When Noah Lyles claimed the 100m gold in the 2024 Olympics by five thousandths of a second or when Sergio Agüero scored the Premier League-winning goal for Manchester City in the 94th minute, they claimed triumph within a hair’s breadth of their opponents. These moments remind us that success is often measured in inches, not miles.
For high-profile athletes, the fine line between victory and defeat hinges on countless details. Every aspect of their wellbeing and preparation is monitored and managed. And when it comes to performance, something as small as fluctuating body composition or a restless night could be