Relax hotel-style at the airport
Dozing in a stiff plastic chair at the airport may be fine for some folks, but the clear trend is for not only more on-site hotels but also for rooms to catch a nap or take a shower or simply sprawl out and relax in a retreat from the normal hustle and bustle of a busy transportation hub.
“We sell our cabins literally by the hour. You book only what you need,” Jo Berrington, marketing manager for Yotel, told msnbc.com.
The no-frills hotel chain is now in London’s Heathrow airport, London’s Gatwick airport and Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport. Yotel offers rooms that are a mere 75 square feet, with just enough room for a bed, desk and shower.
Travelers can check in and out of the tiny rooms at any time.
A four-hour stay costs about $45; an overnight stay costs about $90.
The U.K.-based Yotel expects to have five more in-airport hotels in the works within the next year. At least one is planned for New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport.
Airport hotels have been around about as long as airports.
They once had a bad image but things are starting to change.
One reason is that airports are continuing to evolve into centers of commerce and business activity, says Scott Berman, the US leader of hospitality and leisure at PricewaterhouseCoopers. “There has been a rapid expansion of hotel development in and around the busiest airports,” he told msnbc.com.
Regular hotels at airports are becoming increasingly popular, say recent news reports.
The Hilton and Sheraton chain have been aggressively building new airport facilities.
The only possible drawback to visitors is they may never see the city of their destination.
“You will have business travelers fly in, do business and never venture into the city,” said Hoyt Harper, Sheraton’s global brand leader.”
By David Wilkening
David
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