Working out in a hotel is no longer a choice between a treadmill in a small gym, laps of the pool or a 7am yoga class.

With health and fitness an engrained part of modern living, a growing number of hotel chains are making it easier than ever to squeeze in a workout when away from home. So easy in fact, the equipment can be right next to the bed. 

Hotel brands such as DoubleTree by Hilton offer guests Five Feet to Fitness rooms with exercise bikes and keep-fit stations, while Westin by Marriott and Even Hotels by Intercontinental are offering guests bedrooms with training equipment from weights and yoga mats to TRX straps.

“Waking up to the sight of kettlebells is the ultimate motivation for guests who may struggle to keep up their existing fitness plans while on the road,” says Geraldine Guichardo, head of Americas Hotels & Hospitality Research at JLL. “More and more hotel brands – aware of the growing consumer pursuit of health and wellness – are enhancing their offerings.”

Meanwhile, on-demand sessions via TV screens, offer further options for guests who prefer to exercise in private. And the old excuse of no space in the suitcase for trainers doesn’t work; the likes of Westin will loan guests freshly laundered gym gear.

For hotel operators, in-room equipment may be more profitable than the offering a full gym, given other revenue-generating opportunities the physical space could be used for, says Guichardo.

In the case of Hilton hotels, customer feedback was behind the decision to offer in-room training facilities, with a quarter of respondents expressing interest in an in-room option in 2017.

On average, travelers have good intentions before their trip to keep their fitness regime on track, according to a Cornell University School of Hotel Administration report. The study found that while 46 percent of guests expected to work out during their hotel stay, only 22 percent actually did so. But at the booking stage, high-quality fitness offerings can play a part in swaying health-conscious guests towards a particular hotel.