Hotel companies have been observing business travelers intently over the last few years. The scrutiny began after 9/11, when the lodging industry launched a torrent of research on the habits and preferences of travelers in order to help unglue the travel freeze. Studies escalated when it appeared that Generation X, Generation Y and Millennials had far different priorities than their Baby Boomer elders, says Joseph McInerney, head of the American Hotel and Lodging Association. This younger demographic, he reports, favors hotels with a gentler impact on the environment, better-integrated technology, and open, multipurpose public spaces, where they can mix work with a lively social scene.
    The economic shake-up is also having an effect. "Value is more important now," observes Brad Wilson, COO of Denihan Hospitality, which owns the Benjamin, Affinia and James hotels, "but that doesn't mean sacrifice. People want to know they've spent their money wisely. In some ways, pampering is more necessary, now that stress levels are higher," he acknowledges, prompting programs like the Benjamin's "Sleep Guarantee," which promises guests a good night's rest or a refund.
    Hotels seem primed for change right now. In 39 months, 39 new lodging brands launched, many of which are a decided departure from styles of the past, according to reports by hotel industry expert Bjorn Hanson this past summer. Several have an eco-conscious mandate, such as Starwood's extended-stay Element brand; a number are economy-minded, including the design driven NYLO collection; and quite a few put their resources toward the latest electronics, like the tech-savvy Hyatt Place. These new hotel concepts bespeak a profound shift in the design, the technology, even the scent of tomorrow's hotels. We've asked some of the world's leading designers, architects and hotel managers to tell Business Traveler what they see on the horizon.

The Entry Portal
At many properties, guests will see a difference the moment they step through the doorway, as a number of hotels are rethinking their first point of contact. When Element learned business travelers wanted more independence, they installed "smart kiosks," akin to those at airports, so guests could check in or out, confirm or upgrade rooms, create keys or print boarding passes on their own. Andaz, Hyatt's urbane new boutique brand, has done away with the check-in desk entirely. Guests are greeted in the Andaz Lounge by a host, armed with their personal profile, who performs the formalities quickly and painlessly on a Tablet PC en route to the room.
    Some brands are replacing the front desk with an atmospheric arrival experience. At North America's first outpost of the Asian luxury chain Shangri-La, just opened in Vancouver, guests enter an oasis of flickering candles amid a thicket of bamboo, where rustling grass and the chirp of crickets mask sounds of the city. When Le Méridien's research revealed that the first 10 minutes of a guest's stay can define their experience, this high-end chain created an elaborate welcome procedure, beginning with a wall of sound, light and art (known as the Transitional Portal); transformed elevator music, with custom video and sound by Grammy-winning composer Henri Scars Struck; even recalibrating the hotel's scent with a signature aroma of frankincense, musk and cedar, which changes with the occasion and time of day.
    Like Le Méridien, a number of hotels are using sensory branding to sharpen their identities. "Essence of Shangri-La" is a blend of vanilla, sandal, bergamot and ginger, which evokes its namesake "land of eternal peace" from James Hilton's 1933 novel, Lost Horizon; and public areas of Miami's Fontainebleau Resort are misted in its fresh, calming "Green Bamboo," which recalls a vacation by the sea. Jeffrey Beers, the architect who helmed the hotel's one-billion-dollar renovation, feels every sense must be engaged to create a truly appealing space. "What was once seen as interior design, today extends much further, to an orchestration of life. Designers," he feels, "must transport guests through a carefully-directed experience, where each sense complements the others."

The Lobby
Beyond the entryway, the concept of the lobby is changing as well. "These days, young business people are traveling in groups of four, or five, or 10," observes the Lodging Association's McInerney, "and they want to mingle in a place that isn't a bar or a restaurant. That's why we're seeing open-plan, interactive spaces built into lifestyle brands like NYLO, W and Indigo." It's a social pattern that's bringing the hotel lobby full circle, to its 19th-century forebear, an era that popularized the term 'lobbyists' to describe deal makers haunting Washington D.C.'s Willard Hotel, looking for willing legislators. Lobbies shrank at the end of the 20th century, says McInerney, when developers felt they devoured too much unproductive space. But now, Element Hotels has opened expansive common areas with café seating, libraries and technology centers that flow into outdoor courtyards with fire pits and barbecues. The Gansevoort Hotel Group feels interactive spaces are so important that they're transforming existing lobbies—placing chess tables in Miami's Gansevoort South, and building a fireplace in the lobby of their New York hotel. Even one of the most inaccessible public spaces to open this year, at the Shanghai Park Hyatt, is buzzing as the city's cognoscenti navigate a gauntlet of concierges and an ear-popping, 87-floor elevator ride to commune amid the lobby's sweeping see-and-be-seen sight lines.
 
