Can Hotels Make It Easier To Stay Healthy?

I spent the night at a hotel for the first time in several months and was reminded of the challenges of staying healthy on the road. There’s the all-you-can-eat breakfast buffets, the steady beckoning of room service, and an unfamiliar, often limited, fitness center. Some hotels have taken some steps to keep you healthy:

- In-Room Fitness Rentals: For years, several hotel chains have offered guests the chance to request selected fitness equipment, allowing them to work out in the privacy of their rooms

- Activity-Based Fitness: A hotel in Copenhagen has experimented with allowing guests to generate electricity (and earn a free meal) by pedaling a bike for 15 minutes, shrinking both your waistline and carbon footprint. While fitness isn’t the primary goal, building it into an activity takes away the stigma of “working out”

There are several hurdles for hotels. Most visitors are either busy or see their stay as an escape from their regular routine. There’s also limited upside for hotels – people don’t focus on amenities to decide where to stay (I’d imagine luxury or price are the main factors) and hotels make money off food and drinks, which could be cannibalized by health and fitness programs. However, there could be some opportunities with limited cost:

- In-room fitness is only available at selected hotels – expanding this option across entire chains and geographies would be low investment and create greater brand consistency and experience. There could also be small pamphlets in each room describing easy exercises using in-room furniture

- On the flip side, for people who are more social, hotels might provide classes or other programs (e.g., organized hikes, city walking tours) that can connect visitors on the road and motivate them to eat healthier or workout together

- Health magazines and websites list their favorite hotels for fitness, but there might be an opportunity for an organization (e.g., American Heart Association) put develop a certification process, similar to LEED, that tells consumers which hotels meet certain health standards (i.e., combination of fitness and healthy eating options)