A hotel is no longer just a place to sleep, an office not just a place to work. The role of a place—any place—has changed. Because we’ve changed.
In 2005, as part of the founding team of citizenM, I watched the concept of social lobbies come alive. Communal spaces where people felt connected, serviced, and productive. It was the first time I saw hospitality’s transformative power to embed itself into the fabric of the local neighbourhood.
Crowne Plaza by IHG – one of the world’s largest premium hotel brands and a thought-leader in the blended travel space – has released its second white paper, Leading the Charge in Blended Travel. The report unveils a major shift in how people live and work since its 2022 report, particularly as companies embrace the ‘return to office’ more broadly. Currently, 66 percent of U.S. and U.K. travelers actively combine business trips with personal leisure time, up from 53 percent in 2022. Among them, 56 percent say the ability to travel while working (i.e. blended travel) is a key benefit of remote work.
In response to the evolving needs of modern professionals, hotel and lifestyle brand citizenM is expanding its innovative membership program to include co-working benefits across its portfolio of 34 hotels (and counting) worldwide. Designed to serve the growing demand for flexible co-working space and on-the-go solutions, this initiative embodies citizenM's commitment to fostering creativity and connection in the heart of urban landscapes.
As I sat across a video call interviewing Arian Lewis, one of the founders behind Kiln, a lifestyle-focused coworking brand, I couldn’t help but notice the perfectly curated room in the background behind him. I had recently visited that very Salt Lake City Kiln location and was impressed not only with the beauty of the spaces but also with the small details, including the way all the cushions were gently plumped in the exact same way, reminiscent of a high-end hotel lobby. Refresh rooms, music studios, podcast rooms, and warm meeting spaces that felt like you were walking into your very own living room peppered the high-ceilinged, art-infused environment. Everything about this coworking space, from the distinct lighting in each space, down to the books on the coffee tables, seemed intentionally handpicked to spark conversation and evoke specific human interactions.
As if the hotel industry weren't disrupted enough in the last decades, new approaches to hotel co-working are shifting the way many operators design and program their properties.
I'm writing this from my office at the Alohilani Resort, across the street from Waikiki Beach, Honolulu, Oahu.
Workspaces have undergone a significant transformation in recent years, with the concept of work being redefined by many companies around the world. Today, work is no longer restricted to traditional and permanent offices as hybrid working - a work model consisting of in-office, remote and on-the-go workers - becomes increasingly popular. What does the future of the workplace look like with coworking spaces providing the right kind of customer experience that many workers are seeking?
Correctly setting up automation in your business is the long-term path to efficient and smart use of resources. However, hospitality is based on the human touch, so finding the right balance is paramount when thinking about the hybrid hotel model. In this blog, we share 8 strategies for planning a successful hybrid hotel. From identifying objectives and prioritizing tasks to providing employees with support and testing thoroughly, these strategies will help you create a hybrid hotel that meets the needs of both guests and employees. Read on to learn more about how to plan a successful hybrid hotel.
Even as remote working begins to normalise for many organisations, employers are discovering new and surprising challenges.
The hybrid workplace is one that is flexible in terms of where work is done. An employee who’s doing hybrid work might spend some of their time in a physical workplace, like an office, and some of their time working remotely, maybe from home or a coffee shop or some other workspace. The hybrid worker may spend two days a week in the physical workplace and three working from home, or four days at home and one in the office; ultimately, it depends on the circumstances in a given job.
New research shows that the travellers of the future, Generation Z and Millennials, increasingly want more from foreign travel: more trips, longer stays, greater expenditure and a larger number of functional features than ever before. Accommodation features that cater to these trends, such as wellness facilities, co-working spaces, and other functional amenities are now not just a ‘nice to have’, but rather essential for staying relevant in the future.
As well as working on a futuristic Atari Hotel, leading hotel architect Tom Ito is starting to see new design trends that are directly related to the pandemic.
Wanderlust- and experiential-inspired hotel brand Selina launched its IPO on Thursday after recently closing its merger with special purpose acquisition company BOA Acquisition Corp. The fast-growing, London-based brand with approximately 43,000 beds across 163 open and secured properties in 25 countries and six continents, has a market cap between US$1 billion and US$1.2 billion, according to Rafael Museri, co-founder and CEO of Selina.
Bringing together hoteliers, innovators, and thought leaders to reshape the hospitality industry, HIGH5 covered hot topics like alternative accommodation concepts, tech-enabled operators, customer data privacy, or the latest real estate developments.
Intravenous drops, sound healing, forest bathing — these are just some of the activities hotels are offering to entice businesses to hold their corporate retreats with them.
The last quarter of a calendar year can typically be busy and productive for global business travel and travelers. But in a time when so much isn’t back to being typical, where does the recovery of global business travel stand now? The October 2022 Business Travel Recovery Poll released today by the Global Business Travel Association (GBTA), the world’s premier association serving the business travel industry, unveils the latest insights and sentiments from a survey of almost 600 business travel buyers, suppliers, and other stakeholders around the world. This survey marks the 29th poll in the GBTA series since the pandemic began to understand the path forward as the industry navigates recovery.
It wasn’t that long ago that Airbnb took the world of hospitality by storm. What began with two guys renting out air mattresses in their San Francisco apartment to conference attendees in an attempt to make rent later became the darling of Silicon Valley success stories. In 2020, just 12 years after its first iteration, the company was valued at just over $100 billion in the biggest U.S. initial public offering (IPO) of the year. In an article published in Forbes, author Dina Gerdeman wrote, “Airbnb is revolutionizing the lodging market by keeping hotel rates in check and making additional rooms available in the country's hottest travel spots during peak periods when hotel rooms often sell out, and rates skyrocket, a new study shows.” The Airbnb effect was simple but undeniably attractive to eager travelers: when hotels were fully booked, Airbnb expanded the capacity for rooms. Moreover, these rentals offered young and culture-curious travelers a new take on the traditional guest experience – one that was decidedly more intimate and unique.
Hybrid hospitality specialists from marketing agency Stay the Night are sharing a deep dive into the future of hybrid hospitality with the release of their latest white paper today.
Many people were forced to work from home when the pandemic hit. After two years of remote work, people have discovered the benefits that remote work offers. People want the flexibility of where, how, when, and how much they work, but companies have begun demanding workers to work in the office. More people become anxious about their careers if they continue working from home.
If you’ve reflected lately about what hybrid working means for you and your workplace, then my guess is you’re not alone.