The concept serves a couple purposes. First, hotels have these immaculate facilities that often are underutilized by guests, leaving pools and gyms practically deserted. Giving city residents access helps to boost business and make the initial investment worth it. Second, these memberships bring in people during off-peak seasons, which also gives hotels a revenue boost.
While leisure and dining packages are a big part of hotels' strategy, they are also looking for ways to lure residents for work. Business travel has slowed in recent years, and hotels are hungry for professional events that result in big profits. As a result, many have created workspaces for locals to use for interviews, small meetings or larger group get togethers. Hotels believe that this could result in people spending more on drinks and food while they work.
The hope is that these incentives could lead to larger bookings, such as a wedding or convention. Because who knows what kind of people will walk in next. If nothing else, hotels that are offering these kinds of packages and deals will gain positive word-of-mouth, which could also lead to more business down the road.
Of course, hotels are still providing nice perks to guests. Kimpton Hotels recently teamed up with boutique bicycle and gear company PUBLIC to create a customized fleet of bikes, which are complimentary for guests to use at all locations nationwide. The Kimpton bike features a cherry-red frame with orange and blue accents, cream tires, double walled rims, brass bell and rear basket. Kimpton is also offering custom picnic baskets with fare from chefs of hotel restaurants. The baskets come in three themes: light and healthy, romantic shareables, and local flair. Each basket will be inspired by the location and will have locally-sourced goods.
Kimpton Bike. Source: PR Newswire