Lodging for weary travelers seeking to find a place to rest for the night has existed for centuries — but over the past couple of decades or so, new construction of hotel properties whose rooms have exterior entrances — that is, doors which lead directly outside instead of an interior hallway — had waned considerably for a variety of reasons.
Are Hotel Properties With Exterior Corridors Becoming More Popular?
Those reasons include — but are not limited to:
- Ambiance. Hotel properties with outdoor corridors give the perception of cheap or inexpensive. When was the last time you stayed at a luxury hotel or resort property whose rooms had exterior doorways to an outside corridor?
- Safety. Committing burglary, robbery, drug deals, and other crimes by nefarious individuals is purportedly significantly easier to do when the room has a direct entrance from the outside rather than having to enter through a main lobby with a manned front desk.
- Comfort. If you need to go to the main lobby or other area of the hotel property, you are required to brave the elements of the outside between your room and your destination. A warm and dry hallway is usually preferable over traipsing through the snow when the temperature is 40 degrees below zero.
“The percentage of exterior-corridor rooms has dropped from 24 percent of total supply in 2006 to 16 percent in 2010,” according to this article which was written almost nine years ago by Elaine Simon for Hotel Management. “This number is decreasing because of two main reasons: No franchisor is actively building exterior-corridor properties and these types of hotels are more likely than other types to be taken out of the system.”
However, motel and hotel properties with exterior corridors appear to be increasing in popularity in recent years: room rates are usually less expensive; they are typically built of better construction than newer buildings; many of them are conveniently located next to the exit ramps of highways; they evoke nostalgia of the golden ages of road trips from decades ago; they are easy to renovate…
…and some guests believe that staying at motel and hotel properties with exterior corridors are safer and more convenient during the current 2019 Novel Coronavirus pandemic — especially with the way they have been marketed recently, as some lodging companies have purposely edited their official Internet web sites to include that their accommodations are equipped with exterior corridors.
“With the spread of the coronavirus, being germ-free and having more open windows and less closed-in spaces are elevating exterior-corridor properties above their competition. And as hoteliers fight for their share of fewer travel dollars, they need any and all ammunition in their corner to bring in guests”, according to this article written by for Hotel News Now, which is now CoStar News. “Exterior-corridor hotels have a situational advantage during the COVID-19 pandemic, by giving the guest the ability to reduce touchpoints, avoid elevator rides, and be a more self-contained traveler.”
FlyerTalk member Hawkeyefan opined: “I think outside access Hamptons (heck, any brand) are REALLY attractive right now. I’ve always loved the motor hotel concept. Right now, you can avoid having to don masks in the lobby, check in online, and go right to your room, never having to use masks on property at all, and avoid scowling faces. Win…win.”
However, not all FlyerTalk members agree.
“Maybe in Florida but not California. At virtually all outside corridor hotels I’ve been in California, the lobby is still indoors, and masks are required there. (There may a tiny percentage of lower-end motels — lower-end than Hampton — that may have a walkup window facing outside for checkin, but they’re very rare.)”, argued FlyerTalk member sdsearch. “And if you say ‘any brand’, lots of other brands with outside corridors don’t allow you to check in online or use your phone as the room key, so that’s why you have to go into the lobby to check in and that why it matters if the lobby is indoors and masks are required indoors in that area.”
Summary
Perhaps motel and hotel properties with exterior corridors do evoke nostalgia and are less expensive at which to stay — but I do not agree with the argument that they are safer during the current 2019 Novel Coronavirus pandemic.
Since long before the pandemic was officially declared by the World Health Organization, I have maintained that properly washing your hands on a regular basis — but not often to the point of being obsessive compulsive — is quite effective in the prevention of contracting illness in general. Coupled with staying away from the nearest person at a reasonable distance, your chances of contracting many diseases — including the effects of the 2019 Novel Coronavirus — are significantly reduced.
I may not be a doctor, but I speak from experience, as I have not been ill — not even caught a cold, influenza, or other illnesses — in many years.
I rarely liked staying at a motel or hotel property with exterior corridors — and I am not about to purposely seek one out for my next lodging stay.
All photographs ©2020 by Brian Cohen.
