Why don’t hotels take better case of their business centers?

Steven Tutino — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 14:31:33 +0000

I stayed at the Sheraton – Baton Rouge last night and the business center was frustrating. The chairs were positioned so that if one guest was using one computer the other was not accessible. Why don’t GMs look at these details and get them fixed? I think all hotel GMs should have to work from a hotel room in their hotel for a week once per year. I suspect the business center PCs would work, the highspeed Internet would be consistent and shared printing services would be available from all guest rooms.

Back to the Sheraton: the business center computers were running Office 2003 and an old version of Acrobat so I couldn’t open my email attachments. A lady came into the business center looking to print a document (no shared printing service from the rooms at this hotel; where is the PrintMe when you need it?) and she had to move one of the PCs out of the drawer to plug in her USB drive. How frustrating when you are already running fast in the morning to get things done.

Finally, when is Starwood going to wakeup and understand that the business traveler shouldn’t have to pay $9.95 for Internet at a Sheraton? Even Hyatt finally got this announcing last week that Internet at all of their hotels will be at no charge going forward. Starwood is one of the most progressive franchisors, now they need to catch up and realize that the business traveler pays for the room and meals and isn’t willing to pay for highspeed Internet. This is probably why the Hilton Garden Inn I passed on my way to the Sheraton was full while the Sheraton looked like it was running at about 25% occupancy.

Ipanema Solutions Blog » Business Centers

Why don’t hotels take better case of their business centers?