Free wi-fi, choice of welcoming in-room snack, beds adorned with pillows at the guest’s preferred fluffiness–these are some of the personalized amenities hotels make to members of their frequent-guest programs. And, oh yeah, treadmills and elliptical training equipment.
Rob Lovitt with msnbc.com reports about hotels that are installing “fitness rooms” to accommodate travelers. As part of his report, he notes that guests of boutique Hotel 71 in Chicago can reserve one of its new fitness rooms, but that “The suites will also be offered to members of the hotel’s loyalty program as an upgrade.” Another possible point of preference to be gathered for program members’ profiles–and possibly an idea-starter for those in other industries about additional perks to offer their best customers. Here it was a matter of making a service more immediately accessible.
I admit to being amused by Lovitt’s observation leading off the report: “Staying fit while traveling can be tough. Whether it’s the rich food, the unfamiliar routines or the serial business meetings, it can be hard to muster the energy to trudge down to the hotel fitness center.” Maybe the hotels should reverse the concept of fitness rooms and place beds in the fitness centers so travelers wearied by taking the elevator to the first floor can catch a nap.
