Hotel Brands Hustle to Attract Today’s Business Travelers

Like most suppliers in the multi-billion dollar business travel industry, hotel brands serving every corner of the marketplace are eager to attract their share of loyal customers. Corporate road warriors, especially when limited to only a few lodging options by their organizations’ T&E policies, tend to value consistency—an at-home familiarity—across their recurrent hotel stays. But as industry marketing strategists know, it takes a combination of factors to define a winning experience.

In their Hotel Brand Survey 2015, BusinessTravelNews ranked hotel brands based on corporate travel buyers’ ratings across a range of attributes including Meetings Facilities, Corporate Rate Programs, Data Quality, Helpful & Courteous Service, Physical Appearance, and Public and In-Room Business Amenities. Brands that come out on top deliver an experience that at once promotes their business guests’ efficiency while appealing to their sense of comfort. This can be seen in the hotels’ design elements and suite of services, from the easily-measured (e.g. availability of amenities) to the harder-to-quantify (e.g. “feel” and “attitude”).

Here’s a look at how the most competitive hotels are evolving to meet the needs of today’s business travelers:

Staying Connected

Quick, easy, and reliable Internet connectivity is key for professionals who need to stay productive away from the office. In fact, a survey of business travelers by Skift and American Express revealed that free Wi-Fi is the most influential factor when choosing a hotel, ahead of proximity to office/meeting, free breakfast, and enrollment in hotel’s loyalty program. Hotels have gotten the message—loud and clear.

Some properties tie business-class tech amenities to reward/loyalty programs, while others offer the services across the board. They’re providing business guests with access to in-room and public space Wi-Fi, wireless boardrooms, and next-generation business center services like video conferencing. Still other brands are teching-up with Apple TVs in guest rooms as well as rentable phone and computer chargers and power adapters to ensure a seamless tech experience in their home-away-from-home.

Providing Fully-Loaded Mobile Apps

In the era of “there’s an app for that,” it should come as no surprise that leading hotel brands invest in robust mobile tools for their efficiency-minded business guests. Designed to enhance opportunities for self-service, hotel mobile apps feature check-in and check-out capabilities and enable guests to order room service, make spa and restaurant reservations, contact the concierge, and browse local dining/attraction recommendations—all from their mobile devices. And some hotels even offer mobile-based keyless room entry, allowing guests to get their room number and open their door without first stopping at the front desk.

Catering to Health and Wellness

Many business travelers don’t want their healthy habits to suffer just because they’re on the road. Top hotels know how to help them maintain their wellness routine—or even kick them up a notch. While most hotels have long-offered workout facilities and healthy room service menu items, today they’re doing even more to help their guests:

• Sleep better—with organic or customized bedding, noise machines, and in-room massage services.
• Eat cleaner—with special menus ranging from Vegan to Paleo and “healthy meetings” that skip the pastries in favor of fruit and other, more energizing alternatives.
• Stay active—with 24/7 fitness centers, in-room workout equipment, rentable workout gear, and group fitness activities for team-building.

Nodding to Bleisure

With more corporate travelers combining business and leisure, top hotels are treating guests to services and amenities that cross the professional/personal border. Think urban design elements, multifunctional lobbies, craft beers, and premium in-room coffee service. Many of these appeal specifically to today’s expanding population of Millennials, the generation driving industry trends and business strategies alike. Read more in The Trends Behind The Rise of Bleisure Travel.

Meeting the corporate travel manager’s needs with exceptional customer service is a “gimme” for strengthening corporate travel programs and building relationships with the organizations that foot the bills for business travelers. Hotels are focused on keeping every stakeholder engaged and satisfied. It’s a competitive marketplace, and travelers have lots of options, including non-traditional alternatives that will keep the industry on its toes.