Short Cuts | December 2006

Branded is better

But hotel chain preferences vary by age group

“Business travelers have a clear preference for full-service lodging in ‘branded’ properties (for example, part of some recognizable national chain),” says Peter Yesawich, president and CEO of Yesawich, Pepperdine, Brown & Russell/Yankelovich. According to the company’s 2006 National Business Travel Monitor, a third of the 1,200 business travelers surveyed prefer all-suite accommodations—up significantly from the late 1990s. There’s also been a slight increase in their preference for economy lodging versus moderately priced accommodations, Yesawich says. And bigger isn’t always better—most respondents said they still prefer small properties (less than 300 rooms) to larger ones. Hotel brand preferences tend to differ based on age, sex and income. Age poses a particular challenge to hotel and resort marketers, as 20 percent of U.S. adults will be older than 65 by 2030, Yesawich notes. Travelers surveyed were asked to identify their top three lodging choices when traveling for business. Breaking down preferred hotel brands by age group, Marriott scored highest with baby boomers, at 45 percent (and lowest with their kids, the “echo boomers,” at 38 percent); Holiday Inn was tops among Gen-Xers, at 43 percent, and lowest among boomers (33 percent); and Hilton was most popular with Gen-Xers, at 35 percent, but last with echo boomers, at 24 percent.

What’s the 511? Get real-time traffic info

If you hate being stuck in traffic, you can dial 511 in many states to pinpoint where the jams are. The number 511 is billed as “America’s Traveler Information Telephone Number,” part of an Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) initiative to enhance mobility and improve safety. Illinois plans to have a 511 system up and running next year. States that already have a 511 phone number and corresponding Web site with traffic and transit information include:

Alaska (511.Alaska.gov)
Arizona (az511.com)
California, Sacramento region only (sacregion511.org)
California, San Francisco only (511.org)
Colorado (cotrip.org)
Florida (fl511.com)
Florida, South only (smartsunguide.com)
Idaho (511.idaho.gov)
Iowa (511ia.org)
Kansas (511.ksdot.org)
Kentucky (511.ky.gov)
Kentucky, Cincinnati/Northern only (artimis.org)
Maine (511maine.gov)
Minnesota (511mn.org)
Montana (mdt.mt.gov/travinfo/511)
Nebraska (dor.state.ne.us/511)
New Hampshire (511nh.com)
North Carolina (ncsmartlink.org/511)
North Dakota (state.nd.us/dot/divisions/
maintenance/511_nd.html)
Oregon (tripcheck.com/roadcond/roadcondindex.htm)
Rhode Island (tmc.state.ri.us)
South Dakota (sddot.com/511.asp)
Utah (utahcommuterlink.com)
Vermont (511vt.com)
Virginia (511virginia.org)
Washington State (wsdot.wa.gov/traffic/511)

Thanks for the memories

Unusual hotels and resorts leave a lasting impression

The travel review site TripAdvisor.com has named the “10 quirkiest hotels” in the world. They are:

1. Ice Hotel Quebec-Canada; Quebec, Canada

Breathtaking hotel made of ice, open only from January to April. Activities include cross-country skiing, ice fishing, snowmobiling and snow tubing. One TripAdvisor traveler said it’s “like sleeping in a five-star igloo.”

2. Malmaison Oxford Castle; Oxford, England

The first prison in the U.K. to be converted into a hotel, but now with much more comfortable accommodations and free high-speed Internet access, flat-screen TVs and DVD players. The small gym is called the Exercise Yard.

3. Imperial Boat House; Ko Samui, Thailand

With 34 authentic teakwood rice barges converted into land-locked luxury suites, this property has a beachfront, boat-shaped pool featuring cannons.

4. Fantasyland Hotel & Resort; Edmonton, Canada

With over-the-top fixtures and themed rooms, this resort boasts a 217,800-square-foot indoor water park, an indoor ice rink, indoor golf and an indoor roller coaster ride—all to keep guests from venturing outside during the frigid winters.

