Getting a hotel room as a place of work is now possible in some establishments.
In order to compensate for the losses associated with confinement, hotels are transforming their rooms and lobbies into coworking spaces and private offices during the day.
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The Accor hotel group made rooms available for teleworkers at the beginning of August “
in 320 hotels across Northern Europe, particularly in the United Kingdom, Holland and Belgium
”, explains Karelle Lamouche, Sales Director Europe Accor .
The offer should soon be available in France, "
in our hotels which so wish, but it is still too early to specify the implementation in the region, as well as the exact date of deployment
", she specifies.
For its part, the Barrière group offers the “teleworking getaway” in some of its hotels to those who would like to work from home with a view of the sea. For the tidy sum of 330 euros, which includes the night and the next day, the customers of the Hotel Le Royal La Baule for example can enjoy a room with an additional work room and drink service during break times.
Beyond the big chains, the independents have also decided to innovate, like the Mondial hotel in Perpignan, or the Arvor hotel in Paris.
But if the concept is at first glance beneficial for hoteliers and teleworkers, it is costly and restrictive for companies.
"The hotel offer is not suitable for companies"
If these new spaces allow teleworkers to leave their homes, this is not necessarily the best solution according to Xavier de Mazenod, consultant specializing in the implementation of teleworking, for several reasons.
“
Of course, a hotel room is better equipped than a café, but it remains relatively uncomfortable
.
The tablet is not big enough, and then you have the impression that you are working in your room,
”he says.
Then, in the context of the health crisis, "
this offer does not really correspond to the needs of companies
", continues Xavier de Mazenod.
"
Currently,
companies are looking for secure spaces from a health point of view
, but also from an IT point of view
."
We therefore find few employees in these teleworking spaces
,
but "rather self-employed entrepreneurs
or" digital nomads ", those whose office is their computer
."
Read also: How companies negotiate teleworking agreements
But what hinders businesses the most is the price to pay to provide their employees with a room for the day.
David Grénet, director of the Arvor hotel, explains: “
when we launched the offer at the end of the confinement, we approached companies to establish partnerships.
But none wanted, or could, release such a budget for the spaces that we offered
”.
Since the launch of the offer, the hotel has recorded "
an average of two teleworkers per week, and the room is at their expense, whether they are employees or freelancers
".
Because finding a hotel room for each employee of a company can be expensive.
At the Arvor hotel, you have to pay 50 euros per day for a room accessible from 8:30 am to 7 pm.
Depending on the standard, room rates soon to be offered by Accor hotels will vary from 35 to 160 euros.
"
A company will rather leave its employees free to go to a coworking space than rent 10 hotel rooms for them
", summarizes the consultant specializing in teleworking.
Coworking at the hotel, a good alternative in times of coronavirus?
Less expensive and more user-friendly, the coworking space could be "
a good alternative to teleworking from home for companies
" according to Xavier de Mazenod.
Here too, some hotels are trying to convert part of their establishment into a shared workspace, such as the American hotel chain Best Western with its brand of coworking spaces Mywoo, which since mid-September have been visiting 14 French establishments in chain.
These Mywoo spaces can be found on the Neo-nomade.com website, a platform for booking coworking spaces.
“
Combining office and coworking space does not date from deconfinement,
” explains Baptiste Broughton, the site's co-founder.
“
We have been offering
alternative spaces to offices for
seven years , and companies are quite receptive to our offers. As proof, before confinement,
10,000 workers made a reservation in a coworking space each month ”.
To read also: Telework: "A company is not reduced to a sum of mercenaries"
But since the deconfinement, again companies are more reluctant to send their employees to telework away from home: “
we have recovered 70% of the volume of reservations before the crisis, which is already a lot, but the 30% remaining, it is the companies that fear that employees contract the virus in spaces where there is traffic and proximity, despite social distancing.
Hotels that develop this concept now are no more successful than other establishments.
"
A drop in users that Baptiste Broughton qualifies by the arrival of new companies on the platform: “
from the start of the confinement,
many
SMEs and very small businesses
had to leave their office because their cash could not support the price of rent in Paris.
Since then, more and more of them have turned to coworking space, which is more flexible and less expensive.
"
Read also: The CEO of Slack believes that teleworking is essential to remain attractive
This observation gives hope to the co-founder of Neo-nomade, who thinks that this way of working is likely to become widespread in the future: “
the social partners are in full reflection on the way in which we will work after Covid-19
”.
Regarding hotel rooms dedicated to teleworking, here too Sylvie Joly, Marketing Director of the Barrière Group, is optimistic: “
companies will learn to work differently and employees will dare to relocate
”.
Finally, Accor affirms that "
nearly 100% of
[their]
British partners have readily joined this initiative
", hoping that it will be the same in France.