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features

Profile: Ryan Crabbe on Hilton's new in-room fitness concept

Hilton’s new Five Feet to Fitness room promises to take in-room wellness to a whole new level. Jane Kitchen talks to Ryan Crabbe, senior director of global wellness for Hilton, to find out what makes it different

Published in Health Club Management 2017 issue 7

Hospitality giant Hilton has unveiled a new in-room concept, Five Feet to Fitness, which brings more than 11 different fitness equipment and accessory options into the hotel room and creates an upselling option for hotel operators. The move is part of Hilton’s goal of modernising its fitness experience, while at the same time making it more inclusive.

Ryan Crabbe, senior director of global wellness for Hilton says the room is a “personal wellbeing stage”.

“We like to describe it as a guestroom dedicated to movement and mindfulness,” he tells Health Club Management. “It really is the first of its kind – a hybrid room.”

What’s in the room?
The Five Feet to Fitness room features an indoor bike from British cycling innovator Wattbike, which can be used for either longer indoor exercise sessions or focused interval-training workouts. A dynamic Gym Rax functional training station delivers strength, suspension, core and high intensity interval training (HIIT).

At the heart of the concept is the Fitness Kiosk, a touch-screen display embedded within the Gym Rax system, where guests can get equipment tutorials and follow guided workout routines.

“Travellers are committed to fitness more than they’ve ever been, and they’re experimenting with non-traditional exercise,” says Crabbe. “Five Feet to Fitness is a programme that’s designed to meet those evolving needs and to keep guests happy and healthy before, during and after their stay. What this means for us is we have to broaden the hotel fitness experience by making it easier to maintain – and start – healthy habits while travelling. We now sense a real opportunity for doing that.”

The fitness space – around 100sq ft (9 sq m) – is located near a room’s window and features sports-performance flooring. “People need to run, move and sweat – and you can’t do that on carpet,” explains Crabbe.

Hilton has created more than 200 bespoke fitness videos in categories in partnership with Aktiv Solutions, including cardio, cycling, endurance, strength, HIIT, yoga, stretch and recovery. Also included in the room is a meditation chair, blackout shades for restorative sleep and Biofreeze products to ease muscle tension.

A different approach
“The room is very different from the way others in the hospitality industry have imagined in-room fitness; often it’s been done by putting in a piece of equipment in the closet or rolling in a piece of cardio, but we really wanted to reimagine the space in its entirety and be empathetic with customers who want to work out but don’t make it to the gym,” says Crabbe. “We want to be empathetic with their pain points and how we can make fitness convenient – and make wellness, mindfulness and fitness more accessible.”

Crabbe says the concept was inspired by a Cornell University study released last year, which found 46 per cent of travellers say they want to work out while they’re at a hotel, but only around 20 per cent actually do. The study inspired Crabbe to do his own guest research, and he found that a quarter of Hilton guests expressed interest in a dedicated in-room fitness concept. This, combined with a growth in popularity for functional training and the capacity challenges that every hotel faces at peak times, led to the development of the concept.

“We know no matter how successful people are at making healthy decisions at home, replicating those choices while travelling is often not as easy as it should be,” says Crabbe. “We’re creating choice for guests and enabling them to control their own fitness experience.”

First locations
The Five for Fitness concept, which has just made its debut at the Parc 55 Hotel San Francisco and the Hilton McLean Tysons Corner in Virginia, will be an upgrade to a standard room, with customers paying US$45 extra. Hotel owners interested in the concept must commit to at least three Five Feet to Fitness rooms; Hiltons in Atlanta, Austin, Chicago, Las Vegas, New York and San Diego have already signed up.

The programme will launch in the US, but Crabbe says there’s “real potential for it to go global,” and that he intentionally partnered with companies with global distribution to create the room.

More fitness from Hilton
This is just one of several new ways Hilton is addressing fitness.

“We’re taking on programmes that have us dreaming outside the confines of the fitness centre,” says Crabbe. That includes expanding outdoor fitness options, such as HIIT and yoga on the beach.

“Fitness doesn’t just need to be about what’s happening inside the hotel’s gym,” Crabbe explains. “We’re developing outdoor programmes and content for hotels with the right geography or spaces.”

