Asia’s new airport hotels are now rivaling their counterparts in the city, attracting meetings, banquets, weddings, families and other leisure travelers.
Airport hotels in the region are no longer utilitarian or limited-service, and they benefit from advancements in technology, architecture, design and environmental sustainability.
Langham Place Beijing Capital Airport, for instance, is a virtual art gallery with more than 400 pieces of artwork throughout the hotel. For incentive groups, the hotel has a playground area with natural grass and a basketball area for any kind of teambuilding. The runway lake is also part of the airport property, perfect for morning or late-afternoon jogs and walks.
At Crowne Plaza Changi Airport Singapore, guests can swim in an outdoor pool overlooking the airport’s control tower and a garden. The hotel also has four spa treatment rooms and a 24-hour, state-of-the-art gym. Business is so good that a new wing of 243 rooms is being built, which next year will bring the total inventory to 563 rooms.
“As travelers become savvier and form preferences about what makes for success during travel, airport hotels must cater to their changing needs and evolve from being just accommodation at an airport location into stylish hotels that can rival counterparts in the city,” said Sunshine Wong, general manager, Crowne Plaza Changi Airport Singapore. “But airport hotels differentiate themselves by offering seamless service. In addition, the modern airport hotel is now embracing its role as a meeting place for global companies and business travelers. Participants can now get off a plane and walk straight into an important meeting with little to no hassle.”
Contrary to popular belief that few people book airport hotels or hold events there unless they are in transit, Wong said the Crowne Plaza sees more than 150 wedding events in its function spaces a year. There is also steady growth in the number of guests who book the hotel for “staycations.”
Fully, 10% of the Crowne Plaza’s guest mix is group business, while the rest are FITs and one-nighters. Its biggest source market is the United States, followed by Australia, the United Kingdom and Ireland, and Asia.
Langham Place’s guest mix comprises 20% meetings, 35% retail and 15% each corporate FIT, leisure and airline-related business. Meeting facilities include a ballroom that can manage up to 600 guests and 22 function rooms, ranging from 40 square meters (430 square feet) to 800 square meters (8,611 square feet).
“We have regular business travelers who fly from different cities in China to our hotel,” said Langham Place General Manager Michael Gnaegi. “They have business meetings to sign contracts within one hour, then take a return flight back to their own cities, saving time and cost.
“We also have regular family guests,” Gnaegi added. “As most Chinese families travel by agencies with limited flight choices, these families will stay at our hotel the night before and enjoy a relaxing dinner at our Ming Court Chinese restaurant with views of the runway and lake. They can leave their car at the hotel garage and leave at their leisure to catch their flight instead of camping at the terminal.”
Both Crowne Plaza and Langham Place also tap into their proximity to convention or expo areas to get non-layover business. The former is close to the Singapore Expo and Changi Business Park while the latter is 10 minutes from the New China International Exhibition Centre.
As airport hotels evolve, so too do the GMs who run them. Wong said his biggest challenge is coping with high turnover and ensuring staff deliver the promise. “The high turnover and shorter length of stay means that we are constantly checking our guests in and out of the hotel,” he said. “Naturally, with this volume of check-ins and check-outs, there is a pressure on staff to not only keep up the place but also continue to deliver on our brand promise and deliver consistently good service standards.”
Gnaegi concurred, adding, “We want and will train staff who are committed to bring our guest a luxury airport experience.”
But getting good staff was difficult, a problem faced by all hotels in Hong Kong, not just Langham Place, Gnaegi said.
Contributed by Raini Hamdi