LANCASTER PA HOTELS | HERSHEY PA HOTELS

Full Service Vs. Focus Service Hotels

With so many different hotels out there it is no wonder that guests can get confused on what each one offers. Hotels really break down into two categories, Full Service and Focus Service with many sub-categories in each.  Finding the right fit hotel for guests can sometimes be as hard as finding the girl who fits the glass slipper. Even within hotel brands, Hilton, Marriott, Hyatt they designed their own Focus Service hotels to target certain travelers.

Full Service Hotels will have everything from banquet space, restaurants, bars, gift shops, valet parking, some even have on site dry cleaning services, spas, and larger fitness centers. Everything you could need and more all in once place. Yet these service are not all included in the price of the room, in fact most full service hotels ask you pay for many of these items. Parking might add anywhere from a few dollars a day to nearly $30.00 a day. Wireless Internet might cost you $10 to $20 a day. Don’t even think about a free breakfast, unless you are a VIP member of their points program. So why do you pay such a higher rates if these other services are not free? You are paying for the accessibility to them, and for many traveling to a new area, having these services at hand can be not only a comfort but a life saver.

Focus Service Hotels will have limited selection of services designed to fit the needs of the travel segment they are trying to target. For instance a hotel focused on leisure family travel is less likely to have meeting rooms and more likely to provide a free continental breakfast. A business travel focused hotel is more likely to have a business center,  free internet access and fitness center but not a game room for kids. These Focus Service Hotels are able to keep their rates lower by only offering services they think their guests will really want and need either free or at a minimal extra cost.

So when planning your next trip don’t just look at the highlight price, find out what it is really going to coast you, are you going to get free parking? Do you need Wifi in your room? Are you kids going to eat for free? Can you get a drink after a long day? Do they have lower rates for long term travelers? Take some time and find out which properties fit your travel needs in each of the brands so that you have access to all those services you need, and want at the price you are willing to pay.

Until next Tuesday,

~Jason W. Deeds

Tags: Hilton, Hilton Garden Inn, Lancaster, Travel Tips

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