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Travel Tips
Travelers Get Showered With Added Comforts
(NewsUSA) - With U.S. companies spending an estimated $179 billion on
business travel this year, millions of road warriors have found themselves
longing for some of the comforts of home while on the road.
According to Trendwatching.com, an Amsterdam-based independent trend
agency, the desire for a more comfortable and better-equipped hotel is
becoming a very real global trend.
"Consumers spare no expense to have the best of the best in their homes,
from home movie theaters to home gyms," said Reinier Evers, founder of
Trendwatching.com. "When consumers are forced to leave their homes, they tend
to demand an even nicer environment from their hotels, with a touch of luxury
one would normally not find at home."
Because of this, a second trend also is at play, said Evers. As hotels
try to keep up and put nicer amenities in guest rooms, travelers often find
themselves enjoying the comforts of their new environment so much that they
want to purchase the products to replicate the experience at home.
"Hotels are obviously already capitalizing on this by selling customers
the luxurious appointments formerly found exclusively in their hotels," Evers
said. In fact, guests can purchase just about anything they find in a hotel
room these days, from beds and towels to showerheads and soaps.
Upscale hotels jumped on the trend early, some even offering catalogs.
However, mid-market hotels have recently found their own niche. Holiday Inn
Express, the fastest-growing hotel chain in its segment, is rolling out a $20
million bathroom makeover in its more than 1,300 properties in the United
States and Canada.
The focus of the upgrade, called the SimplySmart guest bath experience,
is a Stay Smart showerhead by Kohler that was tested by more than 7,000 guests
at 28 hotels across the country before being installed in late 2004. So many
people were asking how to get it that Holiday Inn Express now sells it via
www.hiexpress.com.
Other upgrades -- including 100 percent cotton terry towels and a
"hookless" white waffle weave shower curtain -- also are available online. A
curved shower rod, another program upgrade and also a frequently requested
item, will be available online by spring. All of these upgrades were a nod to
guest preference and feedback.
As travelers continue to demand more from hotels, they are sure to
experience amenities that they'd like to have at home as well -- and will
increasingly have the chance to bring that style back home with them.
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