What makes a good airport hotel, and have cuts in travel budgets altered how we use them? Tom Otley reports from Business Traveller’s latest editor’s lunch.
All business travellers use an airport hotel from time to time, although for many it is a “distress purchase”. The general impression of these properties is that we only use them when we have to – when we have an overnight connection, or an early flight the next day. But our low expectations merely encourage bad practice in the sector.
To help remedy this, we held the second of our editor’s lunches on the topic. The event took place at Mosimann’s private dining club in London and was again kindly sponsored by Regal Airport Hotel, Hong Kong, which has won many awards in recent years, including Business Traveller’s Best Airport Hotel in the World, voted for by our readers.
As with last year’s lunch, participants came from a range of industries and backgrounds, but all were keen and experienced business travellers. Our starting point was how close a hotel should be to the airport to warrant the term. On airport property would be one definition, but then a lot of airports own the surrounding land for many miles, so would qualify even while you queue for a shuttle bus and face a 20-minute transfer. For some business travellers this would defeat the object of staying there – a main reason for choosing one is knowing you can be at the check-in desk in five or ten minutes.
There are three types of airport hotel, it was agreed – those that are airside, those that are landside and directly connected to the airport/terminal, and those that are close by. The airside properties are a special case since their main purpose is to help you when you have a short stopover and want to avoid having to change money into the local currency.
Landside, the essentials are a hot shower, a silent room and pitch darkness. You should also ask if your room has double glazing before booking. Other items on the wish list include flight information in the lobby and on the in-room TV, and knowledgeable reception staff to help with airport information, check-in policies and transfer times. The ability to check in for flights at stand-alone kiosks and print out boarding passes is also useful.
There’s also the matter of possibly being charged for two nights even though you are staying for only 12 hours, perhaps from 6am to 6pm. The traditional model for a city-centre hotel is a 24-hour stay or, more accurately, 21 hours, since the typical check-in time is 3pm and check-out is 12pm. Regal Airport Hotel offers 24-hour rates from when you check in, and is divided into sections by time zone so that sleeping passengers aren’t interrupted by cleaners. Richard Hodges, its general manager, felt this was essential.
“An airport hotel has to be flexible and look after its guests,” he said. “We have day rooms and you can also have a Thai massage in your room. We make it easy for the guest to relax after the flight, and part of that is allowing them to arrive at 6am and check in straight away.”
No one would dispute that price, service and reliability are all important, but after 18 months of travel budget cutbacks, are we using airport hotels in a different way? After all, many of them are well connected, offer lower prices than city properties and have good meeting and conference facilities.
“We have seen a lot more people coming in and using the meeting rooms – sometimes they arrive in the morning, have a coffee, have the meeting and lunch, so they are here for four hours and then leave,” Hodges says. Several guests at the lunch had used airport hotels for meetings, particularly for interviews, allowing face-to-face time without the hassle of getting into the city.
One possible scenario is that with travel budgets being reduced, video-conferencing might become more common, especially if it is available in hotel meeting rooms. The guests were generally not in favour of this – perhaps it was a reflection of their love of travelling, but mostly it went against their firm belief that meeting in person was all-important. One said: “We refuse to use video-conferencing – instead we just have shorter meetings, in the sense that we won’t fly out the night before; we’ll do it all in a day. Ordinarily most of the business is done around or after the meeting anyway, and that is where video-conferencing can’t work.”
So how do we choose our airport hotel? Well, all things being equal in terms of convenience, proximity and price, travellers’ loyalty programmes were influential as they allowed them to earn and burn points. As one guest put it: “Any stay where I can’t get a reward or a credit is a big waste of time for me and I refuse to do it.”
Not surprisingly, it was the value of the rewards that guests focused on, from upgrades to club floors. Still, it’s worth saying in defence of smaller chains that any hotel where you are a regular will offer similar rewards even if it isn’t a member of a large programme. “The more you stay at a hotel the better,” Hodges said. “If they don’t treat you as special, go somewhere else. If you have stayed more than five times then you should be upgraded and you should ask for it at check-in. Hotels go through the arrivals in the morning and they look for frequent guests and upgrade them.”
Regal also provides tickets for the Airport Express train into the city. “We say it is only 23 minutes into Hong Kong and we give our guests tickets for a round trip,” he said. “In Asia we see the breakfast thing differently so we do charge for it, but only HK$30 [£2.50] rather than the €30 it might cost in Europe.” With airport hotels, such steps count for a lot.
