A corner office in your hotel suite
Since most guests of five-star hotels are businesspeople on a conference visit or attending a business meeting, it is important that these hotels supply a comprehensive range of business services that meet the expectations of their clients. This means a lot more than just an internet connection. Business travelers have to prepare themselves for conferences, often introducing changes to negotiation proposals at the last minute. They sometimes need to meet with business partners to exchange confidential information or undertake negotiations in surroundings conducive to their particular business or personal requirements.
Private workspace
That is why most five-star hotels offer their business clients something special. This starts with accommodation, which is more spacious than the standard and usually comprises two rooms - a bedroom and a workroom.
In Le Royal Meridien Bristol, each of the five executive business rooms are equipped with a desk, a fax machine, a printer and a photocopier - all the necessary office supplies. They also offer broadband internet access. "These rooms are furnished to meet the expectations of a guest who wants to work," explains the head of Bristol's PR office Magdalena Adamus. The hotel also has five Business Suites, which are similarly equipped, but with the addition of a comfortable sofa, allowing for informal meetings and discussions to take place in the guest's room.
The butler did it
Guests staying on the Sheraton's Towers floor receive a personalized butler, who packs and unpacks their cases, presses three articles of clothing on arrival and provides a shoeshine service.
Occupants of the VIP rooms at the Hyatt Regency get a bowl of fresh fruit, water and even a bottle of wine on arrival. Warsaw's Marriott Hotel, which has been named the CEE Region's best business hotel four times in the last six years, offers unexpected but useful amenities such as a double-line telephone in the business apartments as well as dual 110/220 voltage electricity sockets.
These hotels must offer businesspeople more than just five-star accommodation. The so-called executive floors have their own lounge bars where business clients can eat breakfast, enjoy coffee or tea and read a newspaper, as well as have hors d'oeuvres and a drink in the evening. As the PR Director of Starwood Hotels & Resorts - the operator of Sheraton and Westin hotels - Katarzyna Gontarczyk explains, the Sheraton's Tower Lounge is "a perfect place to relax after a busy day."
Join the club
At the Regency Club in the Hyatt Regency, snacks and cocktails are served every evening between 6 pm and 8 pm. "It's a perfect place to relax in a club atmosphere and to meet informally with business partners," says the head of Hyatt Regency's marketing department, Tomasz Karwacki. He added that VIP guests visiting the Regency Club can find newspapers from all over the world.
The clubs and lounge bars on executive floors are not just exclusive cafes. They also offer an express check-in and check-out service, which means that there is no need to stand in the queues in the hotel's main lobby. All these privileges are granted at an additional cost of around EUR 20-30 (zł.77-116).
Down to business
Meetings are an important part of every business trip. Many of these discussions and negotiations need to be held outside the conference rooms or offices. The informal atmosphere of the lounge bar does not suit every occasion.
"We offer our business clients special boardrooms where meetings for eight, ten or twelve people can take place. The rooms are equipped with the latest audiovisual equipment," said the marketing and PR manager of Hotel Marriott, Robert Budzyński. He added that the hotel also has a number of smaller conference rooms that can be adapted to any client's needs.
These hotels also offer facilities in the lobby for guests staying in less well-equipped rooms to use. "We have a 24-hour business center in the lobby with a photocopier and a printer," Budzyński said. In Hyatt's business center guests have access to computers in case they haven't brought their own.
Time out
When the work is done, those who wish to stay for longer and see something more of Warsaw or Poland can count on the help of the hotels' concierge. "The concierge helps our guests rent a car, buy a train ticket to Kraków or can arrange a night out - theater tickets or a museum visit," says the Hyatt's Karwacki. He adds that hotels frequently organize tours of Warsaw or trips to places around the city together with a bus picking up guests from each hotel.
And for those who'd rather just spend time in the hotel, each of them offers a range of leisure facilities, including swimming pools, gyms, a variety of restaurants offering any number of different cuisines, nightclubs or casinos.
