MOTEL-HOTEL AMENITIES: HELP WITH FORGOTTEN ITEMS; FREE BREAKFAST AMONG PERKS

A Drury Inns Inc. employee checked the layout for the free breakfast provided by the company for all of its Drury properties.

You're in a strange city, it's late, the stores have closed and you suddenly realize you didn't pack a razor.

Toss in the reality that you have an 8 a.m. appointment with an important client, and you're sweating.

Until you see the small card on the motel or hotel vanity.

"Did you forget something?" the card politely inquires.

Help with forgotten toiletries, complimentary breakfast, special rooms equipped with office equipment -- faxes and computers -- and other perks for frequent travelers are giving hotels that offer these amenities a competitive edge in a highly competitive industry.

What's more, travelers love it.

At one time, hospitality at hotels and motels meant a 24-hour stay and mint on the pillow.

Now, it means self-serve room service, coffeemakers, hair dryers, flowers, car rental discounts, free breakfast and care packages.

Travelers, it seems, are always leaving something behind -- a toothbrush, razor, shaving cream, shower cap, or a number of other items.

"You'd be surprised at the calls we receive here," said Pete Poe, manager of Drury Lodge in Cape Girardeau.

Although the primary items called for here are toothbrushes and toothpaste, many requests are also for "mending kits."

Drury Inns Inc., which operates 85 motels in 14 states, started providing these items to customers more than a decade ago.

"Our program has been in effect since January of 1987," said Bonnie Chiaurro, manager of marketing services for Drury, headquartered in the St. Louis. "It's a service that we provide for our guests."

Drury provides the service in every room in the group.

"That's a lot of rooms," said Chiaurro. "At the present time we have more than 9,000 (9,049) rooms."

With a number of new motels scheduled to open next summer, Drury will pass the 10,000-room mark "probably by September," said Chiaurro.

The most requested item throughout the Drury group is aspirin, said Chiaurro. "We go through 100 cases of aspirin a month, and each case contains 100 packs of aspirin."

Next on the most wanted list are toothbrushes and toothpaste, with disposable razors and shaving cream rounding out the Top 5 list.

The Drury chain, which has existed for about 30 years, started its "Did You Forget Something" program when people started asking for shampoo.

"We feel the entire program's cost is relatively inexpensive for giving guests something they will remember," said Chiaurro.

Drury also provides what it refers to as a "Quik-Start" breakfast for all of its customers. The free morning food fare includes cereal, milk, doughnuts, rolls, toast, juices and coffee.

The company also provides a lost-and-found service. Shoes are the most common thing left in rooms, said Poe. "But housekeepers find a variety of things -- shoes, books, caps, alarm clocks. ...

Drury, which includes Drury Inn, Drury Inn & Suites, Pear Tree Inn by Drury, Thrifty Inn, Hampton Inn and Holiday Inn Express hotels, also offers a free night after 10 stays.

Drury, like many motel groups provides amenities for business people, including computer hookups and fax service.

Gone are the days when traveling business people adjourn to hotel lounges after a few quick phone calls. Instead, business travelers are "on call," updating clients, selling to prospects and reporting to supervisors with voice, electronic and hard-copy communications.

Hyatt Hotels offers a special business plan. A Hyatt survey two years ago indicated that 58 percent of business travelers were spending more time working in hotel rooms that they did five years ago, and 72 percent of business travelers felt more pressure to produce on business trips.

Radisson Hotels provides business people with a complimentary daily newspaper, breakfast, free in-room movies, fax services, in-room coffeemaker or complimentary coffee, and computer-laptop hookups and a desk.

Some hotel groups go to great lengths to accommodate time-pressured business travelers. Some charge special fees for rooms equipped with office equipment, but not all business enhancements carry a surcharge. Mariott Hotels' "Rooms that Work" comes at no additional cost in many of its U.S. properties, and Mariott's goal is to offer them the special work rooms in at least 20 percent of the 281 full-service Mariotts worldwide by year's end.