Holiday Inn Takes Cyber Steps
<FONT SIZE="+3"><B>Holiday Inn Takes Cyber Steps</B>
By Linda Humphrey
<I>Atlanta </I>- In the race to forge the ultimate high-tech hotel, Holiday Inn Worldwide has unleashed "E-space," electronic funhouses ranging from cyber cafes to alpine ski simulators.
With five tests under way, the chain expects 50 to 100 hotels to add a customized E-space within a year, said Vicki Gordon, vice president, electronic leisure for Holiday Inn Worldwide.
London-Heathrow's Holiday Inn Crowne Plaza premiered a cutting-edge cyber cafe last month-thought to be the hotel industry's first-featuring high-speed Internet access via British telecom. A firefighters convention at the Lexington, Ky., Holiday Inn recently queued up for Alpine skiing. And groups convening in Albuquerque, N.M., teed off at the simulated Pebble Beach golf course.
The chain-which also debuted the industry's first guest-room Internet tests, in Georgia (<I>BTN</I>, Oct. 7)-plans to target E-space to meeting attendees "for coffee breaks, team building or as an unwinder," Gordon said. As each hotel will match its E-space to its clientele, those catering to road warriors will devise business-type gear, Gordon said.
Surfers at Heathrow's six-station cyber cafe can pull up their e-mail, regardless of which Internet provider they subscribe to or how far-flung their home base. Guests also can send e-mail via an address set up by the hotel. The cafe, which serves drinks and snacks, charges 3 (about $4.80) per half hour of Net access. Four stations feature desks with built-in hardware, including keyboard and speakers, and all six stations link together-enabling parties to compete at golf or other games.
For the full-fledged golf experience, Albuquerque guests can play a round or practice putting on renowned courses, surrounded by patio furniture and golf-shirted staff proffering beer in mugs shaped like golf bags. The hotel has even brought in local golf pros to hold clinics. "We're striving to create an environment that draws people in," Gordon said.
The Lexington Holiday Inn has built a "Jetsons"-like rec center, replete with car races on the Grand Prix and other famous tracks, motorcycle racing, air hockey, pool tables, basketball and more. Games will cost 75 cents to $1 each.