Hotels upgrade lobbies, lounges

Guests at Hilton McLean Tysons Corner, in McLean, Va., will soon see sleek, modern upgrades in the hotel’s lobby, rooms and meeting space. The redesign will be a model for what’s happening to Hilton Hotel properties in the next five years. Hilton-brand properties will undergo a redesign catered to the business travel segment. A new social lobby is designed to be an impromptu space for business meetings, chatting with colleagues or relaxing on a plush couch while working on a laptop. The lobby includes a cafe and bar open 18 hours a day, and the traditional business center is being replaced by a technology lounge, which includes a large, communal work table, as well as Macs, PCs and several flat-screen TVs.

Guest rooms and meeting space upgrades to the McLean hotel will be completed in September 2011 and will feature a streamlined, modern design. Rooms are being equipped with motion-detector lighting, individually controlled heating and air conditioning, eucalyptus fiber sheets and towels, enlarged workstations iPod docking stations.

Hilton’s move to upgrade its lobby and public spaces is coming at the same time as several luxury hotel brands revamp their executive club lounges in a move to attract more business travelers, a market segment picking up along with the economy. Hilton, J.W. Marriott Hotels, Sheraton Hotels and Resorts, and Fairmont Hotels and Resorts are creating a homier, more relaxing environments in their executive lounges, with better designs, free Wi-Fi, healthier food and better views. The move is a return to the pre-recession years when many brands invested in areas catering to higher-end, loyal customers.