Away-from-home computing

Home Office Computing, July, 1994 by Joe Brancatelli

Hoteliers have finally learned that businesspeople take technology with them when they travel. As a result, you'll soon start to see many of the typical hotel amenities, such as mints on the pillow and herb-scented soaps in the john, be supplemented by functional desks, in-room fax machines, dataports, and dual phone lines.

"Our guests have told us that they need to be as productive on the road as they are in their offices," says Darryl Hartley-Leonard, president of Hyatt Hotels.

The company's Business Plan rooms, now available in 80 hotels, are equipped with workstations that have enhanced lighting, fax machines, and two phones (one on the desk and one bedside). To top that, 800-number access, complimentary breakfast, and a coffee machine are included in each room. "We even custom-designed a desk lamp," adds Hyatt executive Josh Lesnick, "that has a power receptacle in the base. So now when business travelers need to plug in laptop computers, they never need to search behind desks or under beds to find a power source." Moreover, Business Plan rooms are located in a separate area of the hotel that provides 24-hour access to printers, photocopiers, and office supplies. The price is just $15 a night above any room rate you can negotiate.

Following this trend, many other hotels are adopting similar programs for their business guests. None is as comprehensive--or offers quite as much for the money--as the Hyatt Business Plan, but each has an interesting bonus. For all of these hotels, however, rates vary widely by location. So you'll need to call ahead to calculate your travel budget.

Hilton's BusinessSavers package, for instance, includes local phone calls, outgoing faxes, one free in-room movie, and health club use for $10 to $20 above the daily corporate rate. Radisson's Business Class room program adds a free breakfast. All the hoteliers involved are stressing the availability of dataport-equipped phones and curtailed phone charges for modem users. In addition, express check-in and check-out are standard fare.