Hotels offer visitors a chance to snooze under the moonlight

Are you an avid traveler and a fan of the great outdoors? If you're tired of spending your nights in stuffy hotel rooms, we may have the perfect solution for you. As the tri-state area's premier hotel laundry management services provider, we here at Prestige know a thing or two about hotels. Thus, we know sometimes it's easy to catch a little cabin fever. That's why we want to share this neat article about some NYC hotels that are offering an interesting way to stay. Read on to learn more!

Article by: Charisse Jones

Do you dream of sleeping under the stars? How about on a hotel balcony, in the middle of Manhattan?

Travelers can do that and more this summer as hotels offer experiences that make the most of the outdoors, from outside "bedrooms," to a camp-out on a back patio, to rooftop yoga.

"I've seen more hotels really focusing on adding outdoor spaces as another venue," says George Aquino, general manager of the JW Marriott Grand Rapids, which this spring added cabanas, firepits and even planters with edible plants to its riverfront deck. "Especially in the Midwest, we know that we only have a few months to maximize on it.… There's just something about being outside that's refreshing and rejuvenating. And guests love it."

The outdoor packages come at a time when an increasing number of business travelers are pursuing "blended travel," tacking on vacation days, often with their spouses and kids, to work trips. A 2010 study by Hilton's Homewood Suites found that 67% of frequent corporate travelers sometimes blended work with vacations. Hotels have been wooing those guests with perks ranging from enhanced fitness facilities to sightseeing tours.

Among the outdoor offerings:

• The AKA Central Park will give penthouse guests the chance to get a night's rest on a bed perched on a 900-square-foot wrap-around terrace. Wood-burning fireplaces and champagne are among the perks.

• Affinia Gardens, a hotel on Manhattan's Upper East Side, now offers tents and S'more-making kits to garden suite guests who want to camp out on their brick terraces.

• The Lorien Hotel & Spa, a Kimpton Hotel, in Alexandria, Va., has a "kids camp-out," in which young guests can take sleeping bags, lanterns, constellation maps and telescopes onto room terraces. There's a special menu, featuring grilled peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwiches and "all those kinds of things you'd try to do over a camp fire, but just coming from our kitchen," says Ben Timashenka, the Lorien's general manager.

An out-of-the-ordinary stay

Hotels say they've spruced up outside spaces and added the programs to set themselves apart with unusual experiences that can attract a wider array of guests.

While common at resorts, "there's something unique about an outdoor experience in an urban environment," says John Moser, chief brand and marketing officer of Affinia Hotels. "Imagine having your own backyard in Manhattan. That's a really special thing. And then taking it to the next level. Think about when you were a kid and had a backyard and set up a tent and had S'mores and had fun with it. … People love the idea of camping out in the middle of New York City."

His hotel chain has incorporated the outdoors at other properties, as well. The Affinia Shelburne in New York City will be opening a rooftop putting green in the next few weeks. Affinia's Liaison Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., has a package offering rooftop yoga and a kit with sunscreen and water; Moser says it's as popular with local residents as hotel guests.

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