure the hotel keeps your room booked, even if you don’t show up till midnight. Some chains are even experimenting with online room selection charts, just like airlines let you pick your own seat. So, next time you had a bad experience with a specific room, you can avoid it well in advance.
Room access innovations
Hands up if you have ever walked to your room, luggage dragging behind you, only to discover that the damn room key doesn’t work…
Without exaggerating, I’d say that I experience this in one in ten stays. So, I’m happy to see that some hotels are innovating in room access technologies.
The Hotel On Rivington in New York installed RFID card readers on their doors, which means you no longer need to fiddle with your keycard – just wave the carde in front of the door, and it’ll unlock. No risk of wiping it with your mobile phone, or putting it in the wrong way.
Starting this year, several Holiday Inn properties will start a trial with smartphone operated door keys. With this system, your room key will be sent directly to your mobile phone, and you’ll be able to unlock your door without the need for a key.
HDTV and plug panels
I love connecting my own device to the hotel TV – it gives me a way to escape the mediocre programming and dreadful hotel promotional channels, and watch whatever I want. Thankfully, some chains understand this, and make it easier than ever to connect my own gadgetry to the TV. Hilton’s Homewood Suites and Hyatt Place properties are good examples of hotels that have innovated here.
Thankfully, not all hotels put HDTV’s in their rooms without adding HD content – many properties are investing in HD programming, and even offer HD video on demand. Some chains even offer interactive hotel guides on the TV, once again replacing the old hotel guide binder.
Social media initiatives
Hotels are in love with social media – and who can blame them? They follow their customers and offer them what they want.
Now, not all chains are as active as they should be, and some limit their activities to mentioning their latest press releases. Others have dedicated social media staff members who monitor all the various outlets, put together promotions and communicate with their guests. Examples of hotel chains that understand social media are Four Seasons, Ritz-Carlton, Affinia, The Charles and Kimpton hotels.
Many of these companies also have dedicated Twitter and Facebook pages for individual properties. Following their pages won’t just keep you up to date on the latest press releases – many chains also post “secret” deals to their social media followers.
Media panels
I first came across these new media panels at a Courtyard by Marriott, and most recently also noticed them at Aloft by W. The panels are touch sensitive TV’s that offer news, weather, travel information and local information. They are perfect if you need to locate a quick bite to eat, without having to dig up your laptop. Even if you don’t really need the information, they are just fun to play around with.
Seems we missed National Relaxation Day on Sunday, Aug. 15, but that doesn’t mean we can’t time out for a little breather. For those of you in the Chicago-area, Kimpton’s Hotel Monaco has a “tranquility suite” perfect for zoning out.
Located on the 11th floor of the Hotel Monaco, the suite offers views of the Chicago River, best enjoyed from the room’s plush oversized window seats. Calming beige and silvery-blue colors are accented by feathers and suede textures. At the center of the suite’s living room is a seating area with Leonardo chairs and reflective glass furniture, an ideal spot for unwinding with champagne and chocolates.
Rent the suite and you’ll get a plush robe, an electric tea kettle, sound machines, pajamas and breakfast in bed. Included in the room is an air purifier and our favorite part: the sleeping cove, which features an exclusively-designed Simmons mattress, wrapped in ultra-soft bamboo sheets. In the bathroom, an opulent bath includes a two-person soaking tub and beaded glass wall covering, beautifully lit by a 42-strand crystal chandelier.
Relaxed, yet? Nightly rates range from $409 to $669, but packages including in-room spa services and other amenities are priced a bit higher.
Want more? Get your daily dose of pampering right here.
Business meetings are back in style. Group customer is on the rise for the hotel business, signaling that the corporate crowd Is getting back out on the road. Joining the party are other groups, such as associations, sports teams, religious groups, social organizations and the military, according to USA Today.
The U.S. Travel Association is predicting a 7 percent increase in meeting and convention spending this year, with a forecast of $90.7 billion. Last year, this measure fell 15 percent, as the effects of the financial crisis and subsequent recession led to cancelations.
To get the big bucks back in the door, hotels and convention bureaus have been rolling out favorable pricing and sweetheart deals, and it’s starting to work.
So, how do we know this sector’s coming back? Here are five hints:
1. The meeting planners say so: A June survey by Meeting Professionals International showed 61 percent of respondents saying “that they’re seeing more favorable business conditions, including attendance, budgets and number of meetings,” according to a USA Today report. Only 15 percent responded this way in August 2009.
2. Hotel groups say so:InterContinental Hotels Group has announced that its group and corporate revenue climbed 10 percent in the first half of 2010 relative to the same period in 2009. Denihan Hospitality Group’s eight New York City hotels are showing an increase in group revenue of 26 percent year-over-year. 3. Even Grand Rapids has good news: The JW Marriott in Grand Rapids, Michigan has sold more than 1,500 group room-nights so far this year, up 20 percent from last year.
4. So does Fort Lauderdale: In this Florida town, group revenue is up 30 percent at the Harbor Beach Marriott. Corporate deals are still down from last year, but other groups are more than making up the difference.
5. Hotels understand what’s going on: Even though the market is coming back, hotels realize that they still need to price aggressively. Notes George Aquino, general manager of the Grand Rapids JW Marriott Everyone’s felt the turmoil of 2009. We don’t want that to happen again.”
