Hospitality companies are experimenting with a new strategy to generate revenue as the travel industry continues to suffer throughout the pandemic.
With millions of people continuing to work from home for the time being, hotels have started marketing their rooms as temporary offices.
For instance, coworking firm Industrious partnered with Proper Hospitality to bring this work-from-hotel concept to Proper Hotels in Austin, San Francisco and Santa Monica last month.
Guests can book a suite to use as a workspace outside of their homes on a daily, weekly or monthly basis.
“The gold-standard for partnerships in Covid are the ones that solve an immediate need for customers right now but also set up for something you think is going to be relevant for a long time to come,” said Jamie Hodari, CEO of Industrious CEO. “I do think there are going to be elements of this that will end up existing for a long time.”
Users of these rooms are given access to Wi-Fi, copies of The New York Times, the fitness center, pool, printing services and room service with daily bookings running from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.
“Many employees are tired of working remote. It has been six months for millions of workers at this point, and that is wearing on individuals’ mental well-being and productivity,” said Aaron Jodka, a managing director of research and client services at Colliers International. “People are looking for a change of scenery, and work-from-hotel is providing that outlet.”
