Rag trade road warrior, Mr Jerome Tucker, recently needed to send some emails, print out some contracts and fax materials to his home office in California. So he put on his swimming trunks and headed for the pool at Le Meridien Cyberport Hotel Hong Kong.
As he sipped a glass of fresh orange juice, the American businessman watched staff wheel out the unique mobile business centre, and then he went to work.
Cyberport general manager, Mr Dean Schreiber, said: “We have taken a bold step and decided not to have a fixed business centre. Instead of having a windowless room that is unused 95 per cent of the time, we have a mobile business centre.
“We go to the clients. They can be by the pool, in the gym or be having a drink with contacts in the lounge. The fully equipped business centre is at their beck and call.”
The equipment can even be rolled into offices at commercial complexes nearby in the Cyberport complex that is still rising on the extreme eastern tip of Hong Kong, a purpose-built hi-tech suburb. As long as guests indicate where they want to work, the staff would set up the necessary equipment. Say they want to sit by the side of the pool. Staff may set a laptop on one of the poolside tables, together with other accessories ie, mobile phone, PDA (personal digital assistant), camera, etc.
The 173-room property is an integral part of Cyberport and carries the 21st century philosophy of the district. The ultra-chic hotel is fully covered by wireless broadband.
Revenue and front office manager Mr Troy Hickox calls it a virtual business centre. He said: “We provide everything. Clients can use tablet computers, PDAs and web cameras.
“If they bring their own laptops, we automatically connect them to broadband; they can work anywhere on the premises.”
Mr Hickox is among a camp of hoteliers who predict the gradual decline and disappearance of the traditional business centre.
This is reflected by the size and layouts of business centres in hotels now in the pipeline; they are more modest and offer a more selective range of services.
A few years ago, a swank business centre with skilled multilingual female staffers in trim black suits was mandatory, especially in five-star properties. With rich mahogany, thick carpets and walls fitted with well-stocked library shelves, they resembled discrete British clubs.
The death knell was sounded by the ubiquitous laptop. Even chairmen of global multinationals, now have their own laptops.
What the road warrior now demands is not an elegant business centre but instant, simple and cheap broadband connectivity, according to Mr Hickox. He said: “The business centre will become obsolete.”
But some hoteliers point out vigorously that there is still a lot of demand for business centres, not just for day-to-day communications but for special needs.
InterContinental Hotels Group vice-president sales & marketing, Ms Carmen Lam, based in Singapore, said such talk was premature.
Ms Lam said: “They have evolved. It is still an essential facility and service. It has revamped itself to accommodate different levels of intensity of support.
“While many guests may prefer to work on laptops in their rooms, they still use photocopying, binding, printing of documents, courier, parcel packing and other services. And of course the centres are definitely must-haves for convention and seminar organisers.”
She said a successful centre must meet a range of needs. “In our newer hotels, such as Crowne Plaza Manila Galleria, Crowne Plaza Wuzhou and InterContinental Hong Kong, we have business centres on the same floors as the meeting rooms for optimal convenience,” Ms Lam said.
“In InterContinental Hotels, there are 24-hour Insider Concierge (responsible for catering to requests when the business centre is closed at night). At resorts, where some guests travel without laptops, business centres offer additional computers.”
She lists the top five services as Internet access, faxing, photocopying, printing and purchase of reading materials.
Plaza Business Centre associate director, which is partner of the Shangri-La Shenzhen, Mr Keith Tsui, also believes business centres are alive and well.
“It depends on the location. Top five services are personal secretarial support, meeting rooms, printing/ photocopying, telecommunication services, such as IDD and the Internet, and also the services offered by the in-house café.
The St Regis Shanghai operates its business centre on the basis that not all guests are computer savvy.
A spokesman said: “We provide comprehensive services (eg, secretarial, translation or word processing) and resources (high-speed Internet, advanced technology and stylish meeting rooms). We accommodate all business and meeting needs.”
He said business centre revenue was growing with the use of secretarial, photocopying, equipment or meeting room rentals.
Many guests also need secretarial services and fax machines in China, as well as Mandarin translation and Chinese word processing.
