Inside Hospitality: Are club rooms worth it?

At 41 sqm, the Club Millesime room is the same size as the Luxury room, base category of Sofitel Mumbai BKC Hotel. Both room categories are equipped with free wifi, free water bottles, 40-inch LCD TV, iPod docking station, work desk, espresso machine, minibar, in-room safe, iron and ironing board, and a separate bathtub and shower. While all in-room offerings remain the same for the two categories, there is a ₹3,000 price difference between them. Internet rates for a mid-week stay in October at the Club Millesime room starts from ₹17,000 per night, and the Luxury room at ₹14,000 per night. In that case, why would you book the former?

Value for money. Simply put, for the additional ₹3,000, the Club Millesime room includes a one-way airport transfer (a 21-minute drive), breakfast, high-tea and cocktail hours, free meeting room access and all-day free tea and coffee at the Club lounge on the 14th floor. The two meeting rooms can hold five and six people. Club guests may book these in advance, for an hour per day of their stay, to hold meetings with colleagues and associates. They may avail of the printing and scanning facilities too, free for the first ten pages.

As John Nair, head of business travel at Cox and Kings aptly says, “The Club floor is virtually an office.”

PENNY’S WORTH

When a hotel earns incremental revenue by charging you extra for the same 40 sqm space, it needs to justify this with perks. Nair reckons Club floor rooms to be a sensible choice for short-stay corporate travellers with a tight schedule.

When time is of essence, travelling between meetings in traffic-laden cities such as Mumbai and Bengaluru means wastage of precious minutes. “On checking into a Club room, guests can start meetings with business associates almost immediately without having to commute from point A to B,” Nair, a frequent business traveller, speaks from experience. “For instance, in Mumbai, corporate executives waste a lot of time travelling from north Mumbai to south or central Mumbai. So, ideally, when they come to the city, I’d suggest they conduct their meetings at the hotel itself, using the club floor facilities.”

Post sunset, meetings can move from the boardroom to the Executive/Club lounge for the happy hour. As a visitor to the city, one needn’t have to think about where to entertain a work associate. Many hotels allow Club guests to bring a friend to the lounge. While the happy hour menu is included in the extra room rate and exclusive to the guest, they’re charged for  “non-resident guests” invited by them.

CLUB PERKS

High-end luxury brands such as The St. Regis have a butler assigned to you. The brand’s Mumbai property has labelled this room as Premiere, and it is the same size as the base category Deluxe room (45 sqm). The butler helps in packing and unpacking, and irons two pieces of clothing per day. These rooms occupy levels 25 to 28 of the tower. There is no dedicated lounge where the happy hour can be enjoyed. However, Premiere room guests are entertained at Luna Nudo between 6pm and 8pm. The meeting room on the property is available for two hours each day, free. The only drawback is that while Club floor guests usually enjoy breakfast at an exclusive venue, here, they join the base category room guests at Seven Kitchens.

“Everything is being done for you on Club floors,” says Hemant Tenneti, the senior area director of operation (South Asia) at Marriott Hotels. “I’m generalising for the industry when I say the following. Laundry service for a fixed number of pieces is free per day at some properties. If you plan to burn the midnight oil, the executive lounge that is usually quiet works like your office. You will be served for as long as you’re there. You’re paying that extra bit for convenience, which I think is very important for a business traveller.”

ITC Grand Chola, Chennai is a property of India’s homegrown luxury hospitality brand, ITC Hotels. It too has a round-the-clock butler service, but one that is common to the floor. Additionally, its ITC One rooms include Sleep Ensemble, a sleep kit that is  “designed to enable a great night’s sleep”. The box holds an eye mask, ear plugs, essential oil to calm the senses, pillow mist, a flash drive with soothing music and a guide to certain sleep-inducing yoga exercises, amongst other things. Guests can use the meeting room for three hours a day with secretarial assistance, and enjoy happy hours at the Upper Crust lounge, but eat breakfast at the all-day restaurant common to all hotel guests.

