The Hyatt Place Arlington/Courthouse Plaza has been an Arlington Transportation Partners Champion for the last three years and has demonstrated an unwavering commitment to make commuting easy for their employees, and to provide environmentally friendly travel options for guests. This year, General Manager Kelly Sites worked with ATP to create innovative new programs to meet their sustainability goals.
Managing Flexible Shifts
Management at the Hyatt Place understands that with the wide variety of shifts, commuting always poses a challenge and requires special consideration so every employee can travel to and from work.
To minimize this negative impact on employees and hotel operations, management provides all new employees with pre-loaded $65 SmarTrip cards upon their start date in addition to ongoing pre-tax SmartBenefits. Pre-loaded SmarTrip cards allow employees to take advantage of the hotel’s transit accessible location and encourages first-time users to try public transportation. The secure bike parking, shower, and locker facilities give employees peace of mind for their active commute and a space to clean up and be presentable for the workday ahead.
Curated Room Rate Packages
Earlier this year, Sites sat down with ATP to discuss opportunities to amplify Hyatt’s Make a Green Choice program. They implemented three new room rate packages—“Bike the City Package”, “SmarTrip package”, and the “Go Green DC Package”—to give visitors a sustainable travel mode when vacationing in Arlington.
Hotel guests can now book one of the rates online and receive either a pair of 24-hour Capital Bikeshare pass, an all-day SmarTrip card, or a combination of both at check-in along with custom transportation guides. Whether guests are looking to hop on the Metro to avoid traffic when touring the sights or going to lunch a few blocks from the hotel with Capital Bikeshare, these robust packages encourage visitors to really explore the region like a local.
Many visitors to our region, particularly families, look for cost savings when planning a vacation. With overnight valet parking priced at $30 a day, the new packages have been very well received by guests. The demand for the packages caused the hotel to sell out of both SmarTrip cards and Capital Bikeshare 24-hour passes over Labor Day weekend.
Small Changes Can Make a Big Difference
We are proud of our collaboration with the Hyatt Place Arlington/Courthouse Plaza and look forward to assisting them in achieving Platinum Level this Champions cycle. The Champions program is free to join and provides your hotel with recognition throughout Arlington County as well as cost savings and benefits to your employees and visitors. Connect with an ATP representative to see what you can achieve at your hotel.
Photo Credit: Sam Kittner/Kittner.com for Arlington Transportation Partners
