Room at the Top

Hotels are puttin 'on the Ritz

The twelfth floor of the Ramada hotel in Aurora, Colo., is a cut above the rest. Up on the twelfth, Concierge Monika Lidman treats all of her guests like VIPS. "They love to be pampered," she says. In their rooms, guests find refrigerators stocked with smoked oysters, wine, crackers, olives and English tea cookies. Other comforts abound: fresh carnations, soft white bathrobes, wicker baskets filled with toiletries.

Ramada Inns and many other U.S. hotel companies now build these luxury levels into many of their otherwise standard buildings to lure affluent travelers who shy away from run-of-the-roadside establishments. The extra convenience and prestige of what hoteliers call their club floors appeal particularly to top business managers. Says Consultant Ray Meyers, a guest at New York City's Vista International: "You're with people more in tune with what you're doing. It's comfortable, not loud or raucous." Dallas Manufacturers' Representative Howard Krell and his wife Elise had formerly sought refuge from the clamor of 1,000-room hotels by lodging in small, posh inns. But the Sheraton chain has won them over with its "distinguished corporate service." Says Elise Krell: "The express elevator whisks you off to the 46th floor, and you feel you're in heaven."

Rooms at the top come at a price. A club-level berth at the Ramada Renaissance Hotel near Denver runs $115 a night, compared with $72 for a standard room. At the Hyatt Regency Chicago, club-floor guests pay up to $900 a night for suites decorated with antique furniture, soft salmon colors and fireplaces. The hotel keeps a record of its customers' preferences. Said a concierge: "We can look at his card and know he was born on June 24, drinks Scotch and water, and wants a feather pillow instead of a foam one."

Middle-market hoteliers have spruced up some of their rooms to pursue a segment of the population that seldom flinches at business downturns or high prices. Says Analyst Daniel R. Lee of Drexel Burnham Lambert: "It doesn't cost that much more to offer this. It takes a fluffier towel, a thicker carpet and a little better service. For that, these hotels charge a pretty hefty premium."

Memphis-based Holiday Inns, the biggest chain in the U.S. with some 1,700 hotels, is taking the theory a step further. The company has spent more than $200 million building eight Crowne Plaza hotels, its new line of cushy inns with rooms priced at about 20% more per night than the average $42 Holiday Inn room. Offering its guests such little extras as a free morning paper and a toiletry kit, the company will portray Crowne Plaza as luxury at reasonable rates. Spacious rooms designed for business travelers will be available in another Holiday Inn chain called Embassy Suites.

For many hotels, though, the most immediate way to reach for the upper crust is to renovate one or two floors. The Stouffer chain has introduced a hotel-within-a-hotel in eight of its 20 establishments. Perhaps to help executives justify the premium of $30 over the price of a standard $80 room, Stouffer emphasizes how its ritzy amenities can be a boon to business productivity. Says Senior Vice President Ronald Nykiel: "In the morning, coffee, a roll and a paper are brought to the rooms, getting the executives off to a fast start. If they need a suit pressed or reservations made, the concierge will take care of it." According to Lidman, executives are not the only ones who will pay extra to be pampered. Two of her recent guests were a sheik and Singer Harry Belafonte. This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so viewer discretion is required.