WORK + LEISURE

The Club floor set-up works beautifully when you decide to bring the family with you on a business trip. For corporate travellers, the biggest pull is the Club lounge and meeting rooms, where they can conduct business without being disturbed, while the family can enjoy the perks that come with this category — such as all day free tea/coffee, happy hours, and free laundry to name a few. They can use these free of cost, which otherwise, at a resort, you would end up paying for.

“While our Executive floor attracts business travellers, it also entices leisure travellers,” says Abhilash Kumar, the room division manager at, Pullman and Novotel New Delhi Aerocity.  “With the Club floor, we have created a unique niche in our hotel, which dedicatedly caters to  “bleisure” (business and leisure) guests.” Perks in the Executive rooms of Pullman New Delhi Aerocity include the Lavasa coffee machine, as opposed to coffee powder in sachets and a water heater, and personalised concierge service. Pullman’s Executive rooms too are the same size as the base category rooms (36 sqm).

Likewise, The Leela Palace Bengaluru, though designed as a leisure property, its general manager, Kunal Chauhan says that almost 95 per cent of its clientele is made up of business travellers.  “We have a substantial number of corporate guests visiting from overseas, and it is probably not feasible to bring their families. However, we have seen a trend where a considerable number of guests staying with us for business purposes on their first visit, decide to return again with their families for a holiday.” On the fifth floor of the property is the Royal Club that follows the hotel-within-a-hotel concept with a reception, not common to the rest of the hotel guests. This floor includes the suites too. Facilities on this floor include a 24-hour butler service, and a Cigar and Champagne Lounge equipped with a billiard table and a collection of rare cigars. Royal Club offers an exclusive breakfast buffet, a snack hour, high tea in the evening, followed by cocktail hours and  “a digestive hour post-dinner offerings, including, cognacs, single malts and sinful gourmet chocolates.”

LOYAL FOLLOWING

Loyalty programme members especially would find better value for money as opposed to someone who is consciously paying extra for the Club room amenities. Tenneti exemplifies,  “Let’s say someone is a Platinum member with Marriott Rewards. In one year, that person has stayed 75 nights with us, which translates to him or her spending a significant amount of dollars with the brand before seeing value.”  Marriott Rewards members are awarded the Platinum status on spending 75 nights a year, and Gold on spending 50 nights.  “Once you’re a Gold or Platinum member, you get more value such as free upgrades, late checkouts and guaranteed lounge access. So yes, because of the amount you spend with us, we encourage you with added benefits, thereby giving you more value, because we know your loyalty lies with us.”  Marriott Rewards’ lower categories — Rewards (entry level) and Silver (10 nights/year) — can upgrade to higher room categories by redeeming points collected.

• Le Club AccorHotels’ Gold (30 nights/year) and Platinum (60 nights/year) members are offered a free room upgrade subject to availability. Silver (10 nights/year) and Classic (entry level) members need to pay for an upgrade like the other guests or redeem points earned. Gold members also get free access to the Executive lounge, even if they’re staying at the base category.
• Starwood Preferred Guest gives a free upgrade only to its Platinum (50 nights/year) members, as well as Club- and Executive-level lounge privileges. Gold (25 nights/year) and Preferred (entry level) membership benefits don’t include these.
• Taj InnerCircle Gold (40 nights/year) and Platinum (80 nights/year) membership tiers are upgraded for free — unlimited for Platinum and 20 upgrades a year for Gold. Silver (10 nights/year) and Copper (entry level) members don’t have these benefits.
• World of Hyatt’s Explorist (30 nights/year) and Globalist (60 nights/year) members get free upgrades, which Member (entry level) and Discoverist (10 nights/year) don’t. The Explorist and Globalist tiers include free lounge access, limited to four entries for the former.

Though Club floor rooms pack in a punch for the extra ₹3,000- ₹5,000 over the base category room rate, loyalty programmes give members better value for money, as that’s what they’re designed for. However, this works best for the latter if they’re members of the higher tiers, and/or have enough points to go for an upgrade. Having said that, with the number of freebies such as breakfast, cocktails and meeting room facilities that are standard across a majority of Executive/Club categories, the extra spend is definitely worth it for a business traveller on a time crunch.