Women-friendly floors are making a comeback after almost 3 decades on the outs. The new Crowne Plaza Milwaukee-Wauwatosa has one and so does the Millennium chain’s Premier Hotel in Times Square. There's also one at the downtown Hampton Inn in Albany. The difference now is that women-only floors allow some men to stay on those floors too. They're women-friendly rather than women-only. While many women still want their privacy, they're not necessarily looking for isolation.Women-only hotels were popular at one time. After World War II, most women entering the work force were neophytes, and safety on the road was their first priority. Out of that concern grew measures to protect women, like not assigning guest rooms for women along dark hallways and not announcing names and room numbers out loud at check-in counters. But Bjorn Hanson, hotel analyst and faculty member at the Tisch Center says, “By the mid-’80s, separate floors in hotels offended many women who were traveling on business. They were trying to be C.E.O.’s but were looked on as the weaker sex. Women’s floors became a kind of sexist thing instead of a polite offer.”
Still, women-friendly floors remain a delicate issue among business travelers. In a survey of women’s attitudes last September, the JW Marriott in Grand Rapids, Michigan, found that 90 percent favored the women’s floor concept while 10 percent panned the idea. (New York Times)
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