Hotels Get a Lot Wiser About Women Traveling on Business

Kay Allison, who juggles jobs as an advertising executive and a single parent in Chicago, had a long, tough day several weeks ago--beginning with work, a pit stop at home to get ready for a business trip and a late flight to New York City. When she reached the U.N. Plaza Hotel on the east side of Manhattan after midnight, she found chilled mineral water and fruit in her room. “It was the nicest thing that happened to me all day,” she recalls.

A little tender loving care goes a long way, as all women business travelers know--which is why hotels are becoming more and more savvy about attracting women who travel for business, offering everything from bath crystals to parking-lot escorts. Little flourishes and absolute essentials. As it turns out, guys like such features too, which is why Christopher J. McGinnis, author of “The Unofficial Business Traveler’s Pocket Guide,” says that “women are making the business travel experience better, more comfortable and more user-friendly for men.”

Once upon a time, when businesswomen were a rarity on the road, there were hotels for women only and floors set aside for women. In the ‘60s, the Hilton chain offered “Lady Hilton” rooms, with makeup mirrors, skirt hangers and “feminine touches” in the decor. These days, though, with women composing 40% of business travelers (as compared with 1% about 30 years ago) and the hotel industry booming, hotels are recognizing that it takes a lot more than “feminine touches” to attract women business travelers.

To figure out what women want, chains such as Wyndham, Westin, Hyatt, Crowne Plaza and Swisso^tel are mounting studies and forming advisory panels of female executives. A recent Crowne Plaza survey found that women choose luxury lodgings slightly more often than men and that their favorite cities for business travel are San Francisco, Washington, D.C., New York, Chicago and Boston (in that order). They’re much less likely to schedule a business trip on their wedding anniversary than men are, according to a Hyatt study. Wyndham’s initiative includes a Web site with travel tips for women; grants for further research on the subject; and 60 intimate, full-service Garden Hotels, with doors locked to street traffic at 11 p.m. and quiet library areas off the lobby where women may do business more comfortably than in their rooms or smoky bars.

Recently, I conducted my own little survey and found that the accommodation priorities of women business travelers fall into the following general categories:

* Security. Eighty percent of women business travelers put this at the top of their list, according to a recent Pennsylvania State University study. Women look for hotels with secured, brightly lighted parking garages and closely monitored lobbies, where front-desk clerks assign them rooms fairly near elevators (to avoid long, lonely walks down the hall) and never say their room numbers out loud, in earshot of potential intruders.

Budgetel Inns provide a brochure titled “Tips for Today’s Woman Traveler,” including such common-sense safety measures as never opening your door without calling the front desk to confirm the identity of your visitor. A few more pieces of safety advice: Leave the “Do Not Disturb” sign on your door (calling housekeeping when you want your room cleaned), and request rooms on floors three through seven (because burglars favor lower levels, and fire-fighting equipment doesn’t always reach above the seventh floor).

* Business facilities. In this regard, women are no different from men. They want all the technology necessary to survive and excel in the work environment. According to Marlene Charron, vice president of the Orange County chapter of Women in Business, these include big desks with good lighting, nearby electrical outlets, a phone jack for computer modems and a telephone (so you don’t have to make business calls at a night stand). A business center with copying and computing services is a plus, as is a lounge area for impromptu meetings. In London, my sister does business in the tearoom at the intimate Basil Street Hotel, home of the elegant women-only Parrot Club.

* Health concerns. Women know that on the road, it’s all too easy to eat unwisely and skip the exercise. For this reason, they’ve spurred the drive to add health-conscious choices to room-service menus and in-room mini-bars. Many women choose lodging based on fitness facilities (which should have attendants) and are happy to find hotels, such as the Alexis and the Vintage Park in Seattle, that provide jogging partners. Spa services are available in many big chain hotels and at intimate places such as San Francisco’s 20-room Nob Hill Lambourne, a favorite with women travelers.

* Children’s programs. These days 19% of business trips include kids. As a result, moms (and dads) need access to baby-sitting services, food options for kids, pager rentals, children’s videos and other perks for little ones. Many major chains, such as Westin, Inter-Continental and Budgetel, have instituted programs to help parents cope and kids have fun.

* Amenities. The short list includes: a blow dryer, an iron and ironing board, good lighting and a big counter in the bathroom for makeup application, plenty of skirt and padded hangers, a full-length mirror, a robe, nice stationery, voice mail, lights in the closet (so you don’t end up wearing one black pump and one navy) and all those wonderful free toiletries. Wyndham Hotels & Resorts provide shampoo, hair conditioner and lotion from Bath & Body Works, and at the Swissotel chain you can get pantyhose and feminine hygiene products 24 hours a day.

Life is hard enough when you’re on the road. In fact, the Hyatt study suggests that it’s harder for women than men, partly because women are more likely to worry about obligations left behind and work getting done back at the office. So while you’re meeting deadlines, landing new accounts, attending conferences, crunching numbers and returning urgent phone calls, the very least a hotel can do is get you a new pair of pantyhose.

The Wyndham Hotels & Resorts Web site is at https://www.womenbusinesstravelers.com. Delta Airlines and American Express also have a Web site for female travelers at https://www.delta-air.com/womenexecs. “The Unofficial Business Traveler’s Pocket Guide” by Christopher J. McGinnis (McGraw-Hill, $10.95) is due in bookstores this month.

The Alexis Hotel is at 1007 1st Ave. in Seattle; telephone (800) 426-7033 or (206) 624-4844, and the Hotel Vintage Park is at 1100 5th Ave., also in Seattle; tel. (800) 624-4433 or (206) 624-8000. The Nob Hill Lambourne is at 725 Pine St. in San Francisco; tel. (800) 274-8466 or (415) 433-2287, and the Basil Street Hotel is in Knightsbridge in London; tel. 011-44-171-581-3311, fax 011-44-171-581-3693.