Hilton is also looking at how to use other areas in the hotel – such as stairs.

“We’re giving stairwells a makeover in some of our hotels, creating environments with motivational graphics and music to encourage guests to get their steps in and to move.” he explains. “Five Feet to Fitness is just one of the many ways we’re aiming to deliver fitness in different and reinspired ways.”

Sign up here to get Fit Tech's weekly ezine and every issue of Fit Tech magazine free on digital.
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Profile: Ryan Crabbe on Hilton's new in-room fitness concept

Hilton’s new Five Feet to Fitness room promises to take in-room wellness to a whole new level. Jane Kitchen talks to Ryan Crabbe, senior director of global wellness for Hilton, to find out what makes it different

Published in Health Club Management 2017 issue 7

Hospitality giant Hilton has unveiled a new in-room concept, Five Feet to Fitness, which brings more than 11 different fitness equipment and accessory options into the hotel room and creates an upselling option for hotel operators. The move is part of Hilton’s goal of modernising its fitness experience, while at the same time making it more inclusive.

Ryan Crabbe, senior director of global wellness for Hilton says the room is a “personal wellbeing stage”.

“We like to describe it as a guestroom dedicated to movement and mindfulness,” he tells Health Club Management. “It really is the first of its kind – a hybrid room.”

What’s in the room?
The Five Feet to Fitness room features an indoor bike from British cycling innovator Wattbike, which can be used for either longer indoor exercise sessions or focused interval-training workouts. A dynamic Gym Rax functional training station delivers strength, suspension, core and high intensity interval training (HIIT).

At the heart of the concept is the Fitness Kiosk, a touch-screen display embedded within the Gym Rax system, where guests can get equipment tutorials and follow guided workout routines.

“Travellers are committed to fitness more than they’ve ever been, and they’re experimenting with non-traditional exercise,” says Crabbe. “Five Feet to Fitness is a programme that’s designed to meet those evolving needs and to keep guests happy and healthy before, during and after their stay. What this means for us is we have to broaden the hotel fitness experience by making it easier to maintain – and start – healthy habits while travelling. We now sense a real opportunity for doing that.”

The fitness space – around 100sq ft (9 sq m) – is located near a room’s window and features sports-performance flooring. “People need to run, move and sweat – and you can’t do that on carpet,” explains Crabbe.

Hilton has created more than 200 bespoke fitness videos in categories in partnership with Aktiv Solutions, including cardio, cycling, endurance, strength, HIIT, yoga, stretch and recovery. Also included in the room is a meditation chair, blackout shades for restorative sleep and Biofreeze products to ease muscle tension.

A different approach
“The room is very different from the way others in the hospitality industry have imagined in-room fitness; often it’s been done by putting in a piece of equipment in the closet or rolling in a piece of cardio, but we really wanted to reimagine the space in its entirety and be empathetic with customers who want to work out but don’t make it to the gym,” says Crabbe. “We want to be empathetic with their pain points and how we can make fitness convenient – and make wellness, mindfulness and fitness more accessible.”

Crabbe says the concept was inspired by a Cornell University study released last year, which found 46 per cent of travellers say they want to work out while they’re at a hotel, but only around 20 per cent actually do. The study inspired Crabbe to do his own guest research, and he found that a quarter of Hilton guests expressed interest in a dedicated in-room fitness concept. This, combined with a growth in popularity for functional training and the capacity challenges that every hotel faces at peak times, led to the development of the concept.

“We know no matter how successful people are at making healthy decisions at home, replicating those choices while travelling is often not as easy as it should be,” says Crabbe. “We’re creating choice for guests and enabling them to control their own fitness experience.”

First locations
The Five for Fitness concept, which has just made its debut at the Parc 55 Hotel San Francisco and the Hilton McLean Tysons Corner in Virginia, will be an upgrade to a standard room, with customers paying US$45 extra. Hotel owners interested in the concept must commit to at least three Five Feet to Fitness rooms; Hiltons in Atlanta, Austin, Chicago, Las Vegas, New York and San Diego have already signed up.

