Dossier

Answer the call of Shangri-la; go virtual at the Waldorf-Astoria; or work out in the privacy of your hotel room with your own "fit kit."

Tweet

Dread working out at the hotel gym? Every room at the Affinia Dumont in New York City has a workout area plus in-room "fit kits" with gear for yoga and strength training as well as for walking and running. A fitness concierge leads health seminars, creates running maps, and hires personal trainers upon request. ($340 per night; 866-AFFINIA) The national hotel chain Westin is also getting physical with new televised in-room yoga and Pilates routines and equipment. (800-WESTIN-1; www.westin.com)

As a nod to the country's booming economy, select Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts have inaugurated a Trade Mission package: discounted rates and business services for groups of 10 or more entrepreneurs developing new ventures in China. Among the free perks: high-speed Internet access, daily breakfasts, use of meeting rooms, in-room local calls--even a free three-night stay at the Hong Kong property for a group's organizer to check out the hotel and an airport butler in Beijing to ease arrival and departure. (212-768-3190; www.shangri-la.com)

Do business across the Atlantic without boarding a plane. TeleSuite virtual conference rooms, previously limited to corporations such as Time Warner, Capital One, and GlaxoSmithKline, are now available at a handful of top hotels around the world. So a face-to-face meeting with British colleagues is only a matter of getting to a suite at New York City's Waldorf-Astoria while they beam up from London's Savoy hotel. The Ritz-Carlton Phoenix also offers the technology and plans to expand the service to Hong Kong, Tokyo, and Philadelphia. Suites start at $500 per hour. (www.telesuite.com)

Read more:

Sign-up for our Small Business Success Newsletter

Email Address: