Number one rated U.S. Poketel, The Towers at Lotte New York Palace, features 11 Pokestops/gyms located within 500 feet and an additional 231 within 1.25 miles.
Geo-tagging, community building and popular landmarks – a few of the new ways mobile gaming is impacting travel. San Francisco follows New York in number of top ranking U.S. “Poketels”. Survey finds free hotel Wi-Fi to play Pokemon Go is more important than free breakfast.
DALLAS – Recent Hotels.com research reveals New York City has nine of the top ten U.S. "Poketels" – those hotels with access to the most Pokestops and Pokegyms within and near the hotel property*. Number one rated U.S. Poketel, The Towers at Lotte New York Palace , features 11 Pokestops/gyms located within 500 feet and an additional 231 within 1.25 miles.
Surveying* more than 500 millennial travelers based in the U.S., Hotels.com learned that more than half of millennials (79%) plan to play Pokemon Go on their next vacation, while as many as 48% would consider visiting a new destination because of the popular new game.
"This is an exciting time for the travel industry," said Taylor L. Cole, APR travel expert for Hotels.com. "People are visiting new destinations and exploring landmarks and places they never thought to see – whether it's in your city or across the globe. Our surveys have always shown us how spontaneous travelers can be and Pokemon Go is no exception."
Pokemon Go Hotel Amenities
The Pokemon Go craze has been quickly embraced by hotels as they set up lures and invite guests to search for Pokemon on hotel properties. Within the Pokemon Go fan base, Hotels.com has found that hotel amenity preferences have shifted, as players agree that free Wi-Fi is more important than free breakfast and admit a preference for hotels that are Pokestops or offer free lures.
While many have speculated that Pokemon Go drives exercise and activity among players, millennial players confessed they're nearly twice as likely to use a Pokegym (44%) than the actual hotel gym (19%).
Pokemon Go U.S. Destinations
To help surveyed millennials achieve their goal of staying in hotels with Pokestops and Pokegyms, Hotels.com has compiled the top 10 "Poketels" within the U.S., based on the number of Pokestops and Pokegyms on hotel properties and within a 1.25 mile radius of the hotel. See below for the highest ranked destinations
|
TOP TEN U.S. POKETEL DESTINATIONS |
|||
|
City |
Hotel |
Pokéstops/gyms within 500 ft. |
Added Pokéstops/gyms within 1.25 miles |
|
New York City |
11 |
231 |
|
|
New York City |
9 |
208 |
|
|
New York City |
17 |
226 |
|
|
New York City |
15 |
207 |
|
|
New York City |
14 |
204 |
|
|
New York City |
11 |
203 |
|
|
New York City |
10 |
196 |
|
|
New York City |
11 |
214 |
|
|
San Francisco |
14 |
103 |
|
|
New York City |
8 |
219 |
|
With New York City dominating the list of top ranking U.S. hotel destinations, Hotels.com has also created a list of top ranking Poketels across major U.S. cities:
|
TOP POKETEL DESTIONS ACROSS MAJOR U.S. CITIES |
|||
|
City |
Hotel |
Pokéstops/gyms within 500 ft. |
Added Pokéstops/gyms within 1.25 miles |
|
New York City |
11 |
231 |
|
|
San Francisco |
14 |
103 |
|
|
Boston |
17 |
91 |
|
|
Chicago |
14 |
90 |
|
|
Washington DC |
16 |
79 |
|
|
Las Vegas |
12 |
80 |
|
|
San Diego |
10 |
77 |
|
|
Los Angeles |
7 |
127 |
|
|
Miami |
8 |
56 |
|
|
Orlando |
6 |
46 |
|
Lured to learn, explore and crawl
Americans believe public parks, landmarks and shopping malls are where they will find the most Pokemon. American travelers (44%) who play the mobile game admit they would devote 2-3 hours of playing on their next vacation and walk up to 2.5 miles searching for Pokemon. Travelers (41%) would explore more of a particular destination when searching for Pokemon. The game has encouraged travelers to explore the top landmarks in search of Pokestops, including:
- Central Park
- Times Square
- Statue of Liberty
- Big Ben
Rankings were determined by analyzing the number of Pokestops/gyms within a 1.25 mile radius of hotel properties. Closer Pokestop/gyms to the hotel property held more weight in the overall score. The hotels chosen for this analysis were 'top' hotels in a range of cities based on gross booking for 2016 year-to-date.
*500 American adults aged 18-30 were polled by One Poll, commissioned by Hotels.com in July 2016.
Theodore is the Co-Founder and Managing Editor of TravelDailyNews Media Network; his responsibilities include business development and planning for TravelDailyNews long-term opportunities.
