Business travel poll 1997: Prestige counts for little

When Asian-based bankers travel for work, they really mean business. Most executives select their hotels and airlines by how they will help them perform their jobs. Location, good work facilities and comfort count for more than prestige, gourmet food and snob appeal. Those who can afford the best when travelling on business are specific about what they require.

Jose Antonio Gonzalez, chairman and CEO of Mondragon International Philippines, looks for fast, efficient service when choosing a hotel. "I want accurate room service, a quick response to a request for valet services, and quick relay of faxes," he says. Comfortable, firm beds are essential, and technology also counts with the Manila-based Gonzalez. "I like air-conditioning that can be temperature-controlled and a good voicemail system for messages." His favourite hotels in the region include the Island Shangri-La and the Omni Hong Kong in Hong Kong, and the Hyatt in Singapore.

American hotelier Conrad Hilton once said that the three most important factors in a hotel's success were "location, location, location". In Asia's crowded cities, where horrendous traffic jams make getting around a daily nightmare, location is even more important than in Europe or North America, and is a prime factor in selecting hotels.

Business essentials

Alistair Leckie, director of NatWest Markets in Hong Kong, cites location, degree of comfort and familiarity as his main criteria when booking a hotel. "If rooms are comfortable, and service is efficient, that is high on my ratings," he says. His favourites include the Shangri-La in Jakarta, because it is near to his office and because it provides rapid check-in and check-out facilities. The Shangri-La is one of Leckie's favourite hotel groups.

In Singapore, he uses the Mandarin Oriental even though it is slightly away from the central business district. (Location is somewhat less critical in Singapore, with its orderly traffic.) Leckie also makes an exception for the Grand Hyatt in Seoul, "because the others are so awful". Although the hotel is somewhat out of the way, it is just five or 10 minutes from central Seoul. "You just have to get up a bit earlier," he says.

For Munroe Swirsky, Hong Kong-based chief financial officer for Far East Commodities and Trading, the size of the hotel bedroom and bathroom and cleanliness are important. His favourites are the Sukhothai in Bangkok, The Conrad in Hong Kong and the Grand Hyatt in Singapore. He doesn't prefer any one chain, because he finds that hotels are different in individual countries. "Hyatts are nice, I stay there if I can," says the South African.

Company policy, not the individual, often determines the choice of hotel. Peter Chan, senior vice-president of the Bank of America, says the bank usually determines where he stays. To Chan, a good location (close to his bank's branch) and comfort are all-important. However, he has a personal favourite, for a unique reason. "I like the Hyatts because of their usual four- and five-star quality. But also because of the blankets," he says.

"Most hotels tuck the blankets so tightly around the mattress that you really have to struggle to get into bed," he explains. "The Hyatt makes the beds just like at home. I like that."

Chan's favourite Asian hotels include the Four Seasons in Singapore, because it is businesslike, the Hyatt in Bangkok for its health facilities and the Bangkok Regent because of its general high quality. In Taipei, the Sherwood gets his vote.

Although a Hong Konger, Chan made frequent business visits to the city while living abroad, staying at The Conrad on Hong Kong Island. "I like its modern decor, the light colours and the large bathrooms," he says. And the good health facilities.

The company also usually determines the hotel for Warner Manning, senior manager, planning and research, with the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation. "I could decide myself, but my travel services department usually books my hotels," he says. "They tend to put me in the right sort of places."

Manning's choice lodgings are Mandarin Orientals, especially the Jakarta Mandarin, Regents and Hyatts, "because these chains are oriented to business travellers".

For years, hotels have been promoting their business centres as an extra attraction for roving executives. These offer secretarial services, photocopy machines, printers and faxes, as well as computers, typewriters and cellular telephones for rent. Some provide translation and interpretation services, monitors with the latest financial services and stock market reports, even reference libraries.

Business centres get mixed reviews in Asia, and have lost their allure for many travellers. Executives complain that they are expensive, inefficient and unnecessary. In-room faxes and that ubiquitous tool of the modern roving businessman, the laptop computer, have rendered business centres less useful.

Communication via the Internet has become so entrenched that high-tech execs staying in the same hotel will often e-mail each other. E-mail has even rendered in-room faxes less essential. Executives can now type their notes and messages, and e-mail them right from the room, or send reports back to head office to be prepared.

The Hongkong Bank's Manning does look for a hotel with a good business centre, especially for printing capabilities. "I have a mobile PC, a notebook, so frequently I want to use their printers, and also send faxes."

While a hotel should have a business centre, says Paul Jurie, Citibank's director of project finance, he seldom uses them. "They are often not very good, and are usually a rip-off," he complains. The rates for hiring a meeting room or using the secretarial services are "phenomenal". Jurie finds it easier, faster, more efficient and more economical to transmit work back to Hong Kong to be retyped. In fact, most executives condemn high hotel surcharges for business services. "In-room faxes are nice, but are usually too expensive," Jurie says. Like many modern executives, he uses a laptop constantly while travelling, in the hotel room as well as in offices he visits.