50 TOP AIRPORT HOTELS
In June last year we compiled a list of 50 of the top airport hotels worldwide. They were:
Europe
Citizen M Amsterdam Airport
Sheraton Amsterdam Airport Hotel and Convention Centre
Sofitel Athens Airport
Sheraton Brussels Airport
Hilton Copenhagen Airport
Sheraton Frankfurt Hotel and Towers, Conference Centre
Hilton Helsinki Vantaa Airport
Courtyard by Marriott London Gatwick Airport
Yotel Gatwick
Hilton London Heathrow Airport
Sofitel London Heathrow
Radisson Blu Stansted Airport
Crowne Plaza Milan Malpensa Airport
Novotel Moscow Sheremetyevo Airport
Kempinski Airport Munchen (Munich)
Radisson Blu Airport Oslo Gardermoen
Sheraton Paris Airport Hotel and Conference Centre
Hilton Rome Airport
Movenpick Stuttgart Airport
Radisson Blu Zurich Airport
Middle East and Africa
Dubai International Hotel
Le Méridien Dubai
Intercontinental Johannesburg OR Tambo Airport
Americas
Hilton Atlanta Airport
Hilton Boston Logan Airport
Aloft Chicago O’Hare
Hilton Chicago O’Hare Airport
Grand Hyatt DFW, Dallas
Custom Hotel, Los Angeles
Ramada Plaza JFK International Airport
Newark Liberty International Airport Marriott
Hyatt Regency Orlando International Airport
Philadelphia Airport Marriott
Hyatt Regency San Francisco Airport
Sao Paulo Airport Marriott
Radisson Gateway Seattle-Tacoma Airport
Sheraton Gateway Toronto International Airport
Washington Dulles Airport Marriott
Fairmont Vancouver Airport
Asia-Pacific
Novotel Bangkok Suvarnabhumi Airport
Crowne Plaza International Airport Beijing
Regal Airport Hotel, Hong Kong
Pan Pacific Kuala Lumpur International Airport
Hilton Melbourne International Airport
Leela Kempinski Mumbai
Hyatt Regency Incheon
Ramada Pudong Airport
Crowne Plaza Changi Airport
Stamford Plaza Sydney Airport
Hilton Tokyo Narita Airport
? For the full report or to suggest a hotel, visit businesstraveller.com/archive/2009/june-2009
Flexible deals, Regal service
An oasis of calm and flexible 24-hour accommodation is offered by Hong Kong’s Regal Airport Hotel, helping weary travellers to get over their jetlag and use their time well
After a long-haul trip full of transfers and airport meetings, the weary traveller appreciates being able to take a hot shower and grab a nap before going to the next meeting or getting on another plane to a new destination.
That is why the Regal Airport Hotel has introduced a unique idea – flexible 24-hour accommodation at one of Asia’s busiest air terminals. Located only two minutes’ stroll from Hong Kong International airport, the hotel offers several flexible packages regardless of check-in time, to meet the needs of business travellers arriving from around the world on differing flight schedules.
Specially designed with international business travellers in mind, the Regal Airport Hotel features a wide range of facilities and services equivalent to those offered by a downtown business hotel – a 24-hour business centre, room service, a gym, express check-in and check-out service and 1,171 comfortable rooms. The hotel was awarded the title of Best Airport Hotel in the World for two consecutive years, and in Asia-Pacific for nine consecutive years, by readers of Business Traveller UK and Business Traveller Asia-Pacific magazines respectively.
If travellers have a stopover in Hong Kong between flights during the day and are looking for a place to stay, the flexible Day Use Package (US$114) will solve their problem. The package includes ten hours’ accommodation in a Superior room between 6am and 9pm, free use of outdoor and indoor heated pools, a 15-minute head or shoulder massage at OM Spa, in-room welcome tea with assorted refreshments, and free internet access at the business centre.
For a little bit more (US$172), upgrade to a Regal Club room and get full Club floor privileges including a scrumptious breakfast buffet, free in-room broadband internet access and more.
Regal Club is located on the top three executive levels of the hotel. Featuring stylish rooms, suites and a lounge, it conveniently caters to the needs of executives. Overlooking the stunning runway and the South China Sea, the Regal Club lounge is an ideal venue for a relaxed breakfast, refreshments or evening cocktail.
Meanwhile, transit travellers can find a real oasis in the relaxing OM Spa, the only luxurious spa facility at the airport. Choose from a wide range of massage treatments, body scrubs, herbal wraps, facials and a selection of luxurious baths using superior custom-blended spa products that are organic and handmade by Lemongrass House in Phuket.
Travellers looking for a short break between flights without the need for a room are welcome to use the spa with its free gym, steam room, sauna, indoor and outdoor pools and shower if they sign up for an enjoyable hour-long massage for US$79. If no massage is needed, simply pay US$20 on weekdays and US$26 at weekends to enjoy these recreational facilities.
Regal Airport Hotel
9 Cheong Tat Road
Hong Kong International airport
Chek Lap Kok, Hong Kong
Tel +852 2286 8888
Fax +852 2286 8686
email [email protected]
regalhotel.com
