Hotels Adapt to Millennials
Posted On March 20, 2012
Millennials are beginning to demonstrate an inclination to travel and hotels are keen to accommodate them. Travel spending by Millennials rose 20% in 2010, according to the New York Times, and now nearly every major hotel brand has developed products to appeal to them.
For Millennials, a hotel being “interesting is more important than comfort,” according to the dean of the hotel management division at New York University. That’s the reverse of the Baby Boomer market, he adds. Another key feature: Wi-Fi. “High-speed internet is like air to Millennials,” he adds – they consider it as important as beds and towels in a hotel.
Hotels are also redesigning facilities to be more casual and social and to provide more power and data portals for Millennials to plug in. Multiple bars and restaurants as well as increased social activities are designed to keep Millennial guests entertained enough to stay on the premises throughout the day and evening. And some hotels are catering to Millennial tendencies even after the guests leave. Starwood, for example, has a 20-person team devoted to responding to complaints and comments on social media sites.