Should you be staying in a different hotel?
Tuesday, 1 May 2007
Last Updated: Wednesday, 22 August 2007
By Emily RossShould you be staying in a different hotel? (or paying less for your room)
With today's technology anyone can be their own travel agent, researching rates, viewing rooms in advance, and booking hotel rooms at discount rates.
However, this can be a trap for time-poor SMEs and their support staff (the web really is a labyrinth of hotel rooms and rates). It is hard to justify "surfing the web for an hour looking for a good hotel deal" as a sane use of company resources. For a head start, follow SmartCompany's checklist for a good hotel deal.
So what makes a good hotel?
At a recent symposium at the Conrad Hilton Hotel School (the top global hotel chains all have their own mini-universities) at the University of Houston in Texas, aspiring hotel managers pinpointed "personality" and "design" over any other factors when asked what makes a good hotel.
Their responses were about how a hotel feels, its culture, as well as how practical the hotel is and whether everything is in the right place. When the discussion was reported by USA Today, a flood of comments came back from travellers: what about location, brilliant beds, fast checkouts, extra coat hangers, more cable channels, some peace and quiet, inspiring room service menus and cleanliness?
You may also need:
- A good desk in your room with plenty of power point access.
- Wireless hot-spots.
- Technology support.
- A supply of mobile phone chargers.
- A smart concierge that knows what is going on in the city.
- Customer recognition.
- Quality business lounge.
- Non-smoking floors.
- Well equipped business centre.
- Easy access to taxis.
- Gym with complimentary towels and water.
- Value for money.
Have you got the best rate?
Warren Buffett was right when he said: "Price is what you pay, value is what you get". (He would have been an excellent hotel reviewer, always looking for value for money in every price range.)
For the business traveller, one of the most irritating experiences is finding out someone is staying at the same hotel as you and paying a lower rate. Worse still, on a business trip, visiting another hotel in the city and finding out that the rooms are cheaper and offer better services and facilities.
Depending on who books the travel, blame can be apportioned to the corporate travel service (sack them), support staffer (thanks for nothing) or your own typically average skills as a travel agent (A for effort). However, prices can vary for genuine reasons.
Your hotel buying power depends on eight key factors
- The size of your company.
- The buying power of your travel agent.
- Number of room nights stayed per year.
- Loyalty program status.
- Occupancy levels.
- When and how the booking is made.
- Who is taking a commission.
- Whether you are stupid enough to accept the published rack rate.
How do you avoid paying more than the next guy?
1. Join a hotel loyalty program such as Compliments from Accor Hotels, Marriott Rewards, Six Continents Club, Starwood Preferred, Priority Club, Hyatt Gold Passport, Hilton Hhonors [subs ok] and accrue the points and status that can help you earn a lower rate.
2. If your business has the volume, invest in a good corporate travel service that has maximum buying power, highly organised reporting systems and demonstrates that it can respond to your business needs -- can it cope with special requests, last-minute changes, and knows what is going on in the travel sector. Companies such as FCm Travel Solutions and American Express dominate the Australian market but then there are boutique firms that have a strong following such as CTM Travel, Travelforce and Axis Travel.
3. If your business does not have high volumes of travel, book hotel rooms up to 28 days in advance through the last-minute sites (Wotif.com.au, Last Minute.com.au). Be practical and remember to take into account sundries that can be added to the hotel bill (and please don’t spend all day making the booking).
Watch out for those little extras (ouch). Not factoring these costs into your travel budget is false economy, pure and simple. Many last minute deals are room only so watch out — and look for ways to bundle sundries, such as breakfast or internet, into a fixed price.
Location, location. There is a reason why you pay for it.
Beware of false economy when it comes to where you stay in a city. That hotel that is $15 cheaper than the hotel closer to the centre of town may end up blowing your budget.
For example, a Darling Harbour hotel room in Sydney is typically cheaper than one further downtown, but a day's worth of meetings around the city and too-ing and fro-ing down all those one-way streets can easily add $100 to your day's expenses.
Work out the logistics of the trip carefully if you are travelling around the city a lot. Whereis.com.au can help with planning your day of meetings in Australian cities.
Look for the hotels that can make life on the road that much more bearable.
Wireless areas allow guests to work outside their hotel rooms and escape that caged-in feeling after a few hours working in your room.
Hotel business lounges are useful for meetings, breakfast, evening drinks and are less chaotic than other public areas in the hotel.
For Sydney's best views, try the InterContinental's lounge, and in Melbourne, the Sofitel has turned its restaurant on the 35th floor into Club Sofitel where, for an $80 surcharge, guests can almost move in, with services all day such as full breakfast, all-day snacks, evening drinks and canapés, late-night desserts and little home theatres with X-Box games. Best of all there are panoramic views of Melbourne.
Little extras. The Dream Hotel in Manhattan offers guests iPod minis to use during their stays.
A good gym. Beat jetlag, de-stress and boost your energy levels whilst on the road. Some real stand out gyms include the Grand Hyatt Singapore, the Four Seasons Shanghai and the Westin Sydney (don’t forget to ask for a runner’s map of the city).
A good reputation
Word of mouth is always useful when choosing a hotel.
If you aren't sure about a hotel, sites such as Hotelchatter.com and TripAdvisor.com has thousands of uncensored, "unbiased" often hugely entertaining reviews about hotels around the world.
From the Sydney Hilton "rooms designed to irritate" to the new Mandarin Oriental in Hong Kong that has just reopened after a $170 million renovation (think James Bond with acres of black marble), there are enough reviews help you make your own mind up.
One New Yorker who stayed at the Mandarin Oriental really let it rip: "All around, from the bars to the restaurants, the average guest was a slightly paunchy middle aged businessman in an expensive suit looking rather pleased that he was staying here and able to expense the whole thing back to his company." Ah, the life of the road warrior.
USEFUL LINKS
InsideFlyer.com
FlightCentreHotels.com.au
LastMinute.com.au
AmericanExpress.com.au
FCMTravel.com.au
Wotif.com
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