Going the extra mile

Entrepreneur, June, 1997 by Shirley Louise Walker

Visit Four Seasons/Regent's Web site at www.fshr.com, or for reservations, call (800) 332-3442.

Best Hotel Value, New York City: The Gotham Hospitality Group

Gotham Hospitality started offering value-conscious business travelers a trendy alternative when it rescued the timeworn Hotel Wales on Manhattan's Upper East Side. Since then, entrepreneur Bernard Goldberg has added four more previously blighted structures to his chain of business-traveler-friendly hotels.

With each addition to the group - from The Franklin (also on the Upper East Side) to The Shoreham and The Mansfield, both off Fifth Avenue, and most recently, The Roger Williams on lower Madison Avenue - Gotham Hospitality has become better known among the value-conscious. But don't think good value means shabby. This group of small hotels creates a highbrow mind-set, thanks to public spaces featuring museum-quality furniture, original art, and complimentary breakfasts and late-night desserts.

Rates run from about $100 at The Roger Williams up to $250 for suites at The Shoreham. Best of all, there are no extra charges - no minibars to tempt you and no room service (however, all the hotels have popular restaurants). Instead, you'll get complimentary fresh flowers, Neutrogena bath products, and occasional live music performances in the lobby.

To get the best rate at a Gotham Hospitality property, book through hotel consolidator Quikbook at (800) 789-9887.

Best Hotel Value, Los Angeles: Summit Bel-Air & Summit Rodeo Drive

Location is key with business travelers visiting the sprawling Los Angeles area. Unfortunately, the most centrally located hotels in town are also the most expensive. Good news: Hidden among the plush hostelries of Beverly Hills and West Los Angeles are two casually elegant bargains, the Summit Bel-Air and the Summit Rodeo Drive.

Whichever hotel you choose, the facilities of both are at your disposal, including award-winning restaurants, heated pools, and two-line phones with voice mail and modem hookups. They also offer facilities for small meetings. If you stay at the Summit Rodeo, you get free transportation to the Summit Bel-Air to enjoy its garden atmosphere and tennis or spa treatments. Surprisingly, rates at both hotels are in the $150 range - a true bargain for a convenient and elegant Beverly Hills address. (Limo service is available to and from Los Angeles International Airport for $68 round trip, including tip.)

For reservations, call (800) HOTEL-411.

Travel Services

Best Car Rental Service: Thrifty Rent-A-Car System

It's hard to beat the deal Thrifty offers budget-minded business travelers - its rates are almost always lower than those of larger car rental agencies, it has tons of airport locations, and it offers new Chrysler cars. Since 1995, Thrifty and Western Pacific Airlines (see page 123) have had an alliance that includes special car rental rates and parking discounts for West-Pac customers.

Thrifty has more than 1,100 locations worldwide at both airport and nonairport sites. The company has also capitalized on the parking squeeze at most major airports by opening its car rental lots to airport parking.