Find The Perfect "Business-Friendly" Hotel

One of the biggest challenges for business travelers is finding hotels that offer the ideal guest room layout, as well as services and amenities that are truly designed for people who need to get work done in their hotel guest room.

What I've found is that many popular hotel chains that promote a business-friendly environment, or that offer special guest rooms designed for business travelers, have missed the mark and never bothered to ask business travelers what, in fact, they need within their guest room and from a hotel, to be productive.

Business-Friendly Hotel Checklist

As you're planning your next business trip, use the following checklist to help you find the best business-friendly hotel in order to insure your comfort and productivity, without having to overspend on extras:

• Free Wi-Fi Internet access throughout the hotel (including within the guest rooms) - Traditional (wired), high-speed Internet access in the guest rooms is fine too, but you should not be charged up to $20.00 per day for it. Look for hotels that offer free Internet access and free local calls. Or, find a hotel that offers a flat rate for unlimited Internet, local and long distance calls. If you travel for more than three or four days per month, seriously consider investing in a wireless Internet card for your laptop computer. (Contact AT&T Wireless, Sprint, T-Mobile, etc., and shop for the best wireless service plan that meets your needs). A wireless Internet card for your computer will insure you have high-speed Internet access virtually anywhere you travel within the U.S. (airports, hotels, on trains or buses, etc.).
• A good size desk and workspace with a comfortable chair.
• Ample lighting near the workspace.
• Multiple electrical outlets located near the desk. (Surprisingly, few hotels offer this). Many business travelers need to plug in their laptop computer, cell phone, PDA, iPod and other devices simultaneously. One quick fix is to travel with your own power strip. I have stayed at countless hotels that offer wired Internet service (with the cable attached to the desk), but the desk had no electrical outlets nearby, so guests could not plug in their laptop computer while it's connected to the Internet.
• Two phone lines.
• Free parking.
• Coffee machine in the room and/or a coffee shop (Starbucks) in the lobby.
• A business center that is open 24-hours-a-day, and that doesn't charge a fortune to use a printer, fax machine or copier.
• Complimentary daily newspaper.
• A concierge to offer restaurant suggestions and make your reservations, especially if you need to impress important business associates.
• Express check-in and check-out.
• 24-hour room service (since many business travelers prefer to dine in their guest room, as opposed to alone in a hotel's restaurant).
• A kiosk in the lobby or business center for airline travelers to check-in with their airline, obtain seat assignments, and print boarding passes 24 hours before a flight.
• In-room iron and on-site dry cleaning/laundry service (preferably that offers express service). It's common for a business traveler to unpack and find their business clothing has become too wrinkled to wear, or it somehow gets stained before an important meeting or presentation.
• The ability to earn and redeem airline frequent flier miles and hotel rewards for each stay.

If you can find an affordable business hotel offering some or all of these business services and amenities, your next business trip will be more productive, hassle-free and comfortable.

In terms of saving money when booking a business-friendly hotel, I strongly recommend using Hotels.com, Travelocity.com, Kayak.com, Orbitz.com or one of the other popular online travel sites. I am also a big fan of TravelZoo.com for finding travel discounts and special deals.

Make sure, however, that you understand the online service's hotel rating system. I have discovered that Priceline.com, for example, sometimes tends to over-rate some hotels it offers at a discount. For example, I booked what Priceline.com called a "four star" hotel in Los Angeles recently, but every other hotel rating service called it a "three star" hotel (and that was being generous).

Sometimes, visiting a hotel's website directly and looking for online specials, and/or utilizing a AAA or corporate discount will allow you to find the best possible rate for a hotel.

Top Business-Friendly Hotels In New York City

Business travelers have very different needs than vacationers, honeymooners and other leisure travelers. Most people traveling for work want accommodations that offer comfort and luxury, as well as convenient amenities and services that will help them be more productive, get a good night sleep, and have a successful trip.

High-speed Internet access, a large in-room desk and work area, multiple electrical outlets located near the desk, duel line telephones, an in-room fax machine, 24-room service, and access to an executive lounge are among the amenities most in demand by business travelers. Other popular services among business travelers include a 24-hour concierge, an in-house business center, valet parking and a fitness center.

