In Room & Lobby, Hotels Roll Out 24-Hour Support

<B> In Room & Lobby, Hotels Roll Out 24-Hour Support</B>

By Maria P. Vallejo

Responding to the demands of top-level business travelers for the services and amenities that keep them productive on the road, hotels are upping their inventories of business class rooms, expanding their business center hours and hiring additional front-desk employees.

The expectations of hotel guests often include 24-hour technology and personal business services to meet round-the-clock work schedules that increasingly stretch into their personal hours. As a result, major hotel brands--including Doubletree, Hilton, Hyatt, Marriott, Preferred Hotels & Resorts, Ritz-Carlton, Sheraton and Swissotels--all have increased the services they offer and the hours they offer them.

"People are doing more work when they travel, and they want to make sure they have enough business facilities available to them," said Kathleen Gruby, supervisor of travel services at Hoffman-La Roche Inc. in Nutley, N.J.

As diverse as corporate travelers are, so too are their preferences about the environment in which they work. Some would rather conduct business or wrap up their work day privately in their guest rooms--leading many hotels to expand their inventory of business class rooms and soup up their in-room amenities.

"The business center by itself does not solve the entire problem. Business travelers still need other kinds of services--a combination of business rooms, services and front desk personnel are a part of this," said Peter Cass, president of Preferred Hotels. "Time is more important than ever to the fluent business traveler. The level of personal productivity is increasing as people have a lot more communication capability and their personal work schedule works into their own lifestyle."

Based on feedback from their frequent travelers, some travel managers believe hotel companies should invest primarily in developing and expanding business class rooms before working on their business centers. "Most of our travelers are going to see other sites, and if they really need the services of a business center, they can access them at the site that they're visiting," Gruby said.

Business class rooms now commonly include dual-line telephones, large work desks, task lighting, ergonomic chairs, desk-level strip plugs and dataports, voicemail and speaker phones. But even that is no longer enough.

"Every day the bar is raised and the expectation goes far above what winds up getting delivered," said Hilton marketing director John Luft. "The expectation from work places has increased. Business travelers are feeling the pressure and have responded to it accordingly. To compete, we have to provide all the tools, systems and services to make life easier for the business traveler."

Hilton Hotels, for instance, is beta testing and completing rollouts of several new in-room technology components. The company began rolling out its "Hilton Work Smart Guests Rooms," which provide the basic amenities found in many hotels at no additional charge, in selected business properties in March. Expanding on the concept of business class rooms, Hilton will equip these quarters with various technology products for all guest levels. "Technology users are absolutely multi-tasking," Luft said. "It's very narrow-minded to give them one solution."

For the mid-level technology guests, Hilton this month will beta test its newest in-room product, "Comcierge." The Etch-A-Sketch-sized Pentium computer will have multiple capabilities, ranging from Internet access to word processing, and from ordering room service to electronic commerce. Guests can use the touch-sensitive screen or a notebook-sized keyboard tucked away in the desk drawer. The Anaheim Hilton will test Comcierge for three to four months in 12 rooms starting in the next two weeks, Luft said.

Comcierge also will replace the hotel's general information book that explains guest services and dining menus. Guests will book appointments for hotel services and order room service using the touch screen.

Additionally, 12 Hilton hotels will install ethernet connections on isolated business class floors by year's end. After a six-month beta test of the system at the San Jose Hilton, the company will complete the remaining installations by the fourth quarter of this year. Company officials expect expert computer users, who carry their own laptops, to use the ethernet lines. For novice computer users, Hilton is continuing to install its Internet Access Televisions with remote-control access.

The company also recently launched an in-room fax program in conjunction with Hewlett-Packard, offering multi-functional machines that act as faxing machines, printers and copiers. More than 100 hotels already have installed the new printers, and about two-thirds of Hilton's 270 properties will receive them by mid 1999. Hilton will decide which properties will get the fax machines, and what percentage of their inventories will be converted, based on the percentage of their occupancy that comes from business travelers.

Moving in the same direction as Hilton, Chicago-based Hyatt Hotels is upgrading its fax machines to Alphanet In-Fax Systems, with printing and copying capabilities, in all "Business Plan" rooms. Installation will be complete in the first quarter of 1999, said Norm Canfield, Hyatt's vice president of rooms. The fax machine is the first upgrade to the Business Plan rooms, which were launched about five years ago. Regency Club rooms and suites, and some basic guest rooms also will get the fax machines.

Hyatt also is expanding its Business Plan project. Over the past three years, the company increased its business room inventory by 5 percent. During guest surveys and focus groups, Hyatt officials noted a trend of single travelers preferring to conduct in-room business. "Single business travelers tend to use room services quite a bit and they like to have business access in their room," Canfield said. "The big thing that business travelers look for is no hassle. They like the immediacy of things."

Business Plan rooms are located on a separate floor and feature their own lounge. The plan includes basic in-room business services as well as complimentary local phone calls, daily continental breakfast and newspapers. All hotels, except resort properties, are required to convert a minimum of 5 percent of their inventory to Business Plan; hotels with significant business clientele allot between 10 and 25 percent.

Sheraton Hotels & Resorts, based in White Plains, N.Y., has expanded its "Corporate Club Room" program to 105 locations in the United States and Canada, along with 41 European hotels. Already called "Smart Rooms" in Europe, the product will adopt the same name domestically. Marriott also requires that its "Room That Works" product be in at least 20 percent of its inventory.

