Judy Colbert S.A.G., AFTRA, ASJA |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| DESIGN NOTEBOOK Checking Out Hotel Style W Hotels sells the X Desk in oak with coffee bean finish for $1,200. (W Catalogue) By Judy Colbert Special to The Washington Post Thursday, August 2, 2001; Page H01 Joan and Jordan Fainberg of Potomac stayed at the W New Orleans hotel last fall and "slept so well we didn't want to get out of bed," says Joan. A catalogue in their room advertised the mattress and other items the hotel was offering for sale. "We talked about buying everything that went on the bed then, but didn't," she says. But she remembered it when it came time to buy her husband a Valentine's Day present. "I bought the king-size bedding, two sets of sheets and cases so I wouldn't have to immediately wash them and put them back on. I bought everything -- pillows, down comforter, the duvet cover, everything," says Joan. The couple was so pleased with the products that Joan ordered two more pillows and pillow cases online. "They came about two days later, and it's great. Normally, you go into a store and you put your head on a bunch of pillows. How can you tell what it's going to be like when you sleep on it? We'd tried the hotel pillows and liked them." Time was when hotel guests might check out with an occasional ashtray or hotel-monogrammed towel as a souvenir of their stay. Some hotels responded by removing their logo from smaller items hoping to discourage the pilfering. But when upscale hotels started providing plush terry bathrobes, guests sometimes took them whether or not they carried a prestigious logo -- despite discreet notes left in the pocket pointing out that the robes could be purchased at the gift shop. These days, it's easier to take home part of the hotel honestly. National chains and local hotels are getting further into the retail business, marketing products from mattresses to bath oils and bedding to lamps -- just about anything that isn't nailed down. And not just in a lobby gift shop, but in catalogues and on the Internet. The hotels know they're building a loyal clientele when guests like the furnishings well enough to buy them. And products carrying the hotel logo go out into the world as a constant advertisement. Sharon and Edward Milkey of Greenfield, Mass., have had, by Sharon's count, 10 beds in the 20 years of their marriage, including a waterbed, an air mattress and various pillow-top versions, all in pursuit of relief for his chronic neck problems. Then Sharon stayed at the Westin hotel in Stamford, Conn., while traveling on business, and slept in the Westin's Heavenly Bed. "'Ed," she told her husband, a locomotive engineer for Amtrak, "you have to try this bed." "We liked the bed and bought it about ten months ago," says Sharon, an educator for Matrix Co., a national company that makes beauty products for hair salons. "It's like being in a cloud," she says. "Not only does it have a pillow top, but also it has the pillow top on both surfaces of the bed" so it can be flipped over for even wear. It also comes with a separate down pillow top that goes on the mattress and under the sheet, and a comforter. Buying the new mattress meant upsizing from a queen to a king-size, so while they were at it, the Milkeys bought sheets sold by the company as well. The bed, says Sharon, has been heaven. Ed's neck problems can't be cured by a better bed, but he says that his neck "is much more comfortable in this bed." "Based on customer inquiries, we started selling the Heavenly Bed shortly after the August 1999 launch that installed the new 'Heavenly Bed' into the hotel rooms," says Gretchen Kloke, corporate public relations manager for Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc., of White Plains, N.Y. Starwood has 113 Westin properties, including Westin Grand in Washington and the Westin Fairfax. The Heavenly Bed mattress, like those used by other hotels, is specially made for the chain, chosen after extensive testing for support, comfort and durability. It has to withstand years of use by temporary but demanding sleepers of all shapes and sizes, so customers know they're buying a quality product. The California-king version of the mattress and box spring set runs $1,300. The company's print and Web catalogues, geared toward frequent travelers and honeymooners, includes some items made exclusively for Westin, including plush robes (terry cloth for $75 or waffle weave for $60) and a breakfast-in-bed tray ($165). The sheets range from $95 (for a 200-thread-count all-cotton king fitted sheet) to $50 (for a 250-thread-count cotton/poly king fitted). In May, the company added a Heavenly Bath collection, featuring a dual shower head ($80), a shower curtain ($20 plus $15 for the rings) and a curved shower rod designed to allow eight additional inches of elbow room ($30). Extra services