The Funniest Hotel Review I’ve Read In Awhile
It’s rare that I find an entertaining hotel review on a non-blog site, but City Paper’s 5 Reasons to hate Radisson Red, the new downtown Minneapolis hotel for millennials offers hilarious commentary that’s not wrong. Definitely worth a read!
The author zeros in yet another hotel concept where companies and marketers are trying to appeal to millennials without actually understanding what they want.  I just missed millennial classification, but last I checked, none of my younger friends have expressed a desire to sacrifice comfort standards just for bright colors and edgy terms.
But Radisson Red wants to earn their loyalty with features like:
A war on beige.
“Creatives” rather than employees.
Social hives in lobby areas.
“NO BARRIERS,” they say. This sounds good. Wouldn’t want to walk into your hotel and find the lobby littered with “Road Closed” signs.Â
“NO BORDERS.” Again, all good. Won’t need your passport to get from the door to the elevator.
“NO FRONT DESK.” Oh, wait. That part’s sort of important.
Don’t get me wrong, it’s fantastic how much selection we have these days. That our time on the road can be just as enjoyable as our time at home. Maybe even better. But there needs to be a quality product behind the aesthetic, and it’s not clear how Radisson Red is improving on that.
Other chains have already innovated on the traditional front desk. And it seems like “thoughtfully curated spaces” that “flow” have already become common in many new hotel designs. Kimpton, Le Meridien, and many others already integrate music and design into their decor. Radisson Red just doesn’t sound that innovative beyond the superficial.
Has beige ever ruined someone’s sleep? And will restaurant service automatically be better if you call someone a “creative” instead of a “server”?
The article’s author Mike Mullen sums it up best “Know what millennials really need? A little less coddling, a lot less pandering. And some sleep. Someone should open a new hotel that just says it has really big comfortable beds.”
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