Long before the pandemic, hotels were already adding dedicated work spaces beyond the lobby as a way to entice the modern traveler. Yet, when the coronavirus forced people to work remotely, hotels found a new way to market not just their meeting spaces but also their guest rooms.
Contributed by Juliana Shallcross
At the INNSiDE by Meliá New York NoMad, a “Day Stay” package was created that allows guests to use a guest room as a workspace from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. for US$89 a day. That also includes complimentary WiFi, water, coffee, tea and fitness center access.
“The pandemic has changed working habits, and it will take a while to return to ‘normal,’ so we continue to see demand for these packages,” said José Miguel Moreno, vice president of global B2B sales and marketing, Meliá Hotels International. “Our guests can enjoy a private working space while having all the services and facilities of a hotel at their disposal.”
At the Hotel Zetta, a Viceroy Hotel?in San Francisco, their Zetta Zen Workspaces are guest rooms outfitted with John Boos-designed workstation, free WiFi, Illy espresso machines and an Amazon Alexa powered by Volara. A Zetta Zen Work & Play suite is also offered with 800 square feet of space to work and play with a Pong gaming table, Nintendo Switch and Oculus VR headset.
In Europe, Scandic Hotels unveiled a new coworking concept at 270 of their hotels in Sweden, Finland, Norway, Denmark, Germany and Poland, using existing spaces within the hotels. Pricing is by day, week or month and includes a range of workspaces from lounges to private areas, WiFi and power outlets, refreshments, and print and copy services.
Several Kimpton Hotels have also offered daily rates for their meeting rooms, like at the Kimpton Aertson in Nashville, which now sells its Porter Boardroom to be used as a pop-up office space. The Kimpton Pittman in Dallas offers a US$200 daily rate for their Think Tank boardroom. Others hosted socially-distanced events in their meeting spaces like a Paint-and-Sip at the Kimpton Cardinal Hotel in Winston-Salem and a wine-tasting at the Kimpton Epic in Miami.
“We are starting to see some midsize groups emerge in a few of our markets, but are very well aware that we have a long way to go before things start to get back to pre-2020 days,” said Suzanne Halperin, vice president of catering and banquet for Kimpton Hotels. She added that services like on-site COVID testing, interactive virtual conferencing, enhanced cleanliness measures and flexible contracting are all part of the plan to incentivize meetings moving forward.