ATLANTA—In today’s hyper-sensitive environment every guest that turns on a hotel room’s faucet must consider how safe the drinking water is. In response, Best Inns & Suites over the course of the past few years has installed filtered drinking systems within many of its guestrooms through the help of its filtration system vendor, EverGreen Rooms by Hartford, Inc. of Wilmington, NC. Pushing forth the purified water initiative at the mid-priced economy chain was the brand’s owner, U.S. Franchise Systems, Inc, based here. Before the brand developed the idea for installing the systems, it had been searching for a feature that would differentiate the Best Inn product from the countless competitors in its market segment. The company ultimately found that no brand had ever focused on the premise of marketing a health-conscious hotel chain. “In this segment of the market, the hotel product is like a commodity, so how do you differentiate yourself and define the brand?” said Jon Leven, senior vp, marketing for U.S. Franchise Systems. “We thought a green type of hotel with clean water and clean air was a great little niche, particularly because bottled water was getting so much press at the time and seemed really relevant.” Subsequently, U.S. Franchise Systems installed air cleaners and filtered shower systems, along with the filtered drinking systems, in at least 10% of the rooms at each Best Inns & Suites property at its own expense. And that was an expense that Leven deemed extremely worthwhile, especially considering that it would mean the brand would be saving its guests money— dollars that would no longer have to go toward bottled water. “The bottled water industry has exploded and water is one of the most demanded amenities in guestrooms. It’s always at the top of guests’ lists,” Leven said. “Now, buying water can get very expensive. But if you can deliver bottle-quality water out of the tap, you are meeting guests’ needs and eliminating the charge of $4 a bottle.” Leven added that the system is easily installed, taking only a couple of hours if it were set up throughout an entire property. Each three-part system comprises a faucet, a filter and saddle valve and is set up in each room’s sink. The filter contains replaceable, compressed, granular-activated carbon cartridges that have a slight touch of KDF55, which is an element that provides bacteriostatic protection. The saddle valve attaches to a room’s existing plumbing. Once working properly, the system is designed to remove iron, sulfur, chlorine and calcium, according to EverGreen. “So far, guests love it and the franchisees love it because it’s a great amenity and helps them gain and retain business,” Leven added. Following the initial 10% rollout that occurred in all 115 Best Inns & Suites, Leven said many of the franchisees installed the systems throughout their entire properties at their own expense. According to EverGreen, the charge for each system is about $49 per room if the hotel installs it. The cost for the complete package of drinking water, air and shower filtration is about $300 per room if installed by the hotel. Leven also noted that each property pays a continuous maintenance fee for each room that includes service and replacement filters, which are needed every six months. Because the system is rather inexpensive and less than complex, Leven admits he does not know why other chains, large and small, have not offered filtration drinking water as an amenity. However, he does have a theory. “For large chains to adopt something like this, I think it could involve a massive cost and a forceful push upon franchisees,” he said. “Nevertheless, I believe over time, there will be more filtration systems in other hotels. Once more consumers get exposed to it more, they’ll demand it. “It’s similar to what happened with non-smoking rooms,” he continued. “It took a while for that idea to catch on. Now, 90% of hotel rooms are non-smoking and, often, hotels are
Previous ArticleDevelopers Let It Ride In Las Vegas
Next Article Amenities Help Differentiate House Of Blues Hotel