Hotels up the pizzazz factor on loungewear

Gone are the one-size-fits-all bathrobes

Most hotel rooms are a blur, says Maxwell Young. But there is one part of his stay at the Hotel Palomar in Washington, D.C., that he will always remember: the leopard-and zebra-print robes hanging in his room.

“It was like I opened the closet and rays of sunshine poured out,” he said of the bathrobes, which he later raved about on Twitter. (“Snow may have put a crimp in our D.C. plans, but this zebra robe at @Kimpton Palomar Hotel is really lifting my mood.”)

Young, who works in marketing, spent the rest of his business trip working in his animal-print robes. By checkout time, he had made plans to buy a similar robe for a friend.

As hotel chains look for new ways to attract younger travellers, bathrobes have become one more way to add pizzazz to an otherwise predictable stay. Gone are the one-size-fitsall robes of earlier decades. In their place: Seersucker, houndstooth and periwinkle blue, all perfectly suited for sharing on social media.

“It’s no longer just about putting the hotel logo on a floppy, loosefitting white robe,” said Greg Eubanks, vice-president of hospitality at Standard Textile, where robe sales to such companies as Marriott International and Hilton Hotels and Resorts have tripled in the past two years. These days, he said, the company’s robes have sewn-in belts and pockets deep enough to hold smartphones. They’re slimmer, too, and tend to be shorter.

“For years, we sold robes that were about operational efficiency,” Eubanks said. “These days, guests want to feel special — sexy, even — in their robes.”

To that end, executives at Four Seasons Hotels spent three years fine-tuning the chain’s newest offerings, which are more tailored and less bulky than their predecessors. They also have slimmer sleeves to make it easier for women to style their hair in their robes. (“We know customers are pleased because so many of our robes walk away,” one executive said.)

Marriott, meanwhile, has replaced many of its white robes with charcoal grey versions that are shorter and have wider sleeves. And at Hilton — where 18 per cent of guests say that “lounging around in hotel robes all day” is their favourite part of being on vacation — lighter-weight resort robes have taken the place of plush terry.