Sheraton, Yahoo Expand WiFi Partnership

WHITE PLAINS, NY— With a nod toward the untapped potential of co-branding, Sheraton Hotels and Yahoo, Inc. have expanded their strategic partnership, introduced in January, to offer complimentary WiFi and broadband high-speed Internet access to hotel guests. Sheraton, which is part of Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc., and Yahoo continue to beta test the co-branded product in two formats. In select hotels, Yahoo! Link@ Sheraton is available in guestrooms as well as in the lobby in a cyber café-type lounge, where guests can log on in an informal setting while surrounded by fellow users. In other hotels, the service is only available in guestrooms. The lobby installations have been operating at the Sheraton San Diego Hotel & Marina and Sheraton Boston. WiFi service, meanwhile, is available in guestrooms at the Sheraton New York Hotel & Towers and the Sheraton Stamford in Stamford, CT. While officially the beta test continues, Sheraton executives last month said that customer feedback had been very positive with only modest tweaking left to do. At the same time, the beta test has been extended to include cyber cafes and guest-room hook-ups in Sheraton hotels in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and Bangkok, Thailand. The services also go live at the Sheraton Brussels (Belgium) this month. Sheraton has 389 hotels operating in 64 countries. Easy access to the Internet, and specifically their e-mail, continually ranks high on the list of amenities most in demand by travelers. “Hotels where the lobby lounge has been installed have been transformed,” said Sheraton’s senior vp of marketing, Chad Waetzig. “Many of our guests are purpose-driven business travelers who rely on WiFi connectivity to remain in touch with their offices. But even leisure travelers want to be able to communicate this way with friends and family while on vacation. The Yahoo lounge is a convenient way to accomplish that. Being out-of-town shouldn’t necessarily mean being out-of-touch.” Similarly, a printer in each lobby lounge allows guests to print their airline boarding pass before heading to the airport. Given how hectic airports have become, time-pressured travelers appreciate the convenience of having their boarding pass in hand. As a brand, Sheraton’s core values include providing warmth, comfort, and connections, so the Yahoo relationship fosters these attributes. “Often given the option of doing their email from their guestrooms or opting to come down to a lobby lounge, guests will choose the lobby. They tell us they like the sense of community, of belonging. It’s a place to be in the hotel and not be alone,” Waetzig continued. From an operations perspective, lobbies are often large spaces that are underutilized. Adding a Yahoo lounge has proven to be a way to activate the space. Other hotel chains in the past few years have reconceived their lobbies to make them more multi-functional. Courtyard by Marriott, for example, added computer-enabled work stations, but the WiFi connectivity is not co-branded with a well-known entity like Yahoo. In addition to the free connectivity, the home page of each Sheraton participating in the beta test features a micro-site link that’s been customized to that particular location. Included are current weather conditions, driving directions, restaurant tips, and information on local attractions. “It’s meant to function as a virtual concierge,” Waetzig said. A special proactive feature allows guests to add their personal reviews of restaurants and attractions. Yahoo benefits from the partnership by exposing new, relatively affluent users to its brand. In addition, Sheraton guests using the system are eligible to receive a 30-day free trial of a package of Yahoo premium services. Included in the bundled services are music, games, news, and other programs. For as focused as the lobby lounges are on WiFi, use is not restricted to guests seeking to go on line. Rather, features are available for those who just want