Originally Posted by
miloworld
I never understood something, is it a common misconception?
Before staying at hotels with status and all that, I always thought a club lounge is a place for short business meetings/signing a contract etc. It's a quiet place to meet with business acquaintance, since bringing him/her to your room would be inappropriate. Inviting your guest to the lounge instead of the lobby cafe would show importance of the meeting. A benefit that comes with elite status without paying for a club room or booking the business center.
Even Sheraton Club advertise itself as a space to meet. Contradicting with SPG and hotel policies, which limits access to staying guests. If in-house guests wanted to meet, wouldn't they do exactly that in their rooms?
Did it begin when lounges started offering food and sometimes even a buffet?
IME the guest policies and their enforcement are inconsistent. If both are staying in house and both have club access, then I would certainly meet in the lounge rather than in my room. In fact, unless I have a genuine suite (with a wall and door separating my bedroom) and a separate powder room, I would never offer to hold a meeting in my room.
If my guest isn't a hotel guest with club access, I wouldn't suggest meeting in a lounge unless I have cleared this in advance. It could be very awkward, even if you're just asked to pay an admission charge for the guest rather than being outright refused (or permitted as a big deal exceptional favor).
However, unfortunately the reality is that many hotel lounges have too many kids running around and screaming to enable one to use the lounge for any sort of business meeting.