5 Things a Web Pro Considers Before Reserving a Hotel Room


I’d probably live in this hotel if I could

FREE Wifi
Free in room wifi is a must but it has to be at least half way decent in speed and reliability (by our standards) to keep us happy. Right now I’m seeing 1.02 Mbps download and 1.23 Mbps upload, which is not going to impress anyone in Kansas City, Kansas anytime soon but it’s ok for what I’m doing. The wifi has been on and reliable all day, it has had no issue streaming a youtube video here and there so considering it’s free, it’s great.[note autop=’false’][/note]

FREE Coffee All Day Long

I was never much of a coffee drinker until recently. Now I need a morning cup and an afternoon cup to get through the day. It’s not so much about keeping awake but rather staying focused. I learned after checking in at this hotel that there is complimentary coffee ALL DAY LONG in the lobby. This is really nice for two reasons, 1 it’s FREE, and 2 it’s reason to get up and out of the room, stretch my legs and get the blood pumping.

FREE Breakfast
Ok, like I said, I’m on vacation with the family, so my nights are pretty tame. However we all know how things are during a conference or big meetup. Sometimes after a fun night on the town with our industry friends it’s hard to face the sun in the morning. So what’s better motivation first thing in the morning to get out of bed then a breakfast buffet fully equipped with hot food, pastry’s, an omelet bar, pancakes, waffle maker, etc… How about all that COMPLIMENTARY.

FREE Beer
No I’m not joking and no I’m not ripping off the bartender. The hotel has a “managers special” from 5:30 – 7:30pm EVERYDAY. During the managers special drinks are ON THE HOUSE! No kidding, check out the image below for proof, it’s the card I get for my free breakfast, coffee and drinks.

Communal Space
One of my favorite things to do is “people watch” while I work. On “meeting light” days I often go and work at a Starbucks or Panera, get my work done, enjoy a coffee and check out the locals. When working from home one of the challenges is that I am often working all day alone. I don’t get that interaction that others do around the water cooler. This is great for productivity but sometimes I get cabin fever. People watching is a great way to feel apart of society with out the pesky interruption that comes with actually talking to people. This hotel has a great communal space in the lobby with chairs and tables which makes it easy to work and relax.
Embassy Suites Deleware Lobby

Reasons 6 and 7 *Bonus

Pool
Swimming is just plain fun. So after a hard days work hoping in a pool to cool off and relax is great. Not much more needed on the subject, there.

Suites
The Embassy Suites (given it’s name it should be obvious what I’m about to say) is filled with suites. [note]

Embassy Suites Hotels helped create the all-suite segment of the lodging industry and maintains the commanding presence in this segment in terms of system size, geographic distribution, brand-name recognition and operating performance.

Embassy Suites[/note]

If you’re staying with someone else (girlfriend, wife, kid, homeless guy you’re helping out for a night) the bright light of your laptop and the tapping of the keys will probably keep them up. It’s a huge benefit for them and for yourself to be able to close a door and work in a separate room. The Embassy Suite, room is actually two different rooms. It has a bedroom about the size of an average hotel room, but before that is the “living” room with a desk, couch, tv all separate.

Embassy Suites Is Paying You To Say This, Right?

Haha, I wish… The truth is I really enjoyed my stay here, so much in fact it got me thinking about how convenient things are. All this added up to a great article about where a Web Designer / Developer should stay when they’re on the road or better yet where conference organizers should consider hosting their events. Hope this article helped.

Before you go, comment below and tell me which one of the 7 factors above are the most important in your decision making for a hotel stay.


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