Personalised hotel rooms the new trend

GUESTS can choose their favourite items and colours with hotel's new customised rooms.

The Grace Hotel in Sydney has just launched the 10 rooms concept. Picture: Carly Earl

DON'T like the red lamp shade? No problem, you can have a cream one instead.

Don't like the brown lounge? That’s okay, you can have a white one.

Don't like the foam pillow? Fine, you can have a feathered one in its place.

Personalised hotel rooms are the newest travel offering, with a Sydney hotel believed to be the first hotel in Australia to introduce the concept.

Historic The Grace Hotel in York St has introduced its first guests to the ten new rooms.

When guests call to make a reservation for one of the rooms they are asked if they are travelling for business or pleasure, their favourite flavour, favourite colour and which type of pillow they prefer.

There are also given three different room layouts to choose from.

One room is designed to suit couples with a large semi-built-in bathtub and rain shower, while the second is more for business travellers.

It doesn't have a bath but it has a wall separating the bed from the lounge area, which has two chairs if you want to have a small meeting and you can plug your laptop into the TV for presentations.

The third layout has a large, open-plan feel for longer stay guests with a wardrobe in the spacious bathroom.

If you like the layout, but not the lounge, staff will just swap it with one from another room.

"Some rooms might have chairs but people might prefer to have a lounge in their room,'' the hotel’s business development manager Christian Lackner said.

"We can swap them around with furniture from other rooms to create a unique, individual space.’’

Guests can also choose what brand of toiletries they prefer.

The customised rooms start from $400 a night - about twice as much as a standard room at the 1930s Art Deco hotel.

Federal Hotels International - which operates The Grace Hotel - decided to introduce the concept in Australia after its success at another hotel it owns in Kuala Lumpur.

Mr Lackner said many traveller's were getting sick and tired of being treated as a number by big hotel chains.

"It's providing that personalised touch that has been lost,'' he said.

"It gives us a uniqueness that you don't find very much in Sydney.''

Mark Carter, 40, and Melissa Quetani, 25, were impressed when they took a sneak peek at the rooms yesterday.

"I travel quite a lot for business and for corporate travel I wouldn't look for the big bath but for a romantic weekend I would,'' Mr Carter, a corporate trainer, said.

"If I'm travelling for business I want a chill out area and somewhere to prepare presentations.''

Chris Long, a 32-year-old business account manager, thought it was a cool idea.

"I have travelled a lot for work in the past and I like anything that makes it more personal,'' he said.

"The feeling you get from the big hotels is always the same.''

Sheree Dixon, a 26-year-old legal assistant, has stayed at hotels which offer a choice of pillows before and said she loved the idea of taking it further.

"When you're away you want it to be like home as much as possible,'' she said.