5. Ariau Amazon Towers Hotel; Manaus, Brazil

Seventy feet up in the treetops of the Amazon, the Ariau Amazon Towers Hotel has catwalks connecting the entire complex. Activities include a jungle walk, swimming with dolphins, a caiman hunt and even piranha fishing. Rooms are rustic.

6. Al Maha Desert Resort; Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Set in the middle of the Dubai desert, this luxury resort has private pools and an authentic Bedouin encampment design. Activities that might be hard to find anywhere else include sand dune driving, falconry and camel trekking.

7. Wigwam Motel; Holbrook, Ariz.

Located on historic U.S. Route 66, the wigwams at this bargain motel are actually teepee-style cement tents. The Wigwam offers the feel of an authentic ’50s desert town—from the furniture in the rooms and vintage cars in the parking lot to the sounds of an old locomotive passing through town. Rates are also a blast from the past—the average room costs about $45 a night.

8. Yunak Evleri; Urgup, Turkey

Carved out of a mountainside cliff, this honeycomb hotel includes six cave houses, with rooms connected by narrow, maze-like passageways and stone stairways. Decorated in Ottoman style, it has private patios with dramatic views of the Turkish Mesa.

9. Quinta Real Zacatecas; Zacatecas, Mexico

Built around a 17th-century bullfighting ring that’s no longer operational, this hotel incorporates colonial architecture and faces the city’s ancient arched aqueduct and the local village’s quaint shops.

10. Madonna Inn; San Luis Obispo, Calif.

Although this inn is most often referred to as kitschy, perhaps the best description comes from a TripAdvisor traveler: “It’s what happens when Barbie moves in with Barney Rubble, all pink and rock.” A garish, chalet-style inn, the hotel features 45 rooms with varying themes and color schemes.

In brief

Marriott International is testing mobile wireless check-in at its Marriott Town Center hotel in Redmond, Wash. The test group is using Microsoft Windows Mobile–powered devices and Marriott software to connect and check in while in transit to the hotel … Air Greenland will begin its first scheduled service to the U.S. in May 2007, flying to Baltimore (BWI) on B-757 aircraft once a week from May to September.

Ready for arrivals?

Asian capitals expect visitor influx

Thailand’s new state-of-the-art, multimillion dollar Suvarnabhumi (pronounced “su-wan-na-poom”) Airport (BKK) is now fully operational, replacing Bangkok International Airport (Don Mueang) for all commercial flights. The new airport, located about 15 miles from downtown Bangkok, can accommodate gigantic Airbus A380 aircraft and handle 45 million passengers a year. A 600-room, five-star Novotel hotel is located on airport grounds. Among the airlines serving the new facility are All Nippon, British Airways, China Airlines, Japan Airlines, Thai Airways and United Airlines. Meanwhile, Singapore may have to scramble to meet a projected increase in visitors. The city-state currently has about 30,000 hotel rooms, but that’s not nearly enough to meet future demand, tourism officials say. Singapore expects visitor arrivals to double to 17 million in 2015, which would require another 30,000 rooms. Meanwhile, average rooms rates in Singapore could rise 5 to 10 percent next year. In June, the average room rate was S$170.

The Os have it

Paris and Nicky Hilton get back to their roots

The notorious Hilton sisters—like another pair of famous siblings, the Olsen twins—have created their own cottage industries. And now, following in the footsteps of granddad Conrad Hilton, the girls are each starting their own hotel chain, though neither will be part of the long-established Hilton Hotels group. For once, Nicky beat Paris to the punch: She opened a Nicky O condo hotel in Miami’s trendy South Beach in November. (The O stands for neither Oprah nor Onassis, but rather Olivia, her middle name.) Next up is a 162-room Nicky O boutique hotel in Chicago’s edgy Printer’s Row. Paris, meanwhile, says she’ll debut her luxury hotel chain in Las Vegas. They both claim to know a good hotel when they see one. Now that’s hot!

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