Executive Travel : What Do Business Travelers Want?

How do business travelers feel about hitting the road, and what do they want when they do?

Two recent surveys by hotel chains provide some clues to the preferences, attitudes and pet peeves of those who have to travel frequently.

In a recent survey of 1,000 business travelers by New Hampshire-based Omni Hotels, an international hotel chain, 85% of the respondents said they enjoyed business travel because it offered a change of pace from their regular work life. The lifestyle survey, which was conducted by Nationwide Surveys Inc. in Miami, also shows that nearly half (47%) said they enjoyed the opportunity to eat at higher-priced restaurants while traveling.

However, 85% also said they would prefer to have their spouse or children with them on most trips, and one in three agreed with the statement “I feel guilty being away from home when traveling on business.”

Perhaps because of that, 60% of travelers who left children at home brought gifts back from each trip.

An even greater percentage of travelers with children at home (73%) tried to call home every night. In contrast, 60% of business travelers in general tried to phone every night to stay in touch.

Business travelers are particular about the honor bars in their hotels. Both men and women picked sodas as their drink of choice (29%). However, more men than women said they would also like domestic beer (20% compared to 4% of women), nuts (14% compared to 4%), imported beer (8% compared to 4%) and liquor or spirits (9% compared to 6%).

Women preferred bottled water (26% compared to 9% of men), wine or champagne (14% compared to 3%) and crackers or cookies (11% compared to 8%).

In another survey of 1,000 business travelers, conducted for Dallas-based Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, frequent business travelers were asked to list their Top 10 service complaints.

In order of aggravation, they were dirty tub or shower, rude servers in restaurants, phantom credit card charges added after their stays ended, having someone mistakenly checked into their rooms after they were occupied, cleaning employees who don’t knock before entering, missed wake-up calls, rude room service delivery people, unhelpful front desk personnel, inaccurate phone messages and delayed attention to mechanical problems.

The Top 10 items business travelers are most likely to forget to pack (in order of most frequently forgotten) are a sewing kit, toothpaste, mouthwash, a travel iron, toothbrush, deodorant, hair dryer, comb, razor-shaving cream and curling iron.

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Aggravations like these can make business travel stressful. Hotel Crescent Court, a Dallas-based luxury hotel owned by Rosewood Hotels & Resorts Inc., is conducting a search for the “most-stressed business traveler.”

To apply, business travelers must complete an application form (available by writing “Search for the Most Stressed Business Traveler,” 2828 Routh St., Suite 680, Dallas, TX 75201) and include a one-page anecdote describing why they should be designated the most stressed-out traveler. The deadline is Oct. 1. For more information, call (214) 953-0808.

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The winner will receive air fare, meals and lodging for seven days and six nights at Little Dix Bay in the British Virgin Islands, one of Crescent Court’s sister properties.

In addition, the administrative assistant of the most stressed-out business traveler will receive air fare for two, accommodations and meals for four days and three nights at Hotel Crescent Court and its accompanying spa in Dallas.