The programme will launch in the US, but Crabbe says there’s “real potential for it to go global,” and that he intentionally partnered with companies with global distribution to create the room.

More fitness from Hilton
This is just one of several new ways Hilton is addressing fitness.

“We’re taking on programmes that have us dreaming outside the confines of the fitness centre,” says Crabbe. That includes expanding outdoor fitness options, such as HIIT and yoga on the beach.

“Fitness doesn’t just need to be about what’s happening inside the hotel’s gym,” Crabbe explains. “We’re developing outdoor programmes and content for hotels with the right geography or spaces.”

Hilton is also looking at how to use other areas in the hotel – such as stairs.

“We’re giving stairwells a makeover in some of our hotels, creating environments with motivational graphics and music to encourage guests to get their steps in and to move.” he explains. “Five Feet to Fitness is just one of the many ways we’re aiming to deliver fitness in different and reinspired ways.”

Sign up here to get Fit Tech's weekly ezine and every issue of Fit Tech magazine free on digital.
Gallery
More features
Editor's letter

Into the fitaverse

Fitness is already among the top three markets in the metaverse, with new technology and partnerships driving real growth and consumer engagement that looks likely to spill over into health clubs, gyms and studios
Fit Tech people

Ali Jawad

Paralympic powerlifter and founder, Accessercise
Users can easily identify which facilities in the UK are accessible to the disabled community
Fit Tech people

Hannes Sjöblad

MD, DSruptive
We want to give our users an implantable tool that allows them to collect their health data at any time and in any setting
Fit Tech people

Jamie Buck

Co-founder, Active in Time
We created a solution called AiT Voice, which turns digital data into a spoken audio timetable that connects to phone systems
Profile

Fahad Alhagbani: reinventing fitness

The team is young and ambitious, and the awareness of technology is very high. We share trends and out-of-the-box ideas almost every day
Opinion

Building on the blockchain

For small sports teams looking to compete with giants, blockchain can be a secret weapon explains Lars Rensing, CEO of Protokol
Innovation

Bold move

Our results showed a greater than 60 per cent reduction in falls for individuals who actively participated in Bold’s programme
App analysis

Check your form

Sency’s motion analysis technology is allowing users to check their technique as they exercise. Co-founder and CEO Gal Rotman explains how
Profile

New reality

Sam Cole, CEO of FitXR, talks to Fit Tech about taking digital workouts to the next level, with an immersive, virtual reality fitness club
Profile

Sohail Rashid

35 million people a week participate in strength training. We want Brawn to help this audience achieve their goals
Ageing

Reverse Ageing

Many apps help people track their health, but Humanity founders Peter Ward and Michael Geer have put the focus on ageing, to help users to see the direct repercussions of their habits. They talk to Steph Eaves
App analysis

Going hybrid

Workout Anytime created its app in partnership with Virtuagym. Workout Anytime’s Greg Maurer and Virtuagym’s Hugo Braam explain the process behind its creation
Research

Physical activity monitors boost activity levels

Researchers at the University of Copenhagen have conducted a meta analysis of all relevant research and found that the body of evidence shows an impact
Editor's letter

Two-way coaching

Content providers have been hugely active in the fit tech market since the start of the pandemic. We expect the industry to move on from delivering these services on a ‘broadcast-only’ basis as two-way coaching becomes the new USP
Fit Tech People

Laurent Petit

Co-founder, Active Giving
The future of sports and fitness are dependent on the climate. Our goal is to positively influence the future of our planet by instilling a global vision of wellbeing and a sense of collective action
Fit Tech People

Adam Zeitsiff

CEO, Intelivideo
We don’t just create the technology and bail – we support our clients’ ongoing hybridisation efforts
Fit Tech People

Anantharaman Pattabiraman

CEO and co-founder, Auro
When you’re undertaking fitness activities, unless you’re on a stationary bike, in most cases it’s not safe or necessary to be tied to a screen, especially a small screen
Fit Tech People

Mike Hansen

Managing partner, Endorphinz
We noticed a big gap in the market – customers needed better insights but also recommendations on what to do, whether that be customer acquisition, content creation, marketing and more
More features