Business Centers
When Hyatt research revealed that most travelers' personal and business lives intersect, they built meeting rooms for their new Andaz hotels as residential-style studios, where up-to-the-minute technology shares space with open kitchens. At the Business Lounge in Miami's Gansevoort South, traveling executives can take gaming breaks on a PlayStation 3; while at the soigné James hotels, traditional business centers are being replaced with lounges to accommodate groups. "People are working more in teams these days, and less in formal relationships," observes Wilson of Denihan Hospitality, parent company of The James, "which means that in today's business culture, a glass of wine and a spreadsheet can go together. Business is no longer done in a third-floor closet, so we've moved the business center to the lobby and made it social."
 
Technology
Technology is also becoming friendlier. "High-tech is in," observes Hyatt's VP of Architecture and Design, Larry Traxler, "but it must be user-friendly. We're seeing a demand for seamless technology," which means computers interfacing with TV, easy access to customized video content, and video in the bathroom.
    "No negotiation," was one of designer Tony Chi's goals at Shanghai's new Park Hyatt. "We try to anticipate every decision facing the guest, and make that decision for them," from broad strokes, like lighting levels, to details, like a toilet seat that rises of its own accord as a guest enters the lavatory.
    "The higher the seniority in the company, the less technology they want to deal with," notes Stephen Darling, general manager of the Vancouver Shangri-La. "They expect technology to be intuitive. Our rooms have only one remote control, and even that has been simplified."
    Installing the right gadgetry is so important these days that most major chains have test rooms to give new technology a trial run. Marriott's experimental "X-Room," in The Courtyard Newark, is part of the nearby University of Delaware; a place where Dr. Cihan Cobanoglu, Associate Professor of Hospitality Information Technology, can analyze a rotating roster of 17 devices. He's currently testing the Clocky Alarm Clock, which races around the room on wheels at wake-up time, requiring the guest to give chase (no snooze option here); the Tri Spa shower head, which is said to deliver 70 percent more water pressure with 70 percent less water; and the INNCOM Energy Management System, designed to save more than 30 percent in energy costs by turning down the thermostat when it senses guests have left the room.
 
Saving the Planet
Saving the planet can also save money. Caroline Counihan, senior manager of Indigo Hotels, the boutique offshoot of lodging giant InterContinental, finds "the eco-conscious trend is making a big impact as people focus on cutting back excessive spending."
    Environmentalism is so high on hoteliers' radar these days that some brands have been developed expressly around ecology. Starwood is using its first Element hotels as a working lab for green construction, products, design and operations. Beyond low-flow rain showers and preferred parking for hybrids, Element also promises shuttles to local farmers' markets, free bikes, organic groceries to stock its Energy Star kitchens, healthy breakfasts gratis in the lobby each morning, and even complimentary weekly barbecues serving organic meats, garden burgers and soy hot dogs.
    Environmental initiatives are even coming from such unexpected places as a car company: Lexus is partnering with Fairmont Hotels on two Lexus Hybrid Living Suites, in Washington, D.C. and San Francisco. Along with organic mattresses, bedding, towels and robes, there's a coffee table built with leather recycled from Lexus vehicles, minibars stocked with local biodynamic wines and organic farmstead cheeses, and complimentary use of an eco-friendly Lexus LS 600h.
 
