Lobby For Change

A recent survey by Starwood Hotels & Resorts’ Westin brand found that 34% of frequent travelers reported feeling lonely on the road—but hearth and home are not all they miss.

By Staff -- HOTELS Magazine, 5/1/2007

WORLDWIDE A recent survey by Starwood Hotels & Resorts' Westin brand found that 34% of frequent travelers reported feeling lonely on the road-but hearth and home are not all they miss. "Today's guests, especially Gen-Xers, want to be connected, and not just with WiFi but with people," says Jim Abrahamson, senior vice president, Global Hyatt Corp., Chicago. "They want that 'third place' experience beyond home and work, even when they travel. They are looking for a special place to gather or to be alone/together as they would in their neighborhood coffeehouse."

A 2006 study commissioned by InterContinental Hotels Group confirms the trend. Landis Strategy & Innovation surveyed 14,000 travelers in the United States, Europe and Asia and concluded that all business travelers like to mix business with pleasure and want a hotel that provides that opportunity. Hotels worldwide are cashing in on the psychographics of today's highly social Starbucks generation by transforming tired lobbies into revenue-generating gathering spaces and great rooms.

Companies such as Marriott International, IHG, Hilton Hotels Corp., Starwood and Hyatt are launching "great room" concepts or altering existing spaces to include amenities from fi replaces and communal tables to plasma-screen televisions and game tables. Bar spaces fl ow into eating areas, work zones and overfl ow meeting venues to make what was once just a showcase for a reception desk and some seating into a double-digit profi t driver.

Go With The Flow

The transformation is about more than design changes. Marriott has been working on its new great room concept for its Marriott and Renaissance brands for more than a year. Mike Jannini, executive vice president, brand management, says traditional lobbies don't match up with the 24/7 work patterns of today's business travelers, nor do they address guests' desire to mix work, relaxation and play throughout the day. He calls traditional lobbies "limited and like a formal living room that is no longer popular." Marriott's great room concept will take out architectural barriers to create adaptable zones: the welcome zone; the individual zone; the social zone and the business zone. Functionality is being looked at within the zones. Marriott and other major brands are moving away from single-function spaces-especially bars-to create outlets with multi-market, daylong appeal.

Guests used to gathering with friends over coffee or light meals are opening up new revenue opportunities in hotel "living rooms." Heather Bolton, Chicago-based vice president, Tishman Hotel Corp., says the rollout of Java Bar was the biggest single success in the US$20 million renovation of its 1,176-room Sheraton Chicago Hotel & Towers. "We transformed the lobby bar into a coffee bar that could go from day to evening. At night, Java Bar serves coffee-themed drinks and takes on a different ambience. We also added 50 seats that spill over into the lobby for guests who want to be social but don't want a 'bar' environment," Bolton says. The new concept broadened the appeal to both female travelers and small groups, who helped raise bar revenues by 30%.

In every sector, traditional bars are morphing into versatile, free-fl ow outlets. "Guests told us that, if they want an action bar, they'll go out and fi nd one. What they're looking for in the hotel's great room is a place to relax, listen to music, talk or work," Abrahamson says. Next generation "bar" menus focus on premium wines by the glass, specialty beers and, of course, quality coffee and tea. "By taking away the bar feel, you open up your market. Concepts such as Hyatt Place attract families. Parents and children want to get out of their rooms, but they also want to feel comfortable. And, they're not going to feel comfortable in a 'bar bar'," he adds.

Staybridge Suites' new lobby with home theater; the Guest Kitchen at Hyatt Place; and the lobby and Golden Bean cafe at Hotel Indigo show how lobby concepts are evolving to create a new sense of community and freedom among guests.

Hotel Indigo's gathering place approach to foodservice is turning the tide for F&B profi ts. "Traditional F&B doesn't make money in our sector. With the new concept, we can break even or even make money at the departmental level," says James Anhut, IHG's senior vice president, brand development, The Americas. Although public spaces are shrinking, Hotel Indigo's gathering spaces provide a mix of casual and hard seating instead of a formal restaurant; arrangements of lounge chairs and small coffee tables with enough room for a meal and a laptop; and clusters of private spaces.

New Happy Hour

Westin gives more guests a reason to leave their rooms with its "Unwind" program launched in February. All 129 hotels are offering nightly interactive experiences, taking traditional happy hour to another level by turning lobbies and lounges into cultural and social centers. Each property creates its own Unwind theme based on the locale. In Dublin, guests learn to pour the perfect pint of Guinness. In Portland, Oregon, they are treated to a nightly chocolate tasting. The Westin Hotel Calgary allows guests to mix their own Bloody Caesars.

It has been Westin's properties in Asia Pacific that have most easily embraced the program. The Westin Hotel Beijing offers a candle-lighting ceremony, tai chi lessons, water color painting and hors d'oeuvres of indigenous fruits. "In Asia Pacifi c they just got it right away," says Sue Brush, Westin Hotels & Resorts' senior vice president. "They're all about ritual, setting and mood." In fact, Unwind calls for properties to transform the mood of the lobbies in the evening by dimming lights and lighting scented candles. Piped-in music moves from the background to the foreground. Westin helped ease its hotels into the music scene by hiring eMusic to create a special Unwind soundtrack. According to Brush, "Unwind. A Westin Evening Ritual," is intended to become a permanent part of the Westin brand.

Each Westin develops its own unique Unwind activities. At the Westin Hotel Beijing, guests create paintings, some of which go on display in the hotel gallery.

Hi-Tech, High Touch

Technology has a major role to play in monetizing great rooms. Hyatt Place guests can use touch screens to order pizzas, sandwiches, soups and beverages in the Guest Kitchen. With kiosks taking over most of the check-in function, front desk staff are free to serve as "gallery hosts" who can serve food anywhere in the lobby or whip up a cappuccino. "You have to make it convenient for people to order around the clock," Abrahamson says.

Wireless connectivity and advanced point-of-sales systems (POS) make the great room of the 500-room Renaissance Schaumburg Hotel & Conference Center in suburban Chicago a yield-management tool. Servers can send orders to the kitchen from POS stations throughout the lobby. The open plan design by architect John Portman & Associates, Atlanta, and interior design by HBA/Hirsch Bedner, Atlanta, helps to merchandise the F&B offer by putting everything on view- from Starbucks to the hotel's Gather bar. To date, the bar has been one of the hotel's best performers against pro forma, says General Manager Thomas Robertson.

Because new gathering spaces are for work as well as play, hoteliers are building in multifunctional appeal with the addition of monitors to bar banquettes for impromptu presentations, subtly screened off personal spaces away from the hub and, in the new Holiday Inn full-service prototype, private televisions in select restaurant booths.

Staybridge Suites' new prototype is amping up the great room's entertainment offer. Space previously reserved for a quiet-time library off the great room is being converted to a "home theater." Attractive as a venue for guests who want to gather to watch a sporting event or just enjoy their favorite show, the new theater has a second life for small meetings business thanks to a television monitor that works as a portal for PowerPoint and other audio/visual presentations.

Will hoteliers be scurrying to create more intimate spaces when they plan their next renovation? Robert Radomski, vice president, brand management Staybridge Suites, does not think so. "Starbucks is known as much as a place for getting together as it is for its product. If that weren't the case, people would buy their coffee and go home. People always want to make connections. If anything, I see the trend getting stronger," he says.