Workcations Provide Alternatives To Work Form Home Arrangements For Telecommuters

With travel still impossible for many, this trend provides respite.

The pandemic has added a few words to everyday usage that were uncommon terms prior to 2020. Allow us to augment this newly accumulated vocabulary with just one more— workcation. You will not find it in the dictionary, but it has existed for a while now. However, with the global events of the past year, it has found renewed meaning and a loyal following as well. No more is it solely the privilege of digital nomads posting enviable images of surfing the ocean one minute and their laptop the next. Now every remote worker can experience some, if not all, of that luxury in their own city or a short safely planned drive away. Several hotels, resorts and other properties that would have welcomed a bevy of guests for work and leisure through the past few months tweaked their offerings a tad bit. Many employees and entrepreneurs, unable to access their corporate offices, have found a solution in the new WFH—work from hotels.

While remote working by choice has been around for years now, forced remote working has been an adjustment for many. Hotels have catered to that audience nicely, providing workcation packages that include day passes similar to what coworking spaces offered pre-pandemic and workcation packages with added access to business amenities for staying at their properties. We’re talking free and high-speed Wi-Fi at all times, dedicated private work areas with printers, scanners, computer stations, and meeting rooms complete with presentation facilities, coffee and concierge being only the least of your needs fulfilled. Check in with the hotels and resorts near you and be warned, you will find their proposals enticing. Several cities are offering amenities as a destination overall. For instance, in Miami Beach, Florida, Fontainebleau Miami Beach, The Ritz Carlton South Beach and Shelborne South Beach are offering extended stay packages.

For individuals or families, these properties work with guests around facilitating remote work or e-learning through the various packages on offer. Meanwhile, on the west coast, The Hollywood Roosevelt in Los Angeles offers workcation packages to work from the comfort of its rooms during weekdays at a reduced rate, while along the beach, the Viceroy Santa Monica provides an alternative to work from home with complimentary parking and bike rental thrown in for good measure. If you live in California, you know that’s a deal. Ski resorts and private islands are getting in on the action as well, both providing ample space for social distancing and following all health and safety regulations. RV camps have seen an influx and the demand for tiny homes, already a movement all its own prior to global events of 2020, has seen an increase. And this isn’t restricted to the United States either.

In Singapore, The Capitol Kempinski Hotel offers what it calls The Capitol “WorKation” allowing guests weekday access for work with perks such as complimentary breakfast, lunch and access to their gym and relaxation pool while Yotel Singapore Orchard Road will even have lunch delivered by its resident robots and provides free-flowing coffee, tea and snack bars a la coworking spaces. At Fort Young Hotel and Dive Resort in Dominica, Workcation packages come with Dive and Adventure options on month-long stays, with snorkeling, birdwatching, canyoning, hiking and a plethora of other activity choices. And The Jamaica Pegasus in New Kingston, offers a Live. Work. Play workcation package especially designed for digital nomads, freelancers and remote workers with an array of attractive services to boot. Several other countries from Malta to Mexico and Dubai to Portugal have embraced the trend, offering unbeatable deals for those seeking alternatives to working from home.

Entire hotel chains, in fact, have workcation packages and plans available. There is a strong possibility the hotel brand right in the heart of the city you call home has some form of ‘work from hotel’ arrangement on offer. Hyatt has introduced a Work from Hyatt Office for the Day promotion and Marriott offers some variety with its Day Pass, Stay Pass and Play Pass choices via its Work Anywhere with Marriott Bonvoy program. Meanwhile the WorkSpaces by Hilton lures with its own set of benefits and Royalton Luxury Resorts has Upgrade Your Office packages that offer all the work from hotel necessities, even adding in post-work yoga sessions. And if you have children, then you’ll want to look into ‘schoolcations’ being offered worldwide as remote learning has now gone global.