The hotel industry is in a bit of a slump, and even though we are slowly starting to see some signs of recovery, no hotel will be able to declare that the recession is over just yet. So, it makes sense that hotels have been cutting corners where possible. Sadly, in their quest to save a few bucks, some properties have made the wrong decisions, and cut services or amenities in places that impact guests. Here are my top ten annoyances:
Paid WiFi and Internet access
When it comes to being cheap, Internet access tops my list of annoyances. Nothing grinds my gears more than paying $400 to spend a night in a hotel, then being asked to pay $14 just to access the Internet. I totally understand a hotel trying to earn the expense of Internet access back – but if 100 people a day pay the $14 fee to get online, the hotel will be raking in $42,000 a month, about $41,000 more than a decent business class Internet connection will cost them.
Worst of all, many of the paid Internet services are slow and unreliable – and trying to get a refund for poor service is often very hard as hotels will claim the Internet is provided by a third party. Wall mounted generic soap dispensers instead of bottles
This is a nasty new trend – instead of those cute little bottles, hotels are now switching to wall mounted soap dispensers. And yes – I understand that this is more “green”, and that all those little bottles usually end up coming home with you anyway, but the dispensers are just tacky and each press only dispenses enough shampoo for a quarter your hair – so you end up having to pump away. But worst of all, you never really know what is in the dispensers as they don’t display any brand or ingredients. You just use it and hope for the best.
When your mattress at home is worn out, you raid your bank account, and invest in a new mattress. At some hotels, they invest in a cheap mattress topper instead, and delay the investment for a couple of years. I won’t name the property, but I recently spent the night at a very upscale hotel that did just that. The mattress was saggy and dirty, but the $50 topper was supposed to hide this. End result was a bad nights sleep and a mattress topper that kept sliding off the mattress.
TV inputs disabled
There is almost no way to describe how much this one annoys me without swearing. Too many hotels are forcing you to use their overpriced pay per view crap by disabling all the inputs on the TV. This means you have no way to connect your iPod or laptop. In the end, the hotel will lose out, because once I realize this, I’ll never ever spend the night there again. All just so they can hope I spend $14 on a bad movie.
The funny part is that quite a lot of cheaper hotel chains are investing in ways to help make connecting to the TV easier, while others put effort into blocking all access to them. If I know I’ll be in my room for a couple of hours, I’ll often pick a chain that I know won’t prevent me from watching a movie on their TV. Hyatt Place hotels are a good example of a chain that understands the needs of their guests – offering a full panel of external connection.
HD TV but no HD channels / too many promotional channels
What kind of hotel invests in nice HD flat panel TV’s, but doesn’t upgrade their systems to actually allow for HD content? Obviously a cheap hotel. One that doesn’t care that SD TV programming looks horrible on an HD TV.
While on the topic of bad channels – I also dislike hotels where more than 25% of their programming is to promote their various services. Do they really need dedicated channels for the shops, the spa, the fitness center, the restaurants and more?
Minibar with sensors
Sensor equipped minibars are designed for two reasons – to save the hotel a ton of money, and to catch cheaters who remove bottles and refill them with apple juice (or something worse). Problem is, the sensors are designed to charge you any time you so much as sneeze with the fridge door open. Also, on most models, there is no delay timer, so don’t even think about checking the ingredients or branding on a bottle. As soon as you remove it, a computer adds the charge to your bill.
Check-in desk/bar/cafe staff
They call them “hip hotels” or “business class hotels” – I call them a pain in the ass. When I check in to a hotel, I don’t want to wait for the front desk staff to finish baking a pizza – I want to hand them my credit card and receive a room key. I’m all for improving the amenities, but not if it means the front desk staff also have to become wait staff, chef and bartender.
Resort fees
This new moneymaker has been around for some time, but is usually found in Las Vegas. What started as a small surcharge to cover things like local calls and pool access can now become an extra fee worth as much as half your room rate. In Vegas, some properties charge up to $25/night as a “resort fee”. Thankfully, the Harrahs’s Las Vegas properties advertise heavily that they don’t charge these fees, so vote with your wallet and let other properties know that you’d rather waste your money gambling than on resort fees.
Occupancy sensing thermostats
This is another part of the hotel that has fallen victim to the green movement. Occupancy sensing thermostats are horrible. They stop working when they think I left the room – which means they don’t mind raising the temperature in the middle of the night, forcing me to wake up every hour and walk around just to turn the AC on again.
So here you go – next time you run into an Inncom sensor thermostat (the most popular brand), here is the VIP override code to disable the sensor and set the damn thing any way you want (thanks to Flyertalk):
While holding down “display”
Press “off”, then
Press “Up” arrow
Release “display” button
No iron, no minibar, no safe, no hair dryer
Iron is available at the front desk. Hair dryer available upon request. All things that save the hotel a ton of money. Instead of buying 200 irons, they just buy ten, and make you beg for one when you need it. Other things that are slowly disappearing from many hotels – the minibar and the in-room safe.
Decisions like this are made by accountants who never stay at a hotel, and think that they have just found the perfect way to cut costs. In reality, they are telling their customers that the hotel is too cheap to provide the amenities guests need.