Disappearing front desk

By Jack Hagel, Staff Writer

CARY - Something is disappearing from hotel lobbies across the Triangle: the imposing, impersonal front desk.

Desks that resemble tables or podiums are replacing those long, marble barriers -- for decades the cold centerpiece of the American hotel lobby -- as more hotels experiment with new check-in procedures aimed at cutting down long lines and making guests feel more welcome. Consider:

* Plans for a Hotel Indigo in Durham include a circular, low-to-the-ground front desk resembling an information desk at the mall.

"If a front-desk person is checking someone in and they want to walk them to the elevator, they can do so very easily," said Natasha Gullett, an Indigo spokeswoman. In older hotels, clerks are "locked behind those front desks; they don't have that flexibility."

* The region's first Aloft hotel, to be built near Raleigh-Durham International Airport, is to include a circular "free floating" front desk that also will offer more flexibility.

* Durham's Wyndham hotel may be retrofitted with podium-like pods as part of a national redesign planned by the chain.

* Lifestyle Hospitality, which plans a boutique hotel in Durham, wants to do away with the front desk altogether. Employees with electronic tablets will greet guests, sign them in and walk them to their rooms.

"It's almost like walking into a private home, where the host approaches you," said Lifestyle CEO Steve Marx. "... You'd be crazy to think a traveler would not feel comforted or welcome by that."

Technology is a big part of the front-desk evolution. For years, clerks were tethered to the desk answering phones, working the cash register or guarding keys.

"Half the people who traveled wanted to write you a check," said Russ Smith, general manager at Embassy Suites in Cary. "It was a very mechanical process."

Today, kiosks allow guests to check in, get their keys, and check out without ever talking to a hotel employee. That unchains clerks from the desk, allowing them to pay closer attention to guests. They can walk guests to the fitness room, for instance, instead of just pointing.

At the Embassy Suites in Cary, those tasks are easier because of three check-in podiums that take the place of a traditional front desk.About a quarter of Embassy Suites hotels feature the pods. Eventually, all of them will, Embassy spokeswoman Dawn Ray said.

The pods still function as old-fashioned desks for guests who prefer face-to-face service, about 90 percent of those who visit the 273-room Cary hotel.

The design has made it easier for front-desk clerks to help guests who have problems with kiosks. "When you're in the grocery store, and you're stuck, someone will come up and help you," Smith said. "We do the same thing. We just come out from the pods."

Not all guests are keen on the kiosks. Take Jim Turiano, 34, a systems engineer from Allenwood, N.J., who stayed at the Embassy Suites in Cary last week. He prefers the face-to-face check-in at the desk.

But in Cary, "I didn't know where to go," he said. "I saw a couple of folks hanging around in ties at the little pods. It was really confusing. I like to know where to go and know what to do. It's one of those comfort factors when you get to a hotel."

At least the pods made it easier for hotel representatives to assist him Wednesday when the kiosks stopped working.



Staff writer Jack Hagel can be reached at (919) 829-8917 or jack.hagel@newsobserver.com.