Courtyard by Marriott has recently renovated their lobbies in a major way. More than just changing colors, the new lobbies are great places for getting work done or decompressing after getting the work done. They include a Bistro with casual fare, comfortable seating areas, lots of TVs (big and small), plus a giant touchscreen where travelers can look up weather, news, and local attractions. I had the opportunity to check one out in Nashville yesterday, and it is very nice. If I were them, I would throw a party too! My favorite part is the cozy breakfast nook that has a TV built into it. A great place to sit down, grab something to eat or a cup of coffee, keep an eye on the news, and get some work done.
The breakfast nook.
If you happen to be in the Baltimore, Houston, or Phoenix airports, check out the new “Lobby Zone” displays. Courtyard has rolled these out as a place for business travelers to sit down and escape the hectic crowds as they experience the new lobbies.
To celebrate the new and exciting Courtyard lobbies, we are doing a contest. Woo-hoo! You can win two nights in any Courtyard Marriott in the continental US. Simply write a comment answering the following: What is your favorite thing to do in a hotel lobby? We will draw a winner at random on November 21. As always, only one entry will be counted per person.
They are letting me stay in a Courtyard for a few nights in January, and I’m looking forward to some quality time in the new lobby! My favorite thing to do in a lobby is be around people while I work. Makes me feel not quite so isolated when traveling a lot. And if there are cookies, so much the better!
Good luck!
Get a drink at the bar! 🙂
Surf internet; make plans for the next day.
Chill until check-in time when I am able to get in early and enjoy one of the cookies!
Check-in for free using with rewards points
People watching for sure.
Drinking a coffee or tea while catching up on emails!
my favorite thing to do in the lobby is to cocktail and scope chicks as the guests check-in!
People watch and have a drink at the bar
Use the wifi
My favorite thing to do in a hotel lobby is to people watch while drinking coffee and surfing the internet on wifi.
My favorite thing to do in a hotel lobby is people watch while “working” on my iPad and drinking coffee!
I enjoy people watching.
using the wifi
Just enjoy the atmosphere.
My favorite is to people watch!
My favorite thing to do in a hotel lobby is check in and also use the computers available.
I love hanging out in the bar..
I’d totally people watch!
Relax, get waited on & enjoy meeting people at the bar.
Getting away from the hustle & bustle.
Get a drink
People watch!
I’d love to enjoy wifi, if it is free
I like to sit around with friends and meet new people. Exchanging stories and meeting people from all over is always fun! I ALSO like to guess what people are doing there! 🙂
hit the bar
My fav activity in a hotel lobby is to watch the tour buses full of school children unload while their chaperones go crazy trying to keep them monitored
I used to travel a lot for business. Now it’s almost all pleasure. I like watching my two young daughters, excited to be staying at a hotel, sitting in the lobby trying to act like big girls. I love all the giggles we all have while they do it.
My favorite thing to do in a hotel lobby is wait for someone I haven’t seen in a long time…
Telecommute! One of the hidden perks of my job is being able to travel mid-week without taking leave time. But I think my customers are in cahoots with the airlines because it never fails— there’s always one last conference call to join between hotel check-out time and flight time. Or one last support issue to resolve. You’ll frequently find me huddled in a quiet corner of the lobby, working! This is also why I seek out flights with gogo wifi— I can still work, and stay logged into my IM, and travel tons without burning up all my vacation.
Check facebook 🙂
Browse the gift shops
I love to just people watch and enjoying the comings and goings of the staff and hotel customers.
Use their printer
Read newspaper
Free wifi
I like to people watch while waiting for my wife to handle anything that needs to be done at the front desk.
My favorite thing to do in a lobby is a have a drink and people watch! 🙂
Eat a hot breakfast!
I love a nice, well appointed airport hotel lobby instead of a coffee shop or restaurant for a business meeting with the business partners scattered around the country. I’ve saved probably thousands of dollars in paying for event rooms by meeting at the Marriott lobby near O’Hare — I fly in from DC, one partner from Madison, and another drives in from Bloomington. We can very cheaply and pleasantly get done what needs to get done in the comfort of a living room — all for the cost of a couple of cups of coffee or Diet Cokes.
My favorite thing to do is check in. That means I just got there and have something exciting planned.
The bistro in cortyards is real cool!
Hopefully find that they have a bar off the lobby (or in it)!
Have a drink with my wife!
Drink a gin and tonic and talk to the bartender.
Love to watch people coming and going, and wonder about what brings them there at that point in their day (or life!)
Get a drink at the bar.
Look for cookies or fruit and read local paper.
inter-web
I like to work with the background noise of other people.Oh, and the cookies are a real bonus.
Get wasted!