If you travel for work a lot, choosing the right business hotel can make all the difference to your week. Your room becomes your haven; your hotel becomes your home away from home – as long as you make the right choice!
Work travel can be both busy and stressful; often you’ll have to pack in a lot of meetings into a relatively short space of time, so having a comfortable place to retreat to when you’re off the clock becomes even more important.
Here are some of the most important things to consider when you’re booking a business hotel.
Location, location, location
Location is probably the single most important factor to consider when you’re choosing your accommodation. Staying close to your client or the business outlet you’re visiting will make your life significantly easier.
If you drive for a few hours to get to the town or city you’re staying in, the last thing you want to do is pick a hotel on the opposite side of town and spend even more time sitting in traffic to get to your meetings. However, if your meetings are taking place in an industrial estate outside town, you might decide you’d prefer to stay in the city centre and make the commute.
You might also want to check if the area has good parking, and how it fares in terms of basic facilities like supermarkets, restaurants and bars. Luckily, Google Maps makes it quite easy to get an idea of the most convenient business hotel in the area, and what can be found nearby.
Meeting facilities and hosting options
When you travel for work, most of the time you’ll be visiting a client at their location, or visiting a branch of your own company on-site. Occasionally, though, you may need to host a meeting yourself, or host informal after-work drinks.
If this is a possibility, make sure your hotel has the right facilities. In most cases, a good business hotel will have well-equipped meeting rooms – but it never hurts to enquire and to check how far in advance they should be booked to guarantee availability.
If you’d like to take your team who are based in the area for a few drinks, or chat to clients in a less formal environment, a hotel bar with a good atmosphere could be the ideal spot. Ask in advance if you can reserve an area.
Restaurants and self-catering options
When you’re setting yourself up for a big day of meetings, a tasty and nutritious breakfast is a good place to start. And when you get back from a hard day’s work, you probably don’t want to have to think too much about where to get dinner.
Make sure your business hotel has a restaurant with a menu you’re onboard with and opening times that fit with your schedule – if you end up working late, will you be able to order room service?
If you’re staying for three or four nights at a time, it’s well worth looking into hotels with self-catering options. Lots of people don’t like eating out night after night or have special diets; if your travel policy allows for it, look out for hotels with suites that will give you the opportunity to cook for yourself.
Budget
While we all love a bit of five-star travel, the chances are your organisation has a company travel policy for employees. And if you travel often, there’s a strong chance the company wants you staying in a reasonably priced business hotel.
Luckily, for those who travel often, it’s usually possible to negotiate a discounted rate. It’s a win-win situation for corporate clients who book through Roomex, because the company saves an average of 21%, and the employee gets the greatest level of choice in where they stay because we source from the widest range of hotels.
Recreational facilities
When you’re on the road a lot, a business hotel with good recreational facilities can make all the difference. A golf course is an ideal place to entertain high value clients or woo potential recruits, and a calendar of interesting events can help you evade boredom in the evenings.
The ability to go to the gym, have a swim or even hit the tennis court with a colleague can allow you to stay fit, healthy and even manage your stress levels, while a spa can help you stay well-groomed and relaxed.
You might not find all those facilities at every business hotel, but if you plan ahead you can choose a hotel that has the ones that are most important to you.
Are you looking to streamline your company's business hotel bookings? Get in touch with one of our experts today to learn how Roomex can help.
