e-Merging Trends

SOME CONTEMPORARY TRENDS:
-Brands say scents make sense in the guest experience
Executives from Westin, Marriott, Hyatt and Mandarin Oriental share their experience with creating and deploying signature brand scents.

-Consumer Insights: Leisure travelers give wireless access high marks
To win the hearts of your leisure travelers, make guestroom wireless or wired high-speed Internet access free. That's the conclusion of a study of 304 leisure travelers conducted by Yesawich, Pepperdine, Brown & Russell's AmeriLink Internet Surveying Service

-Properties should look for an audit trail that timestamps guest openings, closings, timeouts and clearly identifies the employee's full name [who] performs the emergency openings.A master log of all management activities in the system is also invaluable.In a world where electronic items such as BlackBerries and cell phones are manufactured to take up as little space as possible, in-room safes are expanding their waistlines to accommodate more of these types of items as well as portable workstations.

-Natural stone for bathroom tiles is coming back. While the prices of marble and other natural stones had been cost prohibitive, new marbles from China are nearly the same price as the faux stone slabs from Europe.
Natural is in for countertops, too. Some hotels are using a crystallized glass finish, a hard stone with natural stone chips, rather than granite.

-Vanity Style
The Palmer House Hilton in Chicago features a sleek vanity.
Vanity finishes are going upscale with custom millwork and darker stains.
Veneers are being upgraded. Veneers that we're seeing used more are a rift-cut Oak, a nice gloss ... and dark staining in general.

-Walls that wow

The George Washington Hotel in Winchester, Va., is scheduled for completion this summer. A model room bath shows off the residential look.
Paint is being used more often on walls than vinyl wallcoverings.
More in high-humidity areas, people are going away from vinyl to avoid humidity.In most cases, paint is considered a more green choice because walls can breathe, rather than trapping mould behind them.
A semigloss paint that can be cleaned is being used more.

-GREAT SLEEP EXPERIENCE
Hampton conducted extensive research in developing a bed that delivers the ultimate sleep experience to guests. "Cloud Nine”. The new Hampton bed experience" is the culmination of this research, resulting in the selection of the most comfortable bedding combination possible. An inviting, high-quality, raised mattress is complemented by smooth, 200-thread count white sheets that rest beneath a fluffy, down comforter enclosed in a crisp, white duvet cover. Resting against the residential headboard, three or four pillows (depending on room type) give guests a choice in firmness (some filled with soft down, some with firmer foam), and a lumbar pillow help offer back support to guests who choose to read, watch television or use the Hampton lap desk to work while resting in bed.
The bed is the most recent innovation in the Make It Hampton initiative, which - at its culmination - will incorporate four million system-wide upgrades designed to meet the changing needs of busy business and leisure travelers. Since January 2004, Make It Hampton has debuted new products and services ranging from a new complimentary On the House hot breakfast and On the Run breakfast bags, Purity Basics bath products and a curved shower rod, complimentary high-speed Internet access and the industry's easiest-to-set alarm clock/radio. Make It Hampton is the single most rapid, most extensive transformation ever undertaken by a hotel brand, dramatically enhancing the guest experience across all of its hotels.