include gift-wrapping and a bridal registry. Starwood also operates the 14 W hotels, a trendier, eclectic chain with each hotel having its own style identity. The chain's catalogue and Web site offer both practical and whimsical items including a scarlet velvet rose pillow ($210), gumball machine ($140) and velvet bears filled with aromatic buckwheat and lavender ($30 to $45). A CD ($13) includes "eclectic tracks for just the right ambiance." Baseball caps ($20), polo shirts ($46), beach totes ($30), anoraks ($72) and umbrellas ($25) bearing the chain's distinctive "W" logo are available too. The Toronto-based Four Seasons chain manages 51 hotels and resorts in 22 countries. The company doesn't have a full-fledged selling program and doesn't advertise the availability of any item for sale. It hasn't had to, because Oprah Winfrey asked Julia Roberts on the air what she liked to sleep in, says Tricia Messerschmitt, public relations director for the Georgetown property. "My favorite thing to sleep in is a Four Seasons bed," the actress said on national TV. That was about two years ago, and the phones haven't stopped ringing since, says Messerschmitt. They sell about 10 mattresses a month, with a king bed set mattress and twin box springs priced at $1,800. Messerschmitt says a guest at Washington's Four Seasons hotel liked the Sealy-manufactured mattress so much she bought one for herself and each member of her family, seven in all. Eloise's favorite hotel, the Plaza in New York, is part of the 38-member Fairmont Hotels operation of Toronto, Canada. To capitalize on its Central Park cachet, the Plaza gift shop sells such items as robes (ladies' kimonos or men's silk robes $110), coffee mugs ($18), English enamel boxes ($225), key rings ($12 and $18), magnets ($7), Oak Room steak sauce ($8.50), Palm Court classical CDs ($18), a child's baseball cap (infants' and toddlers' $22), Plaza bib ($20) and a tooth fairy pillow ($25). Washington's Willard Hotel is part of the Intercontinental Hotel chain, with headquarters in Atlanta. The 12-hotel chain uses mattresses from the IBC Group, a Florida company with nine factories around the country that are manufactured to exacting commercial standards. Roy Dobbins, IBC contract sales manager, says the hotel's mattresses have a Lura-flex innerspring that tunes to the body weight, with the most support where the body is the heaviest. It has a contract, or industrial-strength, coil box spring that's more durable than a residential mattress. "It probably is the safest fire-retardant bed around, and even the thread and tape to close the mattress are treated." The mattress is sold to the public for $400 for a twin size, $800 for a king-size. The Willard's pillows have been manufactured by Hauptman Home since 1960 and contain 25 percent each of goose down, duck down, goose feathers and duck feathers. They come in two sizes, standard ($40) and king ($50). One-of-a-kind local inns are also selling their distinctive furnishings. Just about everything's for sale at the Antrim 1844 Inn, Taneytown, Md., which features RobeWorks robes ($170), feather beds from the Company Store, bedclothes from Bedhead, bed linens, the fabrics used in their tablecloths, caviar servers and sterling flatware. Patrick O'Connell, owner of the Inn at Little Washington, in Washington, Va., says they "sell everything but the paint, including the feather beds (twin $260 to king $540), customized 31-inch-square lapkins ($35), tea strainers ($25), dried flower arrangements ($195), Dalmatian-print chef's pants ($65) and aprons ($25), Laguiole wine openers ($150) and steak knives ($500 for a set of six). The entire wine list is available for 25 percent off the list price. And actor Warren Beatty liked the gooseberry jam so much he had some shipped to him ($12 for six ounces). The Inn's gift shop will be tripled in size this fall, and they will be expanding all of their gift lines. "Anything they've [guests] touched or experienced, they can buy," says O'Connell. For a sampling of what's available: Antrim 1844 (410-756-6812 or 800-868-1844), www.antrim1844.com Four Seasons (202-342-0444) Hay-Adams (202-638-6600) Inn at Little Washington (540-675- 3800, Ext. 26 for the gift shop) Plaza Hotel (212-546-5375 or www.PlazaHotel.com) Ritz-Carlton Resource Center (800- 845-2336) Westin Hotels (877-777-5418 or www.westin-hotelsathome.com) W Hotels (800-779-6050 or www.whotels-hotelsathome.com or via the catalogue's mail-in form IBC Group, Roy Dobbins (407-851-8169 or roy@ibcgroup.com). Hauptman Home, Hank Hauptman (800 556-3696). Judy Colbert, a travel writer in Crofton, Md., is an online travel columnist for Expedia.com. _________________________________________ |
Judy Colbert: Web Usability Mentor, Author, Consultant, Speaker 1615 Parkridge Circle Suite 211 Crofton, MD 21114. (443) 292-8253 Write to Judy Colbert |