Checking In
Design your own hotel room
Mon Oct 2, 11:43 AM ET
What frequent traveler hasn't checked in to a room, looked around, and thought, "Hmm. I could have done a better job designing this myself." Well, now's your chance. Starwood Hotels and Resorts' ultra-hip W chain is building a new hotel brand called aloft. But before hammering in a single nail, the company is trying to create buzz around the new properties by posting artists' renderings of the hotel on a blog that invites viewers to post comments about their likes and dislikes.
So far, the most common complaint seems to be the lack of a bathroom door in the pictured hotel room. The keepers of the site write that rooms will feature sliding bathroom doors, but that they forgot to put those into the virtual design.
Oh, and by the way, aloft's current address exists in a virtual world called Second Life. Second Life has its own economy and currency, the LindeX. You can buy land there for $9.95 a month plus a land-use fee. This is all way too cutting edge for me. Personally, I'm pretty busy dealing with my first life in the brick-and-mortar world. Still, you have to hand it to Starwood for stepping out and taking the concept of customer feedback to a whole new level.
Aloft Hotels are set to open in 2008 in Lexington, Mass., Tucson, Cherry Creek, Colo., and at the San Francisco and Philadelphia airports. International locations will include Toronto and Montreal. With its newest brand, Starwood says it aims to transform "the tired, stagnant [business] travel segment'' by building loft-like rooms and providing hotel-wide wireless access, plug and play gadget connections and a 24-7 open food pantry.
There's just one potential problem. It's unlikely the beautiful anime avatars that inhabit Second Life resemble their real world counterparts. And it's just as hard to imagine the real alofts measuring up to their virtual versions.
What's the most important thing about your hotel room? Write me at bboydstoncorrea@yahoo.com.
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About the Author
Barbara Correa has been writing about business and travel for more than 15 years. At The Wall Street Journal, she was co-creator and editor of Business Fare, the online business travel section launched by the Journal's Interactive Edition in 1998. She has also written for Variety, TravelAge West, and the Los Angeles Daily News.
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Checking In - Barbara Correa
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