COVID-19 resurgence set to spur hotel 'studycation' trend
Want some extra peaceful time to unwind, especially when your children are having their online lessons at home? That too in a hotel room with complementary Wi-Fi, in-room dining and daily supervision from butler.
Shanghai's hospitality industry is launching a new tailor-made service for grumpy parents, who have to work from home, and at the same time look after their home-schooling kids as the city's more than 1.5 million students shift to online learning again amid a COVID-19 resurgence since the beginning of March.
The ads for such services look so alluring ― an IT team to ensure high Internet speed, daily catering service for students, time for physical exercise guaranteed, designated butler supervision, free printing, and even multimedia support for photo and video homework.
Luxury hotel Mandarin Oriental Pudong, Shanghai is one of the first in the city to offer this service.
The 5,900-yuan (US$927.5) so-called "studycation" package includes four nights (check-in at 8am on Monday and check-out at 6pm on Friday) in a river-view suite, in-room online schooling for one student aged 7-16 years, three meals per day for the student, and hotel butler's daily supervision. It also notes that each student must be accompanied by one adult while checking in, and the adult can enjoy 30 percent discount across the hotel's food and beverage outlets and the spa.
Mandarin Oriental Pudong, Shanghai charges 5,900 yuan (US$927.5) for four nights for its studycation service.
Soon other hotels followed suit, including The Ritz-Carlton Shanghai, Pudong; Wanda Reign Shanghai; Holiday Inn Shanghai Jinxiu; and Four Points by Sheraton Shanghai Jiading. The price packages vary from 9,272 yuan for four nights to 3,288 yuan for five nights, featuring different offerings.
"We did recognize parents' needs when online learning resumed," said Cecilia Yang, director of marketing communications at Mandarin Oriental Pudong, Shanghai. "Since the outbreak of the pandemic, the hotel's occupancy rate has not been high, and we capable to launch this service."
The COVID-19 pandemic has hit businesses of just about every shape and size hard, but few have felt the effects quite as strongly as those in the hospitality industry. Less global and domestic travel has led to sinking occupancy rates and surging cancellations. But, at the same time, hotels are adopting innovative ways to survive, refocusing their efforts and doing everything they can to adapt to the new normal.
As foreign traveler numbers shrink, some hoteliers are keeping their business going by turning their rooms into potential workspaces, or "workcation" sites.
Hotel rooms come with an office to handle work-related tasks such as scanning and printing. Some are using robot butlers to deliver newspapers and daily supplies to guestrooms to reduce face-to-face interaction.
A hotel salesman in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, posted the studycation service on his WeChat.
"Studycation" might be another way out for the country's accommodation industry amid the COVID-19 gloom.
"We didn't deliberately 'market' this service," Yang pointed out. "People can check the average room price on our official website. We don't actually profit much from this (studycation). It's more out of social need. But of course, we do not deny that we also care about hotel operations and try to minimize the impact of the pandemic on us."
Inquiry calls have kept ringing in the hotel's reservations department since the service was launched last Wednesday. "The bookings are high," Yang revealed.
With the e-learning hotel room ads going viral on the Internet and social media platforms, people had mixed opinions.
"I buy myself some easy time with 1,500 yuan a day. Four-night babysitting service of a five-star hotel is quite worth it," according to Flora Zhang, a working mother in the fashion industry.
"I can focus more on my own work during the daytime. It's a win-win for me and the hotel during such hard times."
But others shook their heads in bewilderment and indignation.
"It's just a hyped-up thing. What's the point of it?" asked Liu Ying, a mother of a 10-year-old. "My daughter can eat, sleep and learn at home better than in a hotel room.
"This service is only for those 'high-end' parents, who cannot live without a nanny. But then again, rich parents can simply employ a home tutor for their kids."
