Forget the Little Shampoo Bottles: This Hotel Offers a Print Magazine

[responsive]TheStandard[/responsive]They’re hip, they’re gorgeous and they don’t come cheap. We’re talking about the rooms (and quite possibly the guests) at the Standard’s properties in NYC, LA and Miami. And now, they come with a custom printed magazine based on the brand’s cultural website, standardculture.com.

“The publication replicates the online content of the five-year-old site, which has 55,000 unique visitors a month and features interviews with artists, actors and musicians,” writes Shivani Vora in The New York Times.

“The current 16-page issue of Standard Culture has an interview with the American singer Banks, an interview with the actress Susan Sarandon about her role in the ‘Rocky Horror Picture Show’ as the 40th anniversary of the film approaches, and an interview with the Iranian artist Farhad Moshiri about his show ‘Float’ at the Galerie Perrotin on Manhattan’s Upper East Side,” Vora continues, nothing that there are also some quirky stories like a five-step guide to making the perfect bed.

The quarterly publication will be distributed free not only to registered guests at The Standard’s five properties, but at other on-trend locations both in the U.S. and abroad.

Why are they venturing into print?

“By reversing industry trends and going from digital to print, we are reinforcing the continued desire of having paper in hand,” said Joey Jalleo, VP at the Standard. He commented that “the website was originally created to be a resource for both hotel guests and nonguests and ended up being very successful.”

While Jalleo may think they are being rebels in going from digital to print, there are certainly many examples of digital-first sites making the move to a print format, and succeeding. This is the first we’ve heard of it in the hotel industry though.

It’s a good move for the brand, and shows they really know and understand their audience. When I get a hotel room after a long flight, the last thing I want to do is charge up my tablet and browse a website. But give me a printed magazine, and I’m all yours.

Admit it: You’ve probably read the hotel directory once or twice just for an excuse to kick off your shoes and put up your feet for a few minutes.

Hang that sign on the door and enjoy.