Hotels offering guests more healthful options

From ‘pure’ rooms to fitness centers, hospitality industry takes wellness route

It’s not just the lobby that has fresher air. The hotel, owned by Thayer Lodging Group of Annapolis, also offers guest and meeting rooms whose air has been treated to remove allergens. All told, Thayer, offers such healthful amenities in 12 of its 14 hotels, with plans to offer them in all of its holdings in five states.

Thayer isn’t alone in the hospitality industry when it comes to providing more healthful digs for guests. Marriott International of Bethesda last year banned smoking in its hotels. In a survey of more than 8,900 hotels, the American Hotel & Lodging Educational Foundation found that 93 percent of hotels with at least 130 rooms had fitness centers.

‘‘There are a lot of complaints about allergies and hotels,” said Arthur V. Martin, an engineering consultant who provides environmental assessments and recommendations for cleaning the air in hotels in 13 countries.

‘‘The issue is really what’s in the air,” Martin said, citing fungal and bacterial spores. ‘‘First, there are transient people through [hotel rooms] all the time, and problems with moisture damage and air conditioners — good conditions for them to flourish.”

A Cornell University survey in 2005 found that 83 percent of 329 travelers would prefer to stay in a hotel or motel room treated to remove airborne allergens — with 60 percent saying they would pay extra for it.

Thayer charges a 5 percent to 10 percent premium for its so-called ‘‘pure” rooms. Rooms at Thayer’s DoubleTree in Bethesda run from $225 to $319. The Marriott Waterfront charges $339 to $360.

More than cleaner air

The treated guest and meeting rooms are part of the Wellness Program at Thayer’s hotels. The pure rooms was strictly a management initiative, not driven by customer demand, said Brook Miller, director of sales and marketing at the Annapolis Marriott.

Thomas E. Kammerer, Thayer’s managing director, said he saw a demonstration of technology to ‘‘purify” rooms at a Las Vegas trade show three years ago and was impressed.

‘‘I said, ‘Let’s beta test this at the Annapolis Waterfront Marriott for four months.’”

The initiative has paid off, he said.

Thayer, which buys and sells about $1.5 billion in hotel real estate annually, gets a 180 percent return on investment on the 10 rooms of the 150-room hotel that were converted.

‘‘There is a lot of repeat business for them,” Kammerer said. ‘‘People love them.”

Thayer’s hotels will soon also offer rooms with steam showers, aromatherapy and ‘‘chromo,” or light, therapy, he said. Rooms will also have free spa minibars, with samples of organic body and skin products.

The Annapolis hotel has also joined a hotel trend largely eliminating trans fats from its restaurant menu — though the chocolate cake still has some, according to one waiter.

‘‘We think this is cutting edge,” Kammerer said of the trend. ‘‘It will become standard. People will come to expect it.”

Among the hotels joining the ‘‘pure” room trend is the Hilton O’Hare in Chicago. Environmental Technology Solutions Inc. of Glen Ellyn, Ill., provides what it calls ‘‘an all-natural approach” to those guest rooms by replacing carpet, drapes and other items that can create health problems and introducing ozone to eliminate odors and fragrances.

Thayer contracts with PureSolutions USA of Buffalo, N.Y., to convert its guest rooms for about $2,000 to $2,500 each, said Haley Payne, Thayer’s new director of wellness.

After PureSolutions technician Maurice Walker recently finished ‘‘purifying” room 508 at the Bethesda DoubleTree, the air was noticeably fresher and free of the stale odors common to hotels.

The proof is in what you can’t see and what your body doesn’t experience, Walker said.

‘‘What you don’t see is what you have inhaled and been exposed to from others,” he said.

Thayer’s converted rooms have a cylindrical air purifying unit resembling the robot R2D2 from the ‘‘Star Wars” movies, filtering out impurities and particulates that affect sensitive guests.

The rooms are also treated with ozone and a fogging of a protective molecular layer to curb the growth of bacteria and other impurities. Bedding and pillows are encased in a protective cover that keeps out mold, spores, water, dust and dust mites. The American Standard toilet seat has a silver-based antimicrobial.

The air in the DoubleTree’s meeting rooms is also treated, Payne said, as ceiling-mounted units filter and recycle the air eight times an hour.

Not only do guests feel better, their conferences are more productive, she said.

‘‘Carbon dioxide is filtered out, leaving your attendees feeling fresh, awake and alert all day,” she said. ‘‘It opens the creative side of the brain.”

This report originally appeared in The Business Gazette.

FRESH AIR

Some of the hotelcompanies that offerso-called ‘‘pure” rooms:

Thayer Lodging Group of Annapolis

Conrad

Four Seasons

Crowne Plaza

Mellenium

Sheraton

Hampton Inn

Mandarin Oriental