New hotel includes work space for non-guests

The Hoxton Hotel just opened its doors in a hip neighbourhood in London’s East End. Besides the usual meeting spaces for guests, the Hoxton also offers private offices for non-guests. Perfect for getting work done between meetings in London. Each office features a desk, free wireless internet, a phone and a private bathroom. The offices are open from 10 am to 4 pm on weekdays and are currently on offer for just GBP 19 per day. Offering work space to non-guests is a smart sideline for hotels, who should be able to incorporate them with existing (underutilized) business centres without too much trouble. Flexible being spaces for mobile warriors are fast becoming a global trend. For more examples, see our previous coverage of The Coffee Office in Canada, The Hubworking Centre in London, Habitaz in South Africa and Bureaux in Australia. Back to the Hoxton, which incorporates plenty of other innovative elements. Taking the easyJet approach to rates, rooms are cheapest far in advance, including elusive attention grabbers of one pound a night. Like most inexpensive airline tickets, reservations at Hoxton Hotel are non-refundable (unless made at GBP 119 or over). This deviates from the hotel standard of 24-hour cancellations, but enables very sharp prices by London standards — nightly rates average at GBP 79 per room. The hotel was created by Sinclair Beecham, who co-founded Pret a Manger. The Hoxton is Beecham’s first foray into the hotel world, to which he wants to bring a superior, well-designed experience at affordable prices. Frills include free wireless internet throughout the hotel, Frette linens, duck-down duvets and affordable phone calls. As quoted in the Observer, Beecham’s inspiration stems from his own underwhelming experiences: “I paid GBP 2.50 for a Mars bar in a hotel the other day. I mean, what do they think I am? In business you’ve got to treat your customers with respect, not like dumb bastards. That’s why I wanted to open a hotel, because I find it so frustrating.” Amen to that.