Airport hotels do not always get the best press. Seen as the poor relation of their city-centre counterparts, they are used for their sheer convenience, or as a distress purchase if one’s flight is delayed. So what measures should they be taking to improve perceptions?
To find out, in March we held an editor’s lunch on the topic, which was attended by many of our readers. The event took place at Mosimann’s private dining club in London (mosimann.com) and was kindly sponsored by Hong Kong’s Regal Airport hotel (regalhotel.com), whose efforts to lead the field are reflected in the fact it has won the Best Airport Hotel prize at the reader-voted Business Traveller Awards for the past three years.
Proceedings kicked off with a discussion on price. By their very nature as properties that tend to attract one-off rather than regular guests, there can be a temptation for airport hotels to charge more, and reader feedback has suggested this was most pronounced during the recent natural disasters and bouts of poor weather, when travellers were forced into emergency stays.
While participants criticised any attempts to up rates, some reported their own experiences of being treated admirably during the recent crises, and also accepted it as a sign of the times: “It’s not only airport hotels that do that, it’s the hotel industry in general, and the airlines,” one said. “The only industry that probably can’t get away with doing it at the moment is restaurants. You can criticise but it’s not that unfair a tactic.”
Ultimately, as Jan Kirstein, general manager of Regal Airport hotel, pointed out, acting opportunistically is counterproductive. “As we speak, I am getting text messages about layovers because of the tragedy in Japan,” he said. “We could easily jack up our prices but am I going to have a loyal client in the future? Common sense has to prevail.”
So, pricing aside, what do travellers want from an airport hotel? Top of the list for many was to be able to check in no matter what time they arrived. “I find with airport hotels that the Far East is very good but the UK and Europe are appalling if you arrive at the wrong time,” one reader said. “If you arrive at 10am, they might say you can’t have the room until 1pm – it’s crazy.” US airport properties also received praise, perhaps because they tend to get more regular travellers passing through their big hubs than in the UK and Europe, where guests are more likely to be staying once only.
One suggestion was for hotels to email their regular guests prior to their stay to check what flight they were arriving on. Regal Airport hotel’s 24-hour check-in policy was praised as an innovative move. At the same time, one participant called for such policies to be flexible so that if you arrived at 10am, you could check out later than 10am the next morning if you needed to.
Also imperative is peace and quiet. One participant criticised the tendency for some properties to place leisure guests in the same part of the building as business travellers. “I use hotels near airports extensively and you wouldn’t believe how many times I have ended up with a party next door or in the corridor because they’ve had a planeload that has been decanted and they’ve filled up the floor with people on holiday. I want to pay for a room and rest – I’m not on holiday, I’m working.” It would be a good idea for properties to designate particular floors as business ones, the reader suggested.
Participants also called for internet access to be free. This is an issue for all hotels, of course, but perhaps particularly important in airport properties – if you’ve just arrived after a long flight, you want to be able to access it in your room, not just in the executive lounge. Kirstein acknowledged the problem but pointed out that many properties were locked into agreements with third-party providers. “Sooner or later internet access will be like toilet paper,” he said. “A couple of years from today, I can assure you that any sensible hotelier will give away internet for free.”
Other wants on the checklist were soundproofing to block out plane noise, “proper” food 24/7, fair car parking fees – something many airport hotels recognise with “park and fly” deals – and for the “airport hotel” actually to be located on or next to the airport rather than being a distance away.
And while the consensus was that such properties didn’t necessarily need all the bells and whistles of a city-centre hotel in terms of facilities – most people, after all, will not be in the property long enough to use them – what was vital was meeting rooms. “They are more important at an airport hotel than at a city centre one,” said one reader, whose company holds a lot of meetings at airports in the US rather than paying for – and travelling to – high-end properties downtown.
And while spas such as Regal’s are a nice extra to have after a long and stressful journey, what readers cited in particular was the need for a gym that operates 24 hours. “It doesn’t matter how small it is but you might find yourself in there at 3am and it helps you to adjust,” one said.
Other than facilities, consistency of service was vital, readers agreed. “I think generally there is a perception that somehow you’re not treated quite as well at an airport hotel, as mostly you’re only there for one night,” one said. “You do feel very much part of a process – one night in and you’re going to check out early. But actually there’s a real opportunity because most people who travel a lot would probably choose to have a preferred hotel if they felt they were being treated a bit better.” Properties such as the Sofitel London Heathrow and Singapore’s Crowne Plaza Changi Airport were cited as exceptions that encouraged travellers back for leisure purposes.
Airport properties within a particular brand also need to perform to the same standards as their sister hotels in the city. “I see a difference within the same brand at an airport,” one said. “I feel they’re not looking after me quite as well, or it’s not quite as tightly run as a city centre hotel, which has got to be on the ball.
“But I’d settle for that to be right at the airport,” the reader acknowledged, pinpointing the very reason why airport hotels will continue to be in demand.
Join our next debate
If you would like to attend the next editor’s lunch, please email Emma Gordon at [email protected], stating your name, job title, company and topics of interest.
