Thayer Seeks Pure Differentiation
by Staff -- Hotels, 8/1/2007
Like a growing number of hotel operators, Thayer Lodging Group recently hopped on the bandwagon of Pure Solutions, a company that uses a chemical process to remove virtually all allergens from guestrooms. As guests continued to rave about the experience of sleeping in the purified rooms, it occurred to Thayer executives that something similar could be done in the chain’s conference centers to create a simple yet highly marketable differentiator in the meetings sector.By June, the Annapolis, Maryland-based Thayer had outfitted four hotels—Wyndham properties in Florida, Illinois and Georgia, and a Doubletree in Maryland—with allergen-friendly conference centers, complete with specialized ventilation systems. Besides making the air more breathable, thanks to removal of particulate matter, the systems feature sensors that monitor the carbon dioxide levels in the meeting rooms, pumping additional oxygen into the rooms as necessary. The result, of course, is to reduce the number of drowsy meeting attendees, creating a livelier atmosphere in the meeting rooms and which no doubt means happier events planners.
Selim Soliman, general manager of the Wyndham Hotel and Executive Meeting Center at Miami International Airport, hopes that translates into more group bookings for his hotel. Soliman’s property included the so-called Pure Meetings initiative as part of a US$12 million renovation to the hotel and its 16,000 sq. ft. (1,486 sq. m) conference center. “The goal is to make it as comfortable as possible in the meeting rooms,” Soliman says. “When you are uncomfortable, you start fidgeting, you start looking at the walls and the cobwebs and you start daydreaming—and that could be when the speaker is telling you how to earn your first million.”
Upgrading the air quality is only the most prominent of the Miami Wyndham’s many technological improvements aimed at meetings guests, though. The hotel installed flat-screen monitors in an Internet café and worked with the adjacent airport to sync up real-time flight information, which business-traveling conference attendees adore, even if they are not always thrilled with the weather. “As a hotel at an international airport in South Florida, I can tell you, the delays and early departures are frequent. The monitors are a great benefit,” Soliman says. On the arrivals side, to meet the demand of large conferences that may have many guests showing up simultaneously, the hotel ventures beyond traditional front desk check-in, setting up mobile concierge and bellhop stations that can serve as additional registration spots.
The conference center itself was redesigned from the ground up to meet International Association of Conference Centers guidelines, including ergonomic chairs and state-of-the-art technology like wall-mounted touch-screen controls for all audio-visual equipment. “You can control your lights, adjust your air conditioning, turn the volume up and down. It gives the presenter ease and flexibility,” Soliman says. A full-service concierge station with three refreshment break areas was incorporated to provide rest during events, and the adjacent professionally-staffed business center includes 12 computer stations, fax machines, photocopiers and color printers.
No matter how many impressive gadgets a hotel offers to dazzle event planners, though, one hospitality truth remains intact—oftentimes, it is the little things that matter the most. “We had a meeting planner tell us when we were designing the new conference center, ‘I really have a problem because my presenters always go over the time limit—can we put in a clock?’ So we put in a clock,” laughs Soliman. “Simple stuff. You just have to listen.”
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