Hotels begin renting out space for office workers

Mark Gilbreath of LiquidSpace
Mark Gilbreath of LiquidSpace

Hotels looking to make a profit are increasingly renting out lobbies, business centers and other “nooks” to office workers looking to hold meetings outside the workplace, the New York Times reported.

For example, Marriott is offering what it calls Workspace on Demand at about three dozen of its hotels. The workspaces include high-top tables, alcoves in the lobbies and small meeting spaces. Starwood Hotels & Resorts’ Westin chain has introduced a similar concept in two of its hotels in the U.S.

Spaces at the various Marriott hotels cost about $200 for a half day, and Starwood’s work spaces can be rented for $50 an hour.

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Mark Gilbreath, chief executive of LiquidSpace, an online booking website where one can book short-term workspaces by reservation, told the Times that “people are increasingly leaving work to get work done.”

Hotel space makes up about 10 percent of Gilbreath’s inventory and is the fastest growing category in 250 cities across the country. [NYT] –Hayley Kaplan