Guardian BS supplement/Feb 2006/Sue Norris/business hotel disappointments

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The film Lost in Translation beautifully captures the loneliness of the business traveller who finds himself wide awake at 3am in a strange hotel thousands of miles from anyone who matters. At that time of night, when jet lag can produce an uncomfortable feeling of disorientation, that hotel, no matter how plush, large or populated, can seem eerily empty and depressing.

Yet even the most modern, luxurious hotels seem to have underestimated this most basic of needs of what are typically their highest paying customers: the need to feel at home.

Strip the most seasoned business traveller of their formal suit and boardroom persona, and put them in a fluffy hotel bathrobe, and their demands from their temporary accommodation are fairly primal - a comfortable, inviting environment that's conducive to a good night's rest, and the security of knowing that someone is always on hand to help.

Indeed, recent research from American Express Business Travel found that sightseeing, TV and a comfortable bed were as important to today's business travellers as laptop connectivity. The survey, which polled 500 European business travellers in September 2005, found that, despite advances in conferencing technologies, the average business traveller spends the equivalent of one month a year on the road, with expectations that this will rise over the next 12 months.

It's surprising then that the average business hotel seems to have been so busy catering for the high-tech needs of its busy executive clients, that it has forgotten how to provide decent hospitality.

Stella Clery-Ackland, MD of an international travel PR and representation company, who only ever stays in four or five star hotels, has lost track of the number of times she's had to haul her own suitcases out of the taxi and up to her hotel room.

While she's the first to admit that having a broadband connection in her room is vital for saving time, she feels many hotels are now putting this kind of facility above many more basic amenities. Among her long list of complaints are that it's impossible to order wine by the glass from room service, that rooms are usually designed with the business man rather than business woman in mind (so that electrical sockets are rarely positioned near mirrors, for example), and that concierge services are very hit and miss.

Room service is a particular bug-bear. "I rarely use it now," she says. "After a whole day of meetings I might have 30-45 minutes to freshen up before an evening out. During that time, I want to relax, get changed and have a decent snack to keep me going. But I've lost count of the times I've ordered room service and it hasn't arrived in enough time, or it has been impossible to find a substantial enough snack on the menu."

Another pet hate is the con of TV checkout. "They claim you will receive a bill afterwards, but in the rare event that you do, it is usually wrong," she says. The only hotel that has impressed her here is the Venetian Hotel in Las Vegas. "In addition to a broadband connection, it had a fax and printer in the room, so I could print out my own bill," she says. "Another great feature of this hotel was that the room safe was big enough to hold a laptop - and it wasn't in a hard to reach place at the back of the wardrobe."

Clery-Ackland is far from alone in her despair at business hotel services. Katherine Allan, marketing and communications manager at market research services firm Ciao Group, complains of regular difficulty controlling the room temperature in a hotel room, bathrooms being badly equipped or dirty, food and drink not being available around the clock, and windows not opening.

"I travel on business throughout Europe and to the US, and sometimes find it can be stressful and lonely, especially travelling alone as a woman," she says. "I prefer to stay in family-run or boutique hotels rather than anonymous chains packed with other business travellers, and be close to some shops and cafes where I can buy a sandwich, because having to eat in the hotel night after night can be tedious."

It's not just women who feel like this. Ian Peacock is a radio presenter and director of a media consultancy and training company. He, too, hates the way single travellers can be made to feel in large hotels. "Why do they always have a long row of single tables for business people, organised so that you've always got uncomfortable battery-hen eye-contact with another lone traveller?" he says.

Peacock has also been shocked at blatant discrimination against guests that don't wear suits. "Being a creative type, I rarely wear one unless I'm forced to," he says. "But I've noticed that staff in large business hotels only respect suit-wearers. I was recently queuing up to check out of the charmless Hilton Metropole in London and a concierge walked along the line, asking the suit-wearers whether they needed assistance with luggage and taxis, and ignoring the rest of us as though we were urchins who'd just strayed in."

So disenchanted is he with the 'bed factory' feel of large hotel chains, that Peacock now favours smaller, one-off establishments. "The last thing I want to encounter when I get back to my hotel after a meeting is a load of arrogant business people who look like they want to give the receptionist a Powerpoint presentation," he says. "I prefer small, eccentric hotels, with a hint of Fawlty Towers about them. I once discovered a great one in Glasgow, with cats, homemade marmalade, several elderly French academics and another guest who claimed to be a composer. It was bliss."

If you hate leaving home, why not take it with you?

If you're tired of the impersonal nature of hotels and want more of a home-from-home experience, an option that is growing in popularity now is serviced apartments, such as those offered by The Chambers in Leeds.

The Chambers comprises 34 boutique-style serviced apartments in the centre of Leeds, where guests can cook and entertain in sleek kitchen-diners and lounges. Friends and family can even stay over at no additional cost - one of the luxuries business travellers typically have to do without.

Those in the know maintain that serviced apartments are the hot new trend for 2006, as they dispense with all the unwanted, expensive services, while maximising the facilities business travellers really want, such as lots of living space.

Among the bespoke extras offered by The Chambers are:

" A personal trainer
" Gourmet food brought to the apartments
" Theatre bookings
" Babysitting
" Welcome food packs for each guest