The key to a successful business trip is ample preparation. To help make a business traveler’s travel planning easier, Entrepreneur Press has launched a new series of city-specific, pocket-sized travel guides that offer everything from tips for saving money when book airfares, to detailed reviews of top business-friendly hotels, restaurants and attractions in major cities frequented by business travelers, including New York City, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Chicago, Washington, DC and Orlando. Each edition is sold separately.


The recently published New York City edition of Entrepreneur Magazine’s The Business Traveler ($17.95) offers all of the information and resources business travelers need to plan and experience a successful work-related trip to Manhattan. Featured in the travel guide are detailed descriptions and reviews of the top 25 business-friendly hotels in the city, which include (in alphabetical order):

Four Seasons New York
Address: 57 East 57th Street, New York, NY
Reservations phone number: (800) 819-5053
Main phone number: (212) 758-5700
Web site: www.fourseasons.com/newyorkfs

Hilton New York
Address: 1335 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY
Reservations phone number: (800) 445-8667
Main phone number: (212) 586-7000
Web site: www.newyork.Hilton.com

London NYC
Address: 151 West 54th Street, New York, NY
Reservations phone number: (877) 597-9696
Main phone number: (212) 307-5000
Web site: www.thelondonnyc.com

The Peninsula New York
Address: 700 5th Avenue, New York, NY
Reservations phone number: (866) 382-8388
Main phone number: (212) 956-2888
Web site: www.peninsula.com

The Regency – A Loews Hotel
Address: 540 Park Avenue, New York, NY
Reservations phone number: (800) 233-2356
Main phone number: (212) 759-4100
Web site: www.loewshotels.com

Unlike other major U.S. cities, virtually all of the hotels in Manhattan are expensive, yet the guestrooms are relatively small in size. Despite this, hotels within The Big Apple enjoy at least an 86 percent occupancy rate year round, so it’s important to make your reservations well in advance to insure you get the accommodations you want and need at an affordable price.

Business travelers should plan on spending at least $250.00 per night for a standard guestroom at a three-star hotel. At a luxury hotel, a standard guestroom will cost at least $400.00 to $700.00 per night. Unfortunately, the accommodations offered at many hotels rated lower than three-stars are sub-standard and not suitable for business travelers.

In addition to standard guestroom charges, be prepared to spend an extra $50.00 per night for parking, $19.95 per night for Internet access, plus any charges for incidentals (such as telephone calls, faxes, room-service, pay-per-view movies, or items taken from the guestroom’s mini bar). Experiencing a business trip in New York isn’t cheap, yet the city continues to be one of the most frequented destinations in the world amongst business travelers.

One way to save money on hotel accommodations is to make your reservations through a popular online travel-related websites, such as Travelocity.com, Hotwire.com or Kayak.com. While you could save up to 40 percent off regular rates, reservations made through these services must be pre-paid and are typically not cancelable or changeable. Hotels.com recently changed its policy and now allows for reservations to be changed or cancelled, but certain restrictions apply.

As you’re making your travel plans, keep in mind that most New York City hotels strictly adhere to a 3pm check-in time on the day of your arrival, and an 11:00am check out time on your day of departure. If you’ll need to check-in early or check out late, contact the hotel’s front desk in advance. Also, because Manhattan can be a noisy city (due to traffic and ongoing construction), consider requesting a room on a higher-level floor.

To save additional money, consider choosing a hotel that is situated close to where you’ll be conducting the majority of your business. If you’ll be attending an event at the Jacob Javits Convention Center (located at 655 West 34th Street), for example, any hotel located in the Times Square, Downtown or Central Park area offers easy access to the convention center via taxi. Around these areas, you’ll also find countless restaurants and attractions, so the need for costly taxi trips will be kept to a minimum. If you’ll be conducting your business in the Wall Street area, there are plenty of business-friendly hotels nearby.

For more information about business-friendly hotels in New York City, as well as reviews of top restaurants, shows, attractions and business-related services, pick up a copy of Entrepreneur Magazine’s The Business Traveler Guide to New York City. Reading the guide prior to your departure could easily save you hundreds, perhaps thousands of dollars on your next business trip. The travel guide is currently available from bookstores nationwide, as well as from Amazon.com, BN.com and EntrepreneurPress.com.