The Executive Suite Goes

By Janice Castro

When business executives check into hotels these days, they quickly notice that the red carpet being rolled out is longer and plusher than ever before. Never has competition in the lodging industry been more fierce. As construction of new hotels has outstripped demand for rooms, average occupancy rates have dropped, from 70% in 1981 to a basement-level 65% last year. In | that tough climate, innkeepers are going all out to woo the customers who account for more than 70% of all hotel stays: business travelers. Many of the major hotel chains are giving corporate clients an office away from the office by providing all sorts of executive services, from stenography and photocopying to personal computers and the Dow Jones news wire.

One of the hottest trends in the industry is the proliferation of all-suites hotels like Holiday Corp.'s Embassy Suites. Such accommodations generally consist of a bedroom and living room-den, with a television set and a telephone in each room. They are convenient for executives who need to work or conduct conferences in their rooms. Since 1984, Memphis-based Holiday has increased the number of Embassy Suites hotels from 26 to 75. Last week Hilton announced that it will build ten all-suites hotels by 1989, an investment of some $200 million. Next month Ramada will open its first all-suites property in Pompano Beach, Fla. Ramada plans to build more all-suites inns as part of a substantial expansion of its chain, from 600 hotels to 1,000 by 1995.

These companies are plunging ahead with construction in the face of the industry's excess capacity, because many corporate clients now insist on all- suites establishments. Business guests like the suites for the desks and good reading light that are not usually available in traditional bedroom accommodations. The average occupancy rate of these hotels is nearly 70%, or about 6% higher than for all accommodations. The spacious suites are especially popular with women business travelers, who appreciate a room in which they can hold a meeting without sitting on the bed. While an average of 25% of hotel business guests are women, 35% of the corporate clients at the Embassy Suites chain are female.

In San Francisco, T.L.C. (for tender loving care) Suites on Nob Hill provides so many perks and useful items that its guests hardly need to leave the suite to hold meetings with colleagues, entertain clients and relax after hours. Each den has reference books and a desk filled with such basic work materials as tape, scissors, stapler and an electric pencil sharpener. A small library of movies and music is tucked into a cabinet with a VCR and compact- disc player. The T.L.C. suites also have kitchens with dishwashers and well- stocked refrigerators.

Many older hotels that have mostly single rooms have set aside special office space for executives. A major part of the $1 billion renovation now / under way at the Hilton chain is the creation of business centers in most of its hotels. There, guests can use computer terminals, pick up business publications and check stock quotes on the Dow Jones financial wire. The Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles offers quick typing, photocopying and telex services and the use of a reference library at its business center.

Executives on the road have long been able to rent meeting rooms in major hotels, but most of the facilities were heavy on Formica and wood veneer, with little style to spare. No more. Traveling bigwigs can now hold meetings in many hostelries and feel as comfortable as in their company headquarters. At the Radisson Plaza in Minneapolis, executives can entertain guests in an elegant, glass-enclosed private dining room or conduct high-level meetings in a "board room," which is furnished with plush chairs around a polished hardwood conference table.

Most of the business-oriented hotels charge prices that would be hard to afford without an expense account. Hiltons typically run $65 to $125 a night, and the Radisson Plaza costs from $98 to $325. Many of the available services may cost extra. Guests at the Los Angeles Century Plaza, who pay $130 to $210 a night, can rent computers for $10 an hour, typewriters for $8 an hour and Dictaphones and pocket pagers for $10 a day. Some hotels have taken a cue from the airlines by offering frequent-traveler incentives. Until the end of this month, customers who stay four nights in Omni Hotels get two weekend nights free, a value of $150. In a contest for guests, Hilton is giving away $1 million worth of prizes a day through April 30 -- ranging up to a year of unlimited travel on United Airlines or TWA.

Whatever frills they provide, many hoteliers realize that there is no substitute for personal service. At La Reserve, a 16-story all-suites hotel in White Plains, N.Y., employees will buy groceries and prepare a private meal in the suite for guests. In Manhattan, the Sheraton Centre provides separate concierge services in its upper-level Towers section, which is primarily used by business clients. But Angela Fullerton, assistant manager of the Towers, exceeded the normal bounds of hospitality for one guest who had come to town unprepared for harsh weather. Says she: "One cold night I gave a customer my coat so she could go out to dinner." Odds are that the gesture created not only a warm feeling but a repeat customer.

With reporting by B. Russell Leavitt/Atlanta and Nancy Seufert/Los Angeles