HM has learned discussions are taking place between Crowne Plaza Hotels & Resorts and a number of its owners for elements of the newly-patented ‘WorkLife’ room concept to be brought to Australia as part of future new developments or renovations for the brand.
Patent approval for the innovative hotel room design was received late last week. It has been designed and developed as part of ‘Crowne Plaza Accelerate’ – a US$200 million (AUD$278m) multi-year program aimed providing business travellers with a modern space acutely moulded to suit their needs and to maximise their productivity.
Features of the ‘WorkLife’ room include an angled bed with cocooning headrest to open up available space, plush mattress and aromatherapy kit to enhance rest. Rooms also offer a separate recreation “nook” for watching TV, enjoying room service or taking meetings, a space near the front door for coats, bags and keys and a bright bathroom well lit to help re-energise guests.
Connectivity is also a central element, with free wi-fi and up to 14 power points – a mixture of traditional power and USB power outlets – accessible without moving power points to ensure guests have the space they need to charge all their devices.
At this stage, the Accelerate program is centralised to a limited number of hotels in the Americas region but may later be more widely rolled out to other parts of the world. Currently, more than 3,000 ‘WorkLife’ rooms are installed at Crowne Plaza hotels across the region including properties in Atlanta, Denver, Cleveland and Arlington, near Dallas with preliminary talks underway with owners in Australia about potential inclusions in future renovations. The hotel brand said at this stage there are no firm plans in place firmly signed for a local rollout.
“The patent approval of the Crowne Plaza brand’s WorkLife Room is a major distinction – one that speaks to the concept’s ground-breaking design, and one that demonstrates how the Crowne Plaza brand is redefining what a hotel room can be,” Crowne Plaza Regional Vice President Meredith Latham commented.
For more information on Crowne Plaza’s ‘WorkLife’ concept, CLICK HERE.