ILLUSTRATION
YEHTEH
we’ve all been there
. Wearied from a long
day’s travel, you arrive at your hotel
depleted. You wheel your bag down endless
corridors to your identikit room. On the
wall are some cheap paintings and on the
desk sits a plastic tray with mini-kettle and sachets of
freeze-dried coffee. Your heart sinks as you realise this is
where you’ll be prepping for that big meeting.
It’s the kind of experience that many business
travellers can identify with. Placed at the mercy of their
companies’ central booking agencies, which normally
have specially agreed rates at chain hotels, they often
find themselves bedding down somewhere lacking in
any kind of charm or real concern for its guests.
But the tides are turning – and a growing number of
corporate travellers are hankering for something more.
As MD of Sawday’s, I deal with hoteliers on a daily
basis. They frequently tell me that the biggest
thing businessmen want (after wi-fi, of
course) is that sense of a ‘home from
home’. Large chains simply can’t
provide this in the way a passionate
owner can. The Malt House in London
(sawdays.co.uk/the-malt-house)
, is a fine example.
As they only have six rooms, the two brothers who
own it can give a level of service you won’t find in bigger
premises. Guests love it – 50% of midweek bookings are
repeat business travellers. Or Relais Teatro Argentina
(sawdays.co.uk/relais-teatro-argentina)
in central
Rome, another tiny hotel of six rooms whose owner,
Paolo, has reported a big surge in business travel in
recent years. Why? Because he does everything he can to
make the stay special.
As with most big developments, technology is at the
heart of it. These small, family-run places never used
to be in ‘the system’, but they can now advertise with
online services, such as
Booking.com
. This is why there’s
a growing movement against the banality of cookie-
cutter chain-hotel experiences, where you’ve no idea
whether you’re in Tottenham or Tokyo, the wi-fi is
expensive and the breakfast extra.
If hotels can no longer compete
on function (everywhere has fast
internet, a comfy bed and hot water),
what does a chain really have to
offer? Little, I would argue.
D O W N T O
B U S I N E S S
“Why small is better”
This month
Toby Sawday
, MD of accommodation website Sawdays, reveals how
a growing number of businessmen are eschewing chain hotels
The biggest
thing businessmen
want today (after wi-fi)
is that sense of a ‘home
from home’
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V I E W P O I N T S
