OMAHA, NE—Scarlett Hotel Group, owner and manager of the Marriott Fairfield Inn & Suites Omaha Downtown here, has shuttered its airport shuttle service, replacing it with Uber Central, part of Uber for Business, to offer guests free transportation to and from Eppley Airfield.
“Instead of waiting for a hotel shuttle, guests will be assigned a personal Uber driver to take them directly to and from the hotel,” said Zio Pekovic, principal and co-founder of the Scarlett Hotel Group. “We see this program with Uber as the emergence of a nationwide trend to leverage technology and transportation options to make traveling even more personalized and convenient for hotel guests.”
The Scarlett Hotel Group and Uber partnership is characteristic of the hotel management company’s approach to hotel management. “Uber Central gives the hospitality industry a great way to provide guests with an enhanced experience during their stay,” said Mary Fairchild, head of West Coast, Uber for Business. “We’re excited to see leading companies like Scarlett Hotel Group partner with Uber for Business for seamless, reliable guest transportation.”
With Uber Central, guests don’t have to contact Uber or use the Uber app on their phones to take advantage of the amenity. When they arrive at the airport, guests will contact the Marriott Fairfield Inn & Suites Omaha Downtown. The staff member at the front desk will arrange for a personal ride for the guest via the Uber Central dashboard, and the guest automatically receives a text containing the wait time along with the driver’s name, car make, model and license plate. The hotel staff member will track each guest’s ride to the hotel, greet and attend to them individually as soon as they arrive.
For the Marriott Fairfield Inn & Suites Downtown Omaha, using Uber Central not only provides complimentary, on-demand transportation for guests, it also allows the hotel to save costs on transportation. Providing a personal Uber ride to each guest is more efficient than the ongoing cost of maintaining a hotel-operated shuttle and the staff members to drive it. The hotel receives a single invoice from Uber Central, making it easy to track and pay for transportation costs, according to the company. Overall, the hotel expects to save 40-50% in hotel transportation costs.