F U TURE TRE NDS


need to work and relax on-site and in style, but for lower prices than you might expect (from US$195 a night). In a similar vein, Dutch chain Citizen


M offers just one category of compact room and no in-room dining, swimming pools or gyms. Instead, guests benefit from generous amounts of communal space for working and eating, and a hip canteen open 24 hours. Again, there is an emphasis on creating a trendy but homely environment. A night at the new Citizen M La Défense in Paris costs from €71 (US$88) a night, and the chain plans to expand across North America and Asia over the coming years. The new Moxy Times Square (from


54


Air France subsidiary Joon is ushering in a new era of trendy aviation aimed at the younger generation


medicine balls, TRX suspension straps and space for stretching. Mercifully, there are four private showers. You can also buy healthy snacks and drinks on-site, and even rent Lululemon fitness clothing if you haven’t packed any of your own. Roam Fitness says it plans to open three more US locations this year and, within five years, hopes to have 20 locations including some overseas.


REACTIVE ROOMS Marriott International has partnered with Samsung and Legrand (a specialist in electrical and digital building infrastructures) to create a prototype internet of things (IoT) hotel room, which it hopes to one day bring to its portfolio of properties. Marriott believes in a sci-fi future where mirrors talk and your shower recognises you when you walk in. It says the IoT Guestroom Lab allows users to ask a virtual assistant for a wake-up call, to start a yoga routine on a full-length mirror, or set the shower to the temperature stored in their customer profile. The Irvine Marriott in California has


been experimenting with a smart shower door, whereby people can draw or write


ABOVE:The hip uniform of trendy new airline Joon RIGHT: Citizen M hotels offer affordable luxury


AP RIL 2 0 18 bus ine s s tr a v el ler .c om


down ideas in the steam on the glass, and then have them beamed to an iPad. A select number of Marriott’s Aloft hotels already have voice-activated rooms.


AFFORDABLE LUXURY Good news for budget-conscious business travellers is the continued growth of affordable luxury in both hotels and airlines. Boutique hotel mogul Ian Schrager launched his new high-design Public hotel brand in New York’s Lower East Side in 2017, with 367 pared-down rooms, open- plan co-working spaces, a florist, cocktail bars, a deli, rooftop event space and free wifi. Te idea is you get everything you


Marriott) is another example of a hotel chain that has chosen to invest in imaginative interior design, lively social spaces and superb dining at unusually low rates (from US$124 a night) by eliminating extraneous facilities and levels of service. Affordable luxury is coming to airlines too.


The Lufthansa Group’s budget subsidiary Eurowings has announced it will be installing a business class cabin – with fully flat beds – on board its long-haul wide-body aircraft departing Dusseldorf from the end of April 2018. Oliver Wagner, the airline’s CEO, said: “That’s not a contradiction for Eurowings. We see strong demand for another top product on routes with high business travel, for example from Dusseldorf to New York, Miami and Fort Myers.” And, he says: “We’ll be entering the Bizclass race with our usual budget-priced tickets.”


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