By Indi Rooney
Traveling can be tiresome. Or incredibly fun. It depends in part on the experience surrounding your lodging and all the fabulous amenities they offer. Hotels are getting savvy in competing for business by offering different amenities for guests. The hope is that a unique or “out there” amenity will encourage travelers to choose their brand over a competitor.
You may have heard of the Puppies and Prosecco package at Denver’s Kimpton Hotel Monaco. They deliver both precious items to your hotel room for a personal puppy party. It’s available August 23-26 in the hotel’s luxury suite and proceeds from the perk go to a local no-kill shelter. This is obviously a one-time thing (because puppies grow up and all) but it got us thinking about what other amenities might be out there for intrepid travelers.
Keeping with the animal theme, select Kimpton Hotels will bring a goldfish to your room for the duration of your stay. Apparently, the presence of an aquarium can alleviate travel stress. The hotel staff will even care for the fish – so it’s a stress-free, short-term pet ownership perk.
The Waterford Castle in Ireland offers a falconry experience, in case you ever had fantasies of calling a hawk from the treetops to land on your gloved hand. If you’re not into furry feet, wings or gills, there are plenty of fun amenities offered by trendy hotels worldwide.
Hotel Erwin in Venice Beach, California offers an “Ink + Stay” package that comes with a tattoo voucher, lotion, an icepack and a bottle of tequila. They also offer a “Drunk Yoga Weekend” package for weekend warriors… who also want to stay centered.
The Viceroy Riviera Maya offers a soap concierge to provide and explain a luxurious selection of soaps that guests can enjoy. Sounds like good clean fun! They also have a resident shaman. Seriously.
The Hard Rock Hotels provide expertly curated music playlists and give guests access to one of 20 Fender guitars to rock out on during their stay – complete with amp and headphones, so you don’t keep the neighbors awake.
The JW Marriott Grand Rapids places a sugar cookie in the hotel rooms of those who check in on social media upon arrival. It features the logo of the social media network that the guest used in the post.
One&Only Palmilla in Los Cabos offers a sewing kit. We know what you’re thinking… sounds cheap… but this one is coordinated to the colors of your clothing. Housekeeping checks out your closet and leaves it for you, which may be a little creepy, but it’s also cool. They even have their own limited-edition tequila to help you get over the embarrassment of someone checking out your skivvies.
You can book these fabulous hotels on numerous online travel sites or just access NPP hotel discounts and save even more on your reservation. Then put that money towards a tattoo or whatnot.