RETAIL / TOURISM

Hotel’s Shortcut: Little by little, hoteliers have reduced the time between when airline travelers walk off a plane and when they “enter” a hotel.

Sure, there are the courtesy phones that connect travelers directly with hotels’ front desks. And sometimes the hotel courtesy shuttles seem to be swarming as thick as taxicabs.

But the Radisson Plaza Hotel in Irvine has escalated the stakes. At John Wayne Airport, the hotel has opened a miniature version of its front desk. The hotel’s information booth allows guests to check in and leave their bags for hotel delivery.