While these companies revamp and expand their existing business rooms, Swiss- otel is installing a newly developed room in its Atlanta property. The new business class room, "New Face for the New Millenium," will expand to other hotels if the test is successful, said Janis Cannon, general manager of the Atlanta property. The company surveyed 50 frequent travelers and 10 corporate travel managers to help develop the room design. While it contains many of the same components as its competitors' business rooms, the Swissotel product also merges technology into its design. Additional electrical plugs and dataports that were once provided on a separate power strip now are incorporated into the furniture.

"Hotels were built before the technology came along, before everybody traveled with laptop computers," Cannon said. "Guest rooms didn't have that cohesive feel."

Like Swissotel, some chains are modifying and improving their business class rooms on an individual property basis. Atlanta-based Ritz-Carlton, for example, has several projects running simultaneously at different locations. Its Hong Kong property debuted 20 WorldRooms last month, providing guests with complimentary Internet and e-mail access.

Guests can send or receive faxes, place phone calls and access the Internet at the same time, using a single telephone line through a laptop or dedicated workstation that is provided. Each room also includes a multifunction laser printer, scanner and fax. "Our guests are insisting that we install the most advanced, user-friendly technology available," said Des Pugson, general manager of the Ritz-Carlton Hong Kong.

<B>Business Centers Get A Revival</B>

Even while some travelers prefer working in their guest rooms, others would rather leave their paperwork outside the door. For such guests, hotels have expanded the hours of operation of their business centers by outsourcing their services and promoting unattended centers (<I>BTN,</I> April 27).

Until recently, most business centers operated during normal business hours, limiting the productivity of their guests. International travelers arriving in the evening often encountered the greatest difficulty when trying to work upon arrival, hotel officials agreed.

"The global economy requires a 24-hour business environment, and hotels need to respond to that and allow people to be more efficient 24 hours a day," said Swissotel's Cannon. "Technology is accelerating time--and now, technology compresses our time and the flexibility that we have."

Hilton Hotels is working with Kinko's to provide 24-hour business centers to its customers. The program, dubbed "Business Anywhere," replaced an initial test of an unattended center from Mail Boxes Etc. Kinko's provides near-site technology support with 24-hour, over-the-phone customer service, along with services at the nearest Kinko's store. If the center's facilities cannot handle a task, a nearby Kinko's store employee will pick up the guest's work and deliver it back to the hotel.

Marriott Hotels, Resorts and Suites, based in Washington, D.C., has stayed with MBE Business Express Centers, which runs business centers activated by a credit card in 14 Marriott properties. Twenty additional centers are expected to open by year's end.

Preferred Hotels, based in Chicago, keeps its business center doors open 24 hours a day. Computer requests are made at the front desk and charged directly to the guest's room. Swissotels' "Swiss Offices" are manned 12 hours a day, but are open to guests after hours through a key provided at the front desk. All costs incurred using the computers, fax machines, printers, lap tops and cell phones are charged to the customer's account.

Hyatt Hotels has expanded its business hours in gateway hotels, to 6 a.m. to 8 p.m., to accommodate the early morning and after work needs of its guests.

Some hotels are combining upgrades of their basic business centers with expansions of business services outside the guest room. Doubletree Hotels is expanding its Club Room program, with about 100 hotels slated for the new design by 2001. The Club Rooms--a combination of a den, office and cafe--include a big-screen television and a four-person table equipped with two electrical outlets and phone jacks. Although computers are not included in the rooms, hotels will provide one when requested. Au Bon Pain bakery runs the cafe, while Office Max operates the business center. All office supplies and services are priced identically to stand-alone Office Max locations.

"Most business travelers are not that interested in doing everything in their sleeping rooms," said Doug McCorkle, senior director of marketing mid-market brands at Doubletree parent Promus Hotel Corp. "And we could never do all these things in every sleeping room."

<B>Concierge Services Ramp Up</B>

The demands of today's busy traveler go beyond amenities and technology equipment provided at the hotel. Corporate travelers, especially those staying at upscale or higher level hotels, expect greater business service from the front desk and concierge personnel--and some hotels are responding by increasing the size of their staff.

In the past, the concierge primarily serviced the leisure traveler--but as the pace of business has quickened, corporate travelers have begun relying more on the aid of front desk staff. In many instances, the hotel's concierge service is called upon even before the guest arrives.

"Time is more important than ever to the frequent business traveler--they want everything preplanned before they leave their domicile," said Cass of Preferred Hotels. "Once they book their hotel, they call the concierge and start to pack their itinerary from their arrival until they leave."

Front desk staff often book car and restaurant reservations prior to the guest's arrival, and take on somewhat of a secretarial role, making arrangements for leisure time and entertainment.

Preferred Hotels has increased its concierge staff, with two to three employees--or even more in gateway cities--working simultaneously.

Swissotels has added two concierge employees per hotel, in addition to a club floor with its own concierge services. Two employees now staff the lobby concierge desk, with two others located on the club floor.

The new demand also has expanded the concierge's role. At Swissotels, concierges help set up conference calls and prepare business presentations while continuing to help guests find activities for their free time.

"The business traveler's free time has become very, very limited," Cannon said. "Our concierge provides everything. It's no longer making restaurant reservations or checking flight hours; it's much more personalized service.