GREENSBORO, NC— Guestrooms at the Greensboro–High Point Marriott Airport are equipped with a new bedding package following a $2.2 million renovation of the 299-room property. The new bedding includes the Sealy Posturepedic Plush mattress, along with new bed skirts, duvets, duvet covers, pillows (five on king beds and three on double beds) and pillow shams, according to Cheryl Moore, director, sales and marketing for the hotel. The beds also have 180-thread count sheets. “For the mattress, we chose Sealy because of the quality of their product and also because they are a great client of ours,” Moore said of the Trinity, NC-based company. “We’ve done an incredible amount of business with them.” New Partnership The Marriott previously used Jameson mattresses, “and they were good but at this time we wanted to partner with Sealy,” Moore said. In addition to the bedding, guest-rooms were updated with new carpet, curtains and upholstered chairs. The color scheme for the bedding is blue, gold and moss green; the new carpet is navy and gold; and the chair is yellow/gold. All public areas and the hotel’s 9,850-square-feet of meeting space were also refurbished with new furniture, chandeliers, wall coverings and carpet. In addition, new meeting space was created from an area that had been the hotel’s gift shop. The hotel, which has been a Marriott since it opened 20 years ago, was last renovated in 1996, according to Moore. “This latest renovation coincides with our 20th anniversary coming up in June. We wanted to have brand new everything for that,” she said. Positive Response Guest feedback on the Marriott’s new bed has been overwhelmingly positive, according to Moore. “They absolutely love it. They say it’s a huge improvement,” she said. Moore said that in response to guests’ requests, the mattress will be available for purchase. “We’re working with Sealy on the details of the program,” she said. The Marriott targets business travelers and promotes each guestroom as the “Room that Works.” Each room has a workstation with a work desk and lamp, speaker phone, voice mail and dataports on the phone. Additionally, there is a 24-hour business center and complimentary airport shuttle that is available around the clock. “Our clientele is 70% corporate-related, 20% social with wedding, bar mitzvahs and events like that; and the balance is state associations and similar groups,” Moore said. To let local businesses know about the renovation, the Marriott conducted a sales blitz to more than 300 firms. The blitz took place on Oct. 31 when Marriott employees hand-delivered special Halloween treat bags that included information about the new beds and the renovations. One of the promotional offerings showed a man asleep on a table while a meeting was going on around him. The copy read: “Tired of employees falling asleep during company meetings? Meet the hotel with the best beds.” “We wanted all of our business neighbors to know about the improvements we are making to our hotel that will enable us to better serve our guests and meeting clients,” Moore said. The promotional effort resulted in 15 immediate leads, Moore said, adding that the hotel booked 12 additional company meetings for 2003 as a direct result of the sales blitz. Since that promotion, the hotel has subsequently done mailings to let clients know about the improvements made during the renovation program.
