The trend of catering to women is a budding phenomenon across the globe, and the list of hotels offering such personalized service and amenities is growing.

　　Hoteliers are paying attention to what women want from their hotel experience going the extra mile with a little bit of sensitivity and care, according to sources.

　　According to a Cornell Center for Hospitality Research report titled “Creating value for women business travelers: Focusing on emotional outcomes,” hotel companies to remain competitive must develop and focus their services to meet the needs and preferences of women business travelers.

　　“Although the question of what women want has sometimes proven elusive, women business travelers have begun to define the hotel experience with a clear and consistent message about the need to feel safe, comfortable, empowered and pampered,” according to the report.

　　“As women push through to higher rankings in the workforce they are naturally traveling more and in some areas are making up to 40% to 50% of all business travelers,” said Carolyn Pearson, CEO and founder of maiden-voyage.com, a social network for female business travelers.

　　“Hotels who are taking note of this trend are cashing in by appealing to this market and working hard to delight the female traveler to retain loyalty and referrals. Women control up to 80% to 85% of travel purchases,” she said.

　　Herta Hieslmair, VP of sales & marketing for Europe at Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts, agreed.

　　“As more and more females are entering the mid- and senior-management levels, more and more female business travelers will be staying in hotels,” Hieslmair said. “For the European MH&R hotels, a major share of the business derives from business travelers and meeting guests; and therefore it is certainly a growing trend.”

　　Feeling secure

　　Taking a cue from in-house feedback, Rahul Pandit, president & executive director of New Delhi-based Lemon Tree Hotel Company, said when it comes to women travelers, two things are happening today: Women are more empowered economically, and there is a need for extra security to ensure women’s safety. That’s why Lemon Tree created women-only wings in its hotels.

　　“When we decided to introduce women-friendly floors in all our Lemon Tree Hotels we had based our decision on an internal survey of our guest profiles that showed single lady travelers constituted 16% of our customer base,” Pandit said.

　　Lemon Tree recently partnered with ixigo.com, an India-based travel planning and search engine, to conduct a survey of more than 550 women. Of the respondents, 18% suggested separate floors for women would make their stay safer and more comfortable.

　　“A hotel that really gets this right is the Radisson Blu Edwardian in Manchester, U.K. A number of our hotel partners such as the Four Seasons Riyadh, Georgian Court in Vancouver (British Columbia) and the International Hotel in Calgary do have women-only floors, and these rooms have additional amenities,” Pearson said. “In India, Taj Hotels have a number of hotels with women-only floors.”

　　Amenities and services

　　The trend of catering to women is a budding phenomenon across the globe, and the list of hotels offering such personalized service and amenities is growing.

　　Pearson said Hyatt Hotels Corporation recently introduced programs for women as a result of its own research and focus groups.

　　According to a news release, Hyatt found that women want the following from their hotels:

　　assurances that their guestrooms have been cleaned and an ongoing dialogue with the hotel to provide feedback;

　　an easy way to obtain items forgotten at home;

　　to maintain their health and well-being on the road; and

　　high-quality bath products.

　　Mövenpick’s Hieslmair said women do not want to be treated differently but do have specific needs when traveling on their own. Some of these needs include: security; not being bother when eating in restaurants alone; good hair dryers and lights in the bathroom.

　　Pearson said many women look for the same basic facilities as men, including:

　　a safe, accessible area close to where they do business;

　　secure locks on guestroom doors;

　　a quiet room; and

　　not to have their room number announced out loud during any point of their stay.

　　Pandit said some of the features in Lemon Tree hotels include: enhanced security in public areas and near rooms; screening of phone calls; specially designed and decorated rooms with a range of women-oriented amenities such as cosmetics, robes and jewelry boxes; full-length mirrors; facial steamers, foot massages and spa facilities. Additionally, some select hotels offer the option of booking cabs driven by women, which is outsourced through a vendor.