Coworking Spaces Create Opportunity for a New Kind of Guest
Photo Credit: Workshop Cafe is running at capacity due to demand even from office workers across the street. Workshop Cafe
Skift Take
There's a big opportunity for hotel organizations to both learn lessons from guest management as practiced by the new coworking spaces as well as use their own expertise and resources to create connections with a new breed of customer.
The coworking phenomenon is growing not just because there's a rising population of freelancers, as often cited, but because many people are craving variety, flexibility, and a chance to focus without interruption during their work day. This growth is increasingly blurring the line between office space and hospitality.
Except, for people who want to work on their laptops remotely on a regular schedule, whether they're traveling or working locally, the choices are limited. There's always a Starbucks or other coffee shop with Wi-Fi, but after a while people start feeling guilty about taking up a table for a couple hours. So you order another $6 coffee, tip well, and assuage your guilt for a moment.
But even then, the music is loud, people are talking on their phones, staff is moving chairs and banging dishes, kids are squealing, and there's all kind of random movement behind your back, so you never really get in a zone. Of course, all of this is contingent on you finding a place
