When midprice chains Courtyard by Marriott and Hilton Garden Inn recently redesigned their lobby areas, each wanted to turn the public space into more than just a place to check in. They saw the space's potential for informal meetings and, therefore, designed the layout and seating to accommodate small gatherings of six, eight or even 10 people.
"We saw there was an increasing need for a place in the hotel where people could gather either to discuss their plans for the coming day or, conversely, to review presentations and appointments they had attended earlier in the day," said Chad Waetzig, Marriott International senior vice president for select service brands, which include Fairfield Inn and SpringHill Suites in addition to Courtyard.
Unlike upscale or upper upscale full-service hotels, midprice chains' public spaces are less formal and more casually furnished. Accordingly, business travelers typically are more likely to congregate there on the spur of the moment.
"Many of the hotels have formal meeting rooms, including boardrooms. These informal gatherings, on the other hand, are mostly spontaneous, so a formal meeting room, which typically has to be booked in advance and for a fee, wasn't the answer," Waetzig said. "They're technically meetings, but they're so low-profile no one in the company knows they're happening."
The informal gatherings serve a social as well as a business function. "If you're a road warrior on the road continuously, you just want to be someplace comfortable in the hotel that's not your guest room, where you can converse with customers or prospective customers," said Mark Nogal, Hilton Garden Inn vice president of marketing. "We've designed the Pavilion, which is what we call our expanded lobby area, to serve this purpose."
Many travel buyers agreed the number of such informal meetings was growing, some with as few as two to three people participating. In terms of planning, however, they fell between structured meetings that required a contract and strictly casual gatherings over which they had no control
(BTN, April 26, 2004).They serve a valid business purpose, however, if they allow co-workers to review what they've experienced on the trip and plan for succeeding days. Marriott research indicates that travelers between the ages of 25 and 40 years old especially have a preference for less-formal interaction.
At both Courtyard and Hilton Garden Inn, the food options available in the expanded lobby have increased, so snacks and beverages often are part to the informal gatherings. In the Courtyard renovation, for example, self-service food pantries, called the Market, were installed, offering a selection of fresh salads and sandwiches 24 hours a day.
"Travelers in town for business can sit down with colleagues and have a soft drink and snack and talk over business in a relaxed setting. The food and drink make getting together this way more appealing," Waetzig said.
At Country Inns & Suites, which is part of Carlson Hotels Worldwide, the incidence of informal gatherings during the day is up, but held in the hotels' breakfast area, rather than the lobby. "It's an area separated from the lobby that can be closed off after the breakfast service is over, allowing for a degree of privacy," said executive vice president and brand leader Nancy Johnson. "It's an opportunity for business travelers from different offices within the same company, who may not see each other regularly, to get together to catch up and network."
These public spaces have been outfitted with complimentary high-speed Internet access that allows business travelers to go online whenever they choose. While different chains may have a wired solution in guest rooms, a wireless format is standard in the common areas. "It's not unusual these days to walk into the hotel lobby at the end of the day and find three or four colleagues at their laptops," said Phil Cordell, senior vice president for brand management for Hampton, which overhauled its public spaces starting in 2003. "Or they may be reviewing a PowerPoint presentation for the next day. It's just a natural spot for them to hang out. We've seen more and more of these informal conversations recently."