Hotels Try New Features With Test Rooms

New York Times, April 29, 2008 — It is known simply as the X-room. Set up last November at the Courtyard by Marriott in partnership with the University of Delaware in Newark, it is a test guest room. It is equipped with everything from waterproof mattresses to the experimental technology of wireless electricity (no plugs) to a specially designed Nintendo Wii game console for travelers. There is also a digital door display that lets guests see who is in the corridor.

The Corporate Brand: Help or Hindrance?†

Lilypad Hotels and Resorts may rebrand its boutique properties under the corporate name. Will customers and hotel managers buy in—or simply check out?

Harvard Business Review, February 1, 2008 — Andre Cleary absentmindedly fidgeted with the bottle of melatonin tablets in his left hand, lightly jiggling the pills with each twitch of his wrist. He had hoped to catch up on some much-needed sleep during the 20-hour flight to Rio de Janeiro—this being the final leg of a six-week series of meet and greets that had taken the CEO of Lilypad Hotels and Resorts across the continental United States, over to the Middle East, and now to South America. He sat comfortably in the first-class cabin of a 767, loafers under the seat, pillow poised to do its job.

Strange Bedfellows: Marriott, Schrager†

Wall Street Journal, June 14, 2007 — Lodging giant Marriott International Inc., one of the industry's most conservative companies, has struck a deal to develop a boutique chain designed by Ian Schrager, the entrepreneur known for his style-driven hotels. The agreement, to be announced today, is intended to give Marriott a presence in the boutique segment of the hotel industry, which it has been unable to crack even as rivals like Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc. have found a lucrative vein with brands such as W.

Boutique Backlash: Rethinking Ultra-Chic Hotels†

Owners Push Comfort, Service As Some Guests Start to Shun Too-Hip Bars, Worn Furniture

Wall Street Journal, February 13, 2007 — The W Chicago City Center has a stylish lobby and chic guest rooms, with 350-thread count sheets and marble bathrooms. But it doesn't have a bar Frank Bynum feels comfortable in, or even a phone he can understand.