Social Responsibility
Along with ecology, more business people are thinking about social responsibility. Just as corporate teams give time to tutoring programs and food drives at home, Ritz-Carlton is pairing business travel with VolunTourism, under its umbrella of Community Footprints programs. "VolunTeaming" is a team-building formula that also benefits the community. Groups at the Ritz-Carlton, Sarasota can work at the Big Cat Habitat and Gulf Coast Sanctuary, helping professionals care for abused and neglected lions and tigers. San Francisco teams can preserve the wildlife habitats of Alcatraz Island, and groups in Cancun can work as Turtle Guardians, helping mothers relocate eggs during nesting season. Groups with just half a day to spare can lend their efforts to "Give Back Getaways," working at food banks or painting murals at local children's facilities. Ritz-Carlton's third program, "Meaningful Meetings," donates 10 percent of a group's room costs, divided between Community Footprints and a charity of the group's choice.  
 
Like-Minded Souls
Group efforts like Community Footprints reveal that many new lodgings see themselves not as anonymous way stations, but as gathering spots for like-minded souls. To attract a coterie of creative trendsetters, Le Méridien is crafting an atmosphere akin to the kaffeehaus of brand manager Eva Ziegler's native Vienna. "As in the past hundreds of years, people use coffee houses as their place to meet up, debate, and exchange ideas," she maintains. "We're aiming to create a similar atmosphere in our public spaces."
    To 'curate' hotels for their target guests, the chain is collecting a buzz-worthy consortium of chefs, architects and artists, known as the LM100: pioneers like chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten, who devised 'eye-opening' breakfasts in a shot glass for its Bangkok hotel; perfumers Fabrice Penot and Eddie Roschi to create Le Méridien's signature scent, Dialogue; and experimental artist/musician Hisham Bharoocha, who designed collectible, limited edition key cards for the hotel's Unlock Art program, which not only open room doors, but offer complimentary admission to neighborhood cultural institutions, such as the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco and the 1x1 Art Space in Dubai.
    "People are becoming more confident in their travel," notes Denihan's Wilson, who observes that "the formal 'white glove service' definition of luxury is being rejected in favor of a sense of belonging. What really matters," he affirms, "is feeling like you're part of a community during your stay."
    "Perhaps what we desire now is a delicate balance of specialization and membership in a global community," muses Fontainebleau's Beers. "People want the option of luxury, while at the same time, a taste of the vernacular around them."
    Bruce Himelstein, senior vice president of sales and marketing at Ritz-Carlton agrees. "Our customers don't always want to wear a jacket and tie in the lobby. Our research revealed the brand had become synonymous with an unassailable luxury standard—too easily associated with crystal chandeliers, oil paintings, excessive service and old money," he admits. "So we've decided to dust off the lion and crown." In 2009, Ritz-Carlton will launch its Reserve brand at Phulay Bay, Krabi, Thailand, on the Andaman Sea, where travelers can taste local lifestyle in low-slung villas awash in indigenous Thai art and secluded by native foliage. Not as authentic as a Mongolian yurt perhaps, or as green as a sealskin tent, but a far cry from white gloves and cookie-cutter rooms. 

Hilton Test Room

Quick: where would you go to see the future of hotel rooms in the U.S.? Manhattan? Vegas? Miami? Try El Segundo, California. This suburb, a short drive from Los Angeles International Airport, is where Hilton Hotels Corporation has test rooms, cleverly secluded in one wing of a Hilton Garden Inn.
    Test rooms for most of the Hilton brands are represented here—including Hilton, DoubleTree, Hilton Garden Inn, Embassy Suites and Homewood Suites—so you can "stay" in any of these hotels without ever leaving the property.
    The most razzle-dazzle is in the "Sights & Sounds" room, versions of which debuted recently in Hiltons in San Francisco and Baltimore, as well as at Chicago O'Hare. The experience begins with an electronic doorbell, which is connected to a camera that can be monitored from inside the room. Bedside, a touch-screen panel controls window shades, blackout curtains, four different lighting areas and the audiovisual system. The bed lifts at the head, foot and middle to adjust to your sleeping contour. In the bathroom, Kohler toilets have regular and low-flow options, there's a Jacuzzi tub with TV, and the shower is installed with four different shower heads with six digital presets for water temperature.
    And that leather armchair—it's not just a recliner, but an $8,000 glider that practically lulls one to sleep—all the better to watch that 63-inch flat-screen. With four data plugs, it makes an impressive showcase for your PowerPoints, though hotel staff say that most guests prefer to watch sports on it.
    These rooms are primarily meant to show off new technology for the media or owners of Hilton brand hotels, but business guests can request to stay here on a space-available basis. Try it, and you may well be asked for feedback, which could impact the future of hotel design. After all, says Scott Chu, the hotel's front desk supervisor and conduit of feedback to the design team, guests know best. "They are very picky as to what should or shouldn't be in the rooms." –Andrew Bender

