Gen X Expect Upscale Hotel Service
Generation X Business Travelers Want More from Their Hotels
Todays Business travelers are more often from Generation X as Baby Boomers pass on the torch and retire. Hotels take note - Xers expect high end service and amenities.
The newer Generation of X (and to an extent, Gen Y) sets a higher bar for business travel, according to Carlson Hotels Worldwide. The Radisson Hotel chain recently noted that their younger-than-Boomer guests both expect and even demand the luxuries of home in exchange for their hard earned travel dollar.
For Generation X business travelers, a hotel is expected to be their refuge from the rigors of the road. Xers expect to be pampered and catered to with high end amenities.
"They are not willing to take what they are given," says Kevin Hanstad, in a recent press release, as Carlson Hotel's Vice President of Customer Research and Insights. "They have different expectations than the Baby Boomers."
Hanstad adds, "Growing up in a service economy, Gen Xers have traveled more, dined out more and stayed in hotels more often than their parents did at the same time. This makes them more discriminating and less tolerant of subpar service and amenities."
The Radisson chain is taking note, since Generation X travelers are less likely to complain through traditional channels, and more apt to broadcast bad reviews on the Web 2.0's social networks, making dissatisfaction known via personal blogs, MySpace.com and among traveler's forum networks.
Why Does Generation X Expect More than their Parents?
Gen Xers have never had anything handed to them, not like the Baby Boomer Generation, posits the 1995 seminal work "Managing Generation X" by Bruce Tulgan.
Xers have generally been a cohort of overeducated, underemployed and disenfranchised young adults. Now that Xers are succeeding Boomers into positions of authority, they feel the gains are harder won.
"Xers have inherited the Boomer's late 20th century disillusionment without the having had the opportunity for youthful idealism", according to Tulgan.
This generation of business travelers demand more from their hard-earned dollar. Xers want quiet rooms, on-demand wireless access and a comfortable space to work and rest. In a comfortable and well-wired setting, the typical Generation X business traveler can get more work done on the road than in the office.
What Generation X Business Travelers Want:
- Designer beds
- Flat screen TVs
- Gaming consoles (for power relaxation breaks)
- Free high-speed wireless internet
- In-room sofas and desks for working on laptops
- Excellent task lighting for reading and working
- DVD players
- 24-hour fitness and business centers
- Fresh gourmet coffee at all hours
- Healthier breakfast options
- Pub-style social areas
- In-room coffeepot, microwave and mini-fridge
- Showers with luxury shower heads and plenty of water pressure
- High end toilet kits
- High thread count sheets and pillowcases, luxury pillows
- Satellite radio alarm clocks
- A concierge to add value to their hotel investment of time and money
Along with the Carlson chain, the Hiltons and Holiday Inns are taking note of the finicky needs of the Generation X business traveler. The USA Today reports, "Hilton is eliminating TV armoires and placing flat-screen TVs on cabinets. To let guests work more comfortably, Marriott is installing spot lighting, bedside data and electrical ports and height-adjustable desks that can be swiveled into different positions in the room.
Looking to the Future
Since Generation Y is even more plugged in and on-demand, hotels catering to affluent Gen X business travelers will be better able to handle the larger cohorts of Gen Yers when they come of age.
 |
 |
 |
 |
