Who really wants to stay on a female floor?
From the Blog, The Good, the Bad, and the Funky, by Yvette Jong, for HOTELSmag.com
Sure, I like a hotel that listens to my preferences, but when it starts assuming that I like girly magazines and pink-toned furniture because I'm a single female traveler, I have to think twice about how intuitive it actually is.
Sure, I like a hotel that listens to my preferences, but when it starts assuming that I like girly magazines and pink-toned furniture because I'm a single female traveler, I have to think twice about how intuitive it actually is. On the same note, I disagree with hotels that have female-only floors. It's a topic we discussed five years ago at HICAP, and my opinion remains the same. If a hotel offers female-only floors and charges guests a premium to stay in these rooms, does it not send out a message that guests should question the level of security available elsewhere throughout the hotel?
Here are some things I like as a single traveler:
A room close to the elevator — because I'm a little lazy, and because I don't like the idea of walking down a long, dimly lit hallway late at night.
A room that doesn't have a connecting door.
For the front desk to practice some discretion and avoid announcing my room number aloud so everyone can hear it.
And while I'm staying in a room on my own, I don't want any of the following:
A room on the same floor as a colleague. My time is my time, and when I travel with colleagues my personal space extends across an entire hotel floor.
Fashion magazines. I'm traveling alone, which might be an indicator that I'm traveling for work. In this case there are two things to consider: I can appreciate the latest Economist, and who has time to read magazines in hotel rooms anyhow?
A drink voucher that I won't use because I'll look like the lonely female purposefully sitting at the bar alone.
Give me Wi-Fi, slippers and a robe that actually fit and some additional bathroom amenities, and we can call it a day. But again, I think the lesson is that every guest wants something different. Why not just ask us what our preferences are?
Craft House Founder and Director, Yvette Jong, contributes regularly to her HOTELS Magazine Blog titled, "The Good, the Bad and the Funky." Topics of discussion include all aspects of hospitality development, operations, branding, marketing, human resources, sustainability and much more.