Peninsula Tech

Soaring above Hong Kong Harbor, the Peninsula Hotels' flagship property is about as majestic as it gets. Yet the source of the technology used in Peninsula's eight hotels (a ninth is due to open in Shanghai in autumn 2009) seems downright humble—hidden away in a nondescript industrial building, across Hong Kong in the seaside town of Aberdeen. Even the lab's official name, Electronic Service Department, seems deliberately discrete.
    Its output, however, is discretely dazzling. A staff of 25 dreams up, programs and implements technology that other hotels—even high-end architects—can only dream of: in-room Internet radios that connect to 6,000 stations worldwide, a telephone for the bathtub that doesn't make it sound like you're talking from a bathroom, precisely-calibrated lighting controls, an audio system that mutes when a phone call comes in, and sensors that provide information about the outdoor weather.
    And much of it can be operated from a bedside control panel, which is equipped with motion sensors that illuminate the buttons, so you don't have to search for them when jet lag wakes you at 3:17 in the morning.
    Peninsula's tech lab was started 22 years ago by Fraser Hickox, recipient of the Hospitality Financial & Technology Professionals' 2008 Hall of Fame Award. Hickox retired from Peninsula a few years ago and now operates Hong Kong-based Hospitality Laboratories, which consults for Accor, Dusit Thani, Jumeirah and other, mostly Asian-based, hotel groups. Still, the Australia native admits a soft spot for Peninsula's 22-year-old lab: "It's still a bit of my baby." Today, the lab is run by Ingvar Herland, general manager for Research & Technology.
    The lab's core philosophy: technology must be intuitive, discrete and seamless, or—in "tech-talk"—integrated. Herland and his staff (mostly Hong Kong Chinese engineers) spend their days parsing how a room's disparate systems—audiovisual, lighting, climate control, window shades, etc.—will work together. "We have several microprocessors for each room, and they all need to communicate with each other, so we spend a lot of time writing software." As a result, he says, "I would call the rooms quite intelligent."
    And, yes, discrete. As Hickox puts it, "Unless someone calls you in the middle of the night, you're not going to appreciate that the lights come on when the phone rings, and stay on until you hang up."
    Say you're luxuriating in the bath after a long day of meetings. "You can press a 'spa' button from the tub," Herland says, "and the lights go down and soft music comes on. If the telephone rings while you're in the bath, you can press 'speaker' and not have to get out to pick up the receiver. We have even made electronic adjustments so that it sounds like a normal speakerphone and not like a bathroom."
    And a unique R&D relationship with TV-maker Samsung has led to "Peninsula firmware that allows guests to control the TV from many different devices. There's even cutoff software that mutes the TV when there are, for example, emergency announcements."
    While Peninsula's technologies appeal to one's inner techie, they are also designed to appeal to guests' inner aesthetes. "Is this something that you would put in front of your mother, and would she allow you to put it in the living room? It's not technology for technology's sake," asserts Hickox.
    "Most of the technologies that we've come up with come from observing people in action," says Hickox. Case in point: Hickox once happened upon an elegantly-dressed woman pacing the corridor outside her hotel room, waving her hands frantically. She had just painted her fingernails and was trying to dry them before a function. Thus bore the idea for nail dryers in the generous walk-in closets of the Peninsula Tokyo, which opened in 2007.
Not all of the lab's innovations are available in all of the five-star chain's properties. Some new technologies are installed as rooms are renovated, while others may function in only certain territories, like the cordless telephones in Tokyo that will work anywhere in the city. This is in addition to state-of-the-art business technology: wired and wireless Internet, and in-room plug-and-play multifunction copier/fax/scanners.
     "We have many ideas for the future as well," Herland adds.
    Such as?
    "That I can't say."
    Subtle. We're not surprised—and we can't wait to see what they are.
–Andrew Bender

