Hotels Focus On Female Comfort
<B>Hotels Focus On Female Comfort</B>
By Bruce Serlen
After peaking in the mid-1990s, hotel guest rooms, services and amenities designed with the female business traveler in mind are making a resurgence this year at both U.S. and international hotels. While some changes were intended strictly to enhance guest comfort, others were added with security in mind.
Given the popularity of room service by women travelers, Wyndham Hotels & Resorts overhauled its room service procedures chainwide last month to alert women that a room service delivery is on its way before they open their guest room door. Meanwhile, in recent months, individual hotels in San Francisco, New York and Puerto Rico added design elements to guest rooms and upgraded bathroom facilities of interest to women travelers. And hotels in Brazil are assigning women to particular guest rooms because of security concerns.
Results of a survey of women business travelers released last month confirmed that this audience places a higher priority on responsive service in selecting a hotel than do their male counterparts, who value location above all else. Conducted by New York University's Center for Hospitality, Tourism and Travel Administration in conjunction with Wyndham, the survey polled 400 female and 200 male travelers.
Specifically, the survey showed that responsive service, location and affordable rates were the top criteria for women. Nine out of 10 indicated responsive service was the most important factor. Location was the next most important factor at 71 percent and affordable rates was the third most important at 62 percent.
"By comparison, men agreed with the choices, but ranked them in different order," said Lalia Rach, associate dean and director at the N.Y.U. Center. Sixty-five percent of men cited location as the most important factor. Responsive service, at 60 percent, was the next important factor for men, followed by affordable rates at 58 percent.
At Wyndham, the room service alert allows women to be prepared that the attendant is about to make the delivery. "Women travelers told us they appreciated a courtesy call, that it reinforced their sense of security," said Cary Jehl Broussard, vice president of Wyndham's marketing programs for women. Wyndham also introduced lighter, healthier items on room service menus.
The Pan Pacific Hotel in San Francisco went so far as to make sure a female staff member makes room service deliveries to female guests. According to Wolker Ulrich, general manager, starting last month a hotel staff member also escorts women guests to their rooms on checkin. At the concierge desk, staff members now are trained to recommend safe dining options for women travelers.
At the front desk at the Millennium Broadway Hotel in New York, a sitdown area was designed for women travelers to allow for greater privacy when checking in. In addition, when the Millennium opened a second tower last year, rooms were designed with this audience in mind. "We created a separate couch area with throw pillows and a blanket, which women guests told us they wanted along with a separate vanity chair in the bathroom and more upscale bath amenities," said Laura Gilligan, business travel director for North America at Millennium Hotels & Resorts.
The Caribe Hilton in San Juan reinstituted its "executive ladies" program this spring. Thirty-nine rooms and suites were specifically earmarked for women traveling alone, and "bathrooms in these rooms were outfitted with upgraded makeup mirrors and salon-style hair dryers," said Raul Bustamante, general manager.
In Brazil, security concerns are more pronounced. At the Gran Melia Hotel at the WTC Convention Center in Sao Paulo, for example, women traveling alone are assigned rooms that are close to the elevator and don't have connecting doors to other rooms.
Typically, 5 percent of guests are businesswomen in this category, said Elizabeth Wada, director of operations, sales and marketing. "Rooms are supplied with emergency sanitary items that women might feel awkward calling the front desk to request. They also receive a letter on arrival, offering the assistance of the hotel's female managers," she said.