How Hotels are Rethinking Hotel Rooms

It’s official: the world is (slowly) getting back to some kind of normal, and if you’re anything like me, you’re already planning any type of trip that can get you out of the house you’ve been locked in for the past year and somewhere warm or fun.

It’s safe to say that most everything will be a little bit different with travel this year, especially in the hotel industry. Hotels quickly pivoted and adapted during the pandemic and created industry trends that will continue to unfold over the next few years. 

When the world shut down and travel was halted, hotels and most of the hospitality industry had to think of creative ways to keep their business alive. We previously talked about hotel trends that have adapted over the past year and will continue into 2021, but here we wanted to specifically highlight some of the ways that hotels are rethinking their rooms to drive business and help make their guests feel safe. 

Extended stay deals

One trend you’re seeing among a lot of hotels throughout the world is extended stay deals. With occupancy rates at an all-time low, hoteliers are encouraging guests who are visiting to stay a bit longer with some great deals. With people still working from home, some have the luxury of packing up their laptops and taking their offices on the road.

With deals like the one offered at Hotel Magdalena in Austin — 15% off if you book 5 or more nights — it makes it hard not to add some extra time to your stay and enjoy a change of scenery as you work remotely.

Then there’s ARRIVE Hotels, which has locations in Austin, Wilmington, Palm Springs, Memphis, and Phoenix, that are offering its guests anywhere from 10-15% off when they book 3 or 4 or more nights (depending on location). When you’re basically getting a night free, and you know you’re heading back to the same four walls you’ve been staring at for the past year, this offer will be difficult to pass up. 

Memberships 

Speaking of extended stays, our friends at Freehand Hotels have announced maybe one of the more interesting deals we’ve seen, The Freehand Club. For a monthly membership fee, you have access to any Freehand hotel locations in New York, Los Angeles, Miami, and Chicago. Plus, you’ll have access to all of their usual benefits such as speedy wifi, daily housekeeping, food and beverage discounts, in-room entertainment and streaming services, and a fitness center. 

If you join The Freehand Club, you might as well cancel that gym membership because they’ve also partnered with JETSWEAT, an interactive membership app that gives you access to live and on-demand fitness classes from your smartphone, computer, or tablet! I don’t know about you, but I’m ready to cancel my lease and live out of the Freehand Hotels for the next few months. 

In-room fitness

Hotels around the world are getting creative with their fitness partnerships. Just like Freehand Hotels with their JETSWEAT partnership, other hotels are looking to fitness brands to enhance their guest experience and give the people what they’re looking for.

Peloton took advantage of this in 2020 while hotels were looking for ways to enhance their in-room experience for their guests. They had already partnered with a handful of hotels but took the pandemic as an opportunity to expand from the hotel gyms to in-room bikes. Now, Peloton can be found in hotels around the world. 

The next new fitness craze is right behind Peloton and they’re ready to make a splash. Tonal recently announced their partnership with The Four Seasons’ Silicon Valley property to install their equipment in guest rooms, providing customers with AI fitness training directly in the comfort of their room.

For hotels that do not have these partnerships, you can still offer guests in-room fitness training. In most cases, hoteliers are offering to bring gym equipment (as long as it’s mobile) to a guest’s room to enjoy throughout their stay. 

Hotel room private dining

One of the most unique trends we’re seeing with hotels rethinking their rooms is the in-room dining experience. When you think of an in-room dining experience at a hotel, you might imagine booking a room for a night and within that room, they add a table and drop-off room service with maybe a few special bells and whistles. That’s what I certainly imagined until I saw what the Hewing Hotel in Minneapolis’ North Loop was doing. 

During a time of extremely low occupancy and strict dining restrictions, they decided to use their room vacancies to their advantage by turning guest rooms into private dining rooms. They started off small by removing the beds from a small handful of rooms and bringing in tables, it was such a unique offering that they sold out in the first weekend. They have since expanded and are now offering 14 private dining rooms, four nights a week. Now we’re seeing many hotels following in their footsteps and creating special experiences for their guests. 

Driving business with creativity

Looking back on this past year, it’s been incredible to see the way the hospitality industry has come together and supported each other. What’s even more exciting has been the unique experiences and offers that have come together to help drive business and ensure guest satisfaction and safety. We’re still unsure of what the new normal will look like moving forward, but we can be thankful for the enhancements and opportunities that the hospitality industry has created and provided for its guests. 

If you’re launching new ways to drive hotel bookings, make sure to use a tool like Tripleseat to help you increase and manage the group sales that are essential for filling hotel guest rooms, booking event function spaces, growing banquet revenues, and increasing your overall revenue. Schedule a demo to learn more about Tripleseat.