Safe Rooms

Dave Demerjian talks to two security experts about what you should know about hotel security, and what you can do to keep yourself safe.
    Worried about hotel security? You're not alone. Last year's attacks in Mumbai saw terrorists, wielding machine guns and grenades, storm two high-profile hotels frequented by Western guests, resulting in over 100 deaths. It brought a chilling reminder of ever-present terrorist threats, leaving business travelers wondering what kind of security programs their favorite hotels have in place, and what new steps they may be taking to protect their guests. 
    According to Jonny Grays, a senior vice president for Control Risks, a company that provides security consulting to major corporations, hotel security is an issue for which there is, unfortunately, no foolproof solution. "It's an extremely difficult challenge for a hotel to provide absolute security," he says. "People need to come and go. By its very essence, a hotel is a very open environment. Hotel chains constantly grapple with the best way to balance security with providing comfort and services for guests." 
    Chris McGoey, a security consultant who runs the Crime Doctor Web site, agrees that providing ironclad hotel security would require draconian measures that could alienate guests. "Radical security, such as fortifications to the building and airport-like guest screening, would be required," he says. "You can't do that and still offer the friendly, hospitable atmosphere we all expect from a hotel."
     But that doesn't mean hotels aren't taking action. McGoey says that hotels in volatile regions already have security systems in place, many of them focused on the threat of car bombings. "They have established procedures to screen vehicles away from the hotel," he explains. "Access control and keeping unauthorized vehicles away from the structures is the main priority. Security officers, police or military [personnel] screen visiting vehicles at barricaded checkpoints by looking into trunks, passenger compartments and under the vehicle using mirrors. Luggage is sometimes screened remotely." 
    Grays says that, behind the scenes, most major hotel companies employ sophisticated risk exposure models as a first line of defense against attack. "Big chains segment their properties into four or five different categories according to risk, a process that typically groups them geographically," he explains. Companies like Grays' provide risk monitoring for each segment or region, constantly evaluating political and economic conditions, social patterns, and geopolitical events using an analytical framework. "We advise hotels when conditions are deteriorating, or when we think they need to put extra security procedures into place, even temporarily."
    Hotel chains are understandably hesitant to talk publicly about their security programs, or what extra steps they may be taking in light of the Mumbai attacks, and Grays won't discuss specific measures being employed by his clients. But, he says, guests in certain parts of the world are likely to see and feel enhanced security, at least in the short term.    "There is a growing realization in the hotel industry that the current prevailing security threats are not going away," he asserts. "The large hotels are factoring this into the way they run their businesses."
    McGoey agrees that the Mumbai attacks may result in more visible and aggressive measures at business hotels catering to Western guests. "High-risk properties may consider limiting access to the hotel, using armed security personnel, and installing metal detectors at the point of entry."
    While most travel agencies lack the resources to effectively evaluate the safety of a particular hotel, many employers offer resources for nervous travelers. Grays says most large companies have in-house travel security programs, which are able to advise employees on what regions and properties are considered safe. "Employers have a duty to ensure that their employees are safe, and that's what these programs are designed to do. If you are concerned, you need to find out how your employer can help."
    While some hotel guests have begun requesting rooms that don't face the street or are located away from the lobbies, conference rooms, and common areas, Grays states that simple common sense steps are likely to be the most effective. "Situational awareness is key," he notes. "Pay attention to what is going on around you. Watch for unattended bags or strange behavior. These are all things business travelers should be doing anyway."
    McGoey suggests that business travelers concerned about security consider opting for more out-of-the-way hotels. "Historically, the most vulnerable hotels are those that cater to Western guests," he says. "One solution is to stay at a smaller property, outside the central business district, and commute in for meetings." Grays agrees that staying at a smaller hotel brings benefits. "They may have less elaborate security systems in place, but often, they tend to be less of a target."
    Ultimately, the best advice is probably the simplest: keep things in perspective. "Think about how many business travelers you know who have actually been exposed to a terrorist attack," McGoey says. "I've traveled to over 100 countries and stayed in hotels without incident. This is true of most people."
    And Grays stresses that while travelers may not see many outward signs of hotel security, they're there. "Rest assured that large hotel chains have very large, sophisticated systems in place. It's an issue that every hotel takes extremely seriously."