Red Roof goes on a road trip to show off its new room design
Skift Take
Business travel has picked up in the first quarter of 2013, but travelers and their employers are still looking for a bargain prompting budget chains to redesign in an attempt to offer modern rooms at a low cost.
When Red Roof Inn wanted to upgrade its rooms, the easy part was designing them: faux-wood floors; granite countertops and vessel sinks in the bathrooms; flat-screen televisions; and lots of outlets for laptops and smartphones.
The hard part "was getting our guests to experience our NextGen rooms," said Andrew Alexander, president of the Columbus-based chain celebrating its 40th anniversary this year. It has 345 inns in 38 states, did better than other economy-class hotels during the recession, and is poised to expand.
"We can and did offer special deals at our properties, and then we said, 'Why not take the room to them?"" Alexander said.
So Red Roof installed a model of a NextGen room in a truck trailer that will tour the country. It made a stop at the Ohio State University spring football game in Cincinnati on Saturday. It also is scheduled to appear at the Toyota Grand P
