Six Ways Marriott Says Millennials Behave Differently in Hotels
Dec. 18, 2015
Marriott Chairman Bill Marriott has been talking recently about designing hotels in a new way, for the large and ever-influential millennial generation. He talked to the The Wall Street Journal and spoke at an event the Washington Business Journal attended, where he described millennials as "a real enigma." He added: "It's really a challenge in designing a product to appeal to them."
Here's what Bill Marriott thinks millennials want in a hotel.
1) They leave the lobby, go straight to their rooms, drop their luggage and return to the lobby.
"When I went to hotels when I was young, you went into the lobby, you checked in at the desk, and if you were hungry, you went to the restaurant and sat at the counter and had a hamburger," Bill Marriott told The Wall Street Journal.
2) They prefer lobbies for working in collaboration with others...
3) ...so they don't need desks in their rooms.
Many of Marriott's hotels no longer have desks in the rooms, Bill Marriott said.
And some of the hotel lobbies have raised ceilings and larger seating areas.
4) They can use smaller closets.
Why have a big closet when they live out of a suitcase anyway?
Bill Marriott said the company's hotels use bigger TVs and have bigger bathrooms, along with smaller closets.
5) They can buy fresh fruit from some vending machines, which appeals to millennials that love healthy food. (The first one was at the Chicago Marriott O'Hare and launched in September 2014).
6) Soon, they'll be able to check out with their phones and open their room doors with their phones. They can already check in from their phones.
The question: Will non-millennials appreciate these changes?