Back at the Controls

When dozens of engineers and salespeople at Loronix Information Systems began requesting the same hotel chain for accommodations while on the road this year, corporate travel manager Kathy Darnell said she had to find out what was up.

“I wondered what they were getting out of it,” Darnell said of the Durango, Colo.-based company’s 150 frequent travelers. “These weren’t luxury hotels or anything, and they didn’t have exorbitant rates. But suddenly they were very popular around here, and I had a whole bunch of people wanting to stay there.”

With business travel still down 30% to 40% from a year ago and companies continuing to restrict travel budgets in a soft economy, the hotel industry has been forced to react in an unfamiliar way: compete like never before for a dwindling segment of guests that has long generated plenty of new business to go around.

For most hotels, business travelers--who usually pay the highest room rates--account for at least half of the overall guests, and loyal companies are routinely rewarded with meal credits, preferred rooms or other perks. But service, for the most part, has stayed the same.

Now, as leisure travelers continue to trickle back without too much prodding and convention business continues to show steady recovery, hotel operators have realized they have to do more to attract business travelers.

“Basically, hotels have been able to rely on new demand in the business sector for so long that many simply don’t know how to compete now,” said Sean Hennessey, director of hospitality practice for PricewaterhouseCoopers. “But if their service is not going over and beyond to keep business travelers happy, they should know someone else’s is. For once, business travelers rule. Whatever they want, they can get, and I’m not just talking about mints on their pillows.”

From luggage-free travel services to free long-distance phone calls, business travelers are enjoying a host of new pampering programs designed to keep them checking in.

At Wyndham International hotels, the chain Darnell said her traveling staff now prefers, individualized service is the focus. Besides high-speed Internet access in every room, the hotels have business travelers fill out a profile of personal preferences--including pillow types, preferred magazines and ideal room temperature. Upon arrival, guests find their rooms appointed to their specifications, with their favorite snacks and beverages waiting.

If they visit a particular Wyndham hotel regularly, business travelers also can opt to leave a supply of clothes and toiletries behind for their return, when the items will be cleaned and waiting for them in their room.

“Our guys love it,” Darnell said. “If they have to travel these days, they just want a little extra comfort. I don’t think it’s too much to ask.”

More than 500,000 business travelers have filled out the personal profile and joined Wyndham’s frequent-traveler program since it began this year, said Dave Johnson, chief marketing officer of the Dallas-based company. In June, when Wyndham announced that free long-distance phone calls would be standard for business travelers, membership spiked dramatically, he said.

“We strongly believe that unless you’re offering individualized service that really caters to each and every business traveler, you’re not going to make it,” said Johnson, noting that business travelers account for a third of Wyndham’s guests.

Although the free long-distance calling is an added expense for the 167-property national hotel chain, Johnson said revenue in that area was already shrinking as companies insisted that employees use cell phones for business calls instead of racking up hefty charges in hotels. By offering free calls, Wyndham attracted more business travelers who will potentially become loyal guests, Johnson said.

“We’re going after them any way we can,” he said. “And we’re going to keep them happy once they get here.”

In that sense, many business travelers say it’s a great time to be a frequent traveler.

Shinobu Toyoda, a San Francisco-based entertainment executive for Sega Corp., said he spends no fewer than 200 nights a year in hotels throughout the world and takes about 100 flights a year within the U.S. He has noticed obvious service improvements (complimentary bottles of wine and fruit baskets) as well as more subtle changes (speedier checkouts or extra smiles from the hotel staff).

“It’s almost like hotels have started to ask the question, ‘What can I do for you?’ ” Toyoda said during a recent visit to Los Angeles. “They always asked that before, of course, but it was superficially. Now they mean it because they’re doing whatever they can to make it better.”

While in L.A., Toyoda stayed at the Wyndham Bel Age in West Hollywood as usual--”not the most luxurious hotel in terms of appearance”--but one that he feels knows him. Besides high-speed Internet service, Toyoda said, he has only a few simple needs while on the road. One is a glass of red wine before he turns in at night, something that is always waiting for him.

“It’s a very minor detail,” Toyoda said. “But it’s the feeling you get. You’re being remembered. You’re being taken care of.”

Other hotels have launched programs designed to show business travelers how valued they are. At W hotels, for example, its program guarantees any request at any time--or the guest’s final bill will be credited. A comic book at midnight, an in-room massage at dawn--hotel workers are on call to make sure it happens, no questions asked. And some guests are finding they don’t necessarily have to make a formal request for a service to come through.

“I casually mentioned to the front desk worker one night that I knew I was going to have trouble sleeping, and within 10 minutes I had a complimentary tray of bedtime tea and aromatherapy lotion in my room,” said Monica Hosack, a pharmaceutical saleswoman who recently stayed at the W hotel in San Francisco. “It was amazing. I’ve never had anything like that happen to me anywhere. And I travel a lot.”

Sheraton hotels recently started a similar program that compensates guests who complain of slow room service or lumpy mattresses, something officials said they hope will boost the chain’s image and make the properties more uniform when it comes to service. Business travelers account for 60% of Sheraton’s total guests.

“[Business travelers] have always had a wide array of choices out there,” said Geoff Ballotti, executive vice president of hotel operations for Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc., which in addition to the Sheraton brand runs St. Regis and W hotels. “But they have become more demanding and discerning over the years, and this year they are absolutely 100% in charge of the whole entire show.”

Still, some hotels are not meeting customers’ expectations in the business travel market, according to a recent hotel guest satisfaction survey conducted by J.D. Power & Associates.

Although satisfaction increased in four of the six hotel price groups, guests were less satisfied with service at mid-scale hotels such as Holiday Inn and Hampton Inn and economy hotels such as Ramada and Super 8, said Linda Hirneise, executive director of the hotel practice at J.D. Power & Associates. The sixth annual survey, which examined 52 hotel brands, is based on responses from 13,000 frequent business travelers.

“Basically, the upscale segment is far exceeding business travelers’ expectations right now,” Hirneise said. “So unless other hotel chains join in, they’re going to see guests start voting with their feet.”

Hirneise said the survey showed that small touches matter most to business travelers, which should give all hotel chains room to compete. When ranking the services that are most important, respondents listed “showing appreciation of business travelers’ time” and “ensuring accuracy in the reservation and a problem-free experience” at the top.

More than half of those polled also said they wanted complimentary bottled water in their rooms--an amenity that few are getting, Hirneise said.

“That sounds like such a small deal,” she said. “But if one out of two guests are saying they want it, I’d say it’s pretty huge.”

Such attention to simple details is so important that some business travelers say hotels needn’t go overboard. When staying at a Westin hotel in Arizona last month, computer programmer Shane Watkins said the general manager offered to go grocery shopping for him because he mentioned he had forgotten a few things for the trip.

“I guess it was a nice gesture,” said Watkins, who lives in San Jose. “But I really don’t need a stranger picking out my deodorant. I passed.”