Here's An Idea: Marriott Financial Center Puts Desktop in Lobby; For Biz Travelers, It's An Easy Way To Print Out A Boarding Pass

Why are some of the most simple things often obvious?  If you're a frequent business traveler as I am, you may often find yourself at midnight typing on your laptop in your hotel room when you remember you ought to print out your boarding pass for the next day's flight.  Except you probably don't have a printer available at the moment.  And you don't want to go in search of the hotel's business center--even if it is open late. 

During a recent trip to New York City, I was delighted to stay at the Marriott Financial Center--just a block from Ground Zero.  The Marriott was used as a staging area for rescue workers following 9/11, but it's now renovated, and its nearly 500 rooms are nicely outfitted with Marriott's crisp, classy "Revue" bed linens.  In addition, there's a Roy's downstairs, and I don't mean a Roy Roger's.  (Although I do recall having a great Middle Eastern lunch at a Roy Roger's in the Cairo Marriott years ago, when young Cairene men and women attired in Western wear served platters of humus and falfallel .)  This Roy is Hawaiian fusion chef Roy Yamaguchi, and his outpost in Manhattan's financial district is a great retreat for dinner after a long day of work (or sightseeing) in New York City. 

But the detail that caught my eye at this Marriott was the computer terminal on a small desk in the  lobby.  A discrete sign invited guests to use it to print out boarding passes.  And I did--saving me a step at the airport and making me wonder: Why doesn't every business hotel in the world offer such a logical, helpful service?  And now that I think about it, why limit this to business hotels?  Leisure travelers, too, ought to have their boarding passes in hand before going to the airport. Thumbs up to the Marriott employee who came up with the idea.