The Baronette Renaissance Hotel in Novi has turned part of its lobby, a conference room and another common area in the hotel into free and rentable workspaces.
Marriott, owner of the hotel, has partnered with LiquidSpace, an organizer and booker of workspaces in all sorts of places in several cities. Together the hotel chain and LiquidSpace launched Workplace on Demand after some minor renovations. LiquidSpace guarantees the space, and Baronette provides and services it.
"We have great spaces in our hotel that are sometimes not being used during the day. These include both our public spaces as well as meeting rooms. It’s a great opportunity for us to welcome in people who may not be staying at our hotel to see how great the experience is," says Sora Chan, director of sales for the Baronette Renaissance.
The 155-room Baronette Renaissance property, at Twelve Oaks Mall, is one of a handful of metro Detroit hotels offering the service, which is commonplace in some cities. In the six months since Workspace on Demand began, bookings have stacked up, says Chan.
"Our public space has been regularly booked on a weekly basis and it has been very popular with our guests," she says.
"This is very common in bigger cities like in NY and LA. We see a lot of sales people and consultants who are in need of a place to 'touch down' in between client meetings. Often they find coffee shops to be too crowded and unreliable, so they like the assurance of knowing they have a reserved space."
At the Baronette, the "Corner Seating" workspace is a comfy corner couch, chairs and a table for free. The "Library" is also in the hotel lobby and is free. It offers intimate seating for eight. The "Maple Boardroom" is a private meeting space for eight and is wired for presentations at a cost of $400 a day, $300 for a half-day.
All spaces include WiFi, internet service, printing, scanning and copying, TVs, coffee and tea service.
Source: Dave Jones, account executive, Shazaaam Public Relations and Sora Chan, director of sales, Baronette Renaissance Hotel
Writer: Kim North Shine
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