scrapbook

Travel for tall people improves

Some business travelers have to put up with a lot more than others. We are talking here about tall people.

Take California publisher Everard Strong. At 6-feet 9-inches, he has had his fill of shrunken hotel room beds, leg-twisting airline seats and rental cars fit for, by comparison anyway, the diminutive.

But he also reports there are signs that some segments of the travel industry are beginning to address the problem.

Strong is the publisher of TALL Magazine, now in its second issue and in national distribution. The "lifestyle magazine for a heightened culture" specializes in unique problems faced by tall people, and carries advertising for products and services related to that community.

"I freak out ... start to get nervous whenever I have to take a flight," Strong said. "I want to be at the airport two and a half hours before the flight so I can guarantee a bulkhead or exit seat, even if it's a short flight," he said.

Tightened airport security measures have made that quest all the harder, he said, and getting to the airport early these days doesn't guarantee a comfortable seat.

"And when you check into a hotel or motel, it's always a crap shoot," Strong said, with anything smaller than a queen-sized bed guaranteeing a legs-over-the-edge night. He also tries to collect upgrade coupons for car rentals to ensure a more comfortable ride.

His troubles even extend to public transit. If he does not get a seat he can't stand up straight when using the San Francisco area's BART rapid transit system, he says.

The current issue of his magazine carries a report on the topic within the hospitality industry, where there are some signs of good news.

The Hotel Monaco group -- with properties in New Orleans, Chicago, Denver, San Francisco, Salt Lake City, Washington, D.C. and Seattle - has offered "tall guestrooms" for some time. These rooms -- ranging in number from seven to 25 per property -- feature extra-high ceilings, beds that are 96 inches (243 cm) long, and raised showerheads in the bathrooms. There is no extra charge.

The hotels plan to add higher doorframes, raised vanities and toilets, longer bathrobes and in-room information on local tall clothing stores.

The Palms Casino in Las Vegas has 22 "NBA Suites" featuring doors that top out at 8 feet (2.43 metres) and beds that long, ceilings that are 10 feet (3.04 metres), and shower heads at 7 feet (2.13 metres). Other furniture in the rooms is also built especially to accommodate the tall.

Designed for use by professional basketball players by the family which owns both the casino and the Sacramento Kings franchise, the penthouse suites may be booked by anyone upon request, as long as they are available, a spokeswoman for the property said. The cost is $400 on weeknights, more for weekends.

Strong says the lodging industry in some cases fails to recognize the needs of tall people when they arrive at the front desk by not offering them an upgrade to a larger space.

TALL magazine "is something that's been on my mind for four or five years. I've been involved in magazine publishing for eight or nine years. I love the industry and was always wondering and hoping some publication would come to serve the tall community," he said.

"So I decided to combine my interests," Strong said. "There are a lot of products and services. We're not short on any material in the immediate future."

Nor does there appear to be a shortage of potential readers. Average U.S. heights have been gradually creeping up for decades, a trend seen in many parts of the world. There are now 8.8 million men over 6-feet 2-inches and 5.5 million women over 5-feet 9-inches in the United States.

Posted by thinkum at May 17, 2004 12:52 PM