6/4/2007
Road Warriors - Special Needs or Normal Expectations
My friend, and super road warrior Andy Abramson posted this over the weekend -
What A Global Nomad Wants In A Hotel To Work Anywhere
I admit I’m a bit more towards the side of high maintenance when it comes to what I want in a business grade hotel but as a person who is spending more days a month on the road than in my own house I’ve pretty much nailed down what I want and need in order to be a road warrior/global nomad beyond a very well informed front desk and a “we’ll get it done right concierge.”
[Read Andy's Full Post]
Here are a few of of Andy’s hot buttons, with my comments:
Real Broadband - I couldn’t agree more. There’s nothing worse that getting some lousy, shared DSL connection that’s slower than dial-up when staying at a hotel on business. My view of rael broadband is quite different. Broadband to me is >20 Mbps that can support HDTV and “follow the puck” easily in a hockey game. I’ll pay premium rates for premium service, but give me at least T1 speeds on the road.
Wired and Wireless in Room Access - I’d go a step further and say ubiquitous wireless access throughout the hotel, especially the large conference venues.
Power Outlets near the bed and extra power outlets in the room - Amen to this. I carry a power strip just because there are never enough outlets anywhere. Quit being so damn skimpy with the electricity
In Room Safe-that’s big enough for a laptop and more. - This is far more important that many hotels realize. Those of us who travel constantly with laptops and a barrage of equipment don’t like to have to carry it to dinner in the evening. Our laptops are too mission-critical to risk. Give us a good-sized room safe to lock our valuables
Sound Proof Windows - Beyond that garbage truck and street noise, I’ll add test your fire systems regularly during the day. I hate being awakened by the hotel fire alarm, and there have bee far too many false alarm awakenings.
Technorati Tags: road warriors, working anywhere, on the road, hotel accomodations
Filed by Ken at 8:59 am under Tech in General, Technology
That ubiquitous wifi must be free. If I can get free wifi in a $45/night Fill-in-the-suites in the middle-of-nowhere Missouri (this isn’t hypothetical — I named the Black Angus cows that grazed outside my window), then I should be able to get free wifi in the $170 per night international chain in downtown Providence with the 36″ HDTV in every room. I have Skype but I’d have had to make 500 minutes of domestic Skype calls per day just to break even on the wifi fee, so I didn’t use it.
That’s a great point and something both Andy and I overlooked.
WiFi should be no more a challenge in a hotel than water. It should be that free and easy in today’s economy. It’s appaling that the low and mid-range hotels udnerstand this, but the expensive conference venues still charge ridiculous prices for mediocre connectivity.
I don’t think the expensive conference venues have woken up to the fact that their revenue streams are increasingly dependent on business travelers with expense accounts and not recreational travelers paying out of pocket. Travel, especially by air, has become far too expensive and troublesome for many people, even with the discounted rates that can be had from an Orbitz or Travelocity.
Oh, and another thing: One desktop and one printer sitting in a corner of the lobby does not a “business center” make.
[...] VoIP and tech bloggers offer their comments re Andy’s post: Ken Camp, Global Nerdy, Jon Arnold, Russell Shaw, Jim Courtney, and Matthew Miller. Having followed most of [...]