Hotels finding reinventing lobbies pays off
A trend in once-sterile hotel lobbies: turn them into multi-use spaces where instead of just checking in, guests can eat, drink work or even socialize or conduct small meetings.
“The investment, so far, is paying off: As revenues from in-room amenities such as pay-per-view movies and telephones dry up, hotels are reporting higher food and beverage sales in their public spaces,” reports USA Today.
"Until recently, hotel guests would just pass through the lobby," Randall King, vice president of operations for the West Coast at the Dow Hotel Company, told the newspaper. "The lobby was a dead space. Recently, we in the industry have made a concerted effort to bring the guest back to the lobby."
They are far from alone in riding the trend.
More than half of guests use the Link@Sheraton lobby/computer lounge during their stay, contributing to a 12 percent food and beverage sale increase in hotels that have them, according to Sheraton estimates.
Starwood is converting its lobbies at Le Méridien hotels into "hubs" with libraries, spaces for speakers to lead conversations, and a coffee/wine bar.
Courtyard by Marriott hotels also reported higher food and beverage sales per occupied room since it started its “Refreshing Business Lobby” concept, hotel officials said.
At the Holiday Inn Gwinnett Center in Duluth, Ga., where the company introduced the "social hub" in June, food sales per occupied room increased by 20 percent, and beverage sales were up by half, said Verchele Wiggins, global vice president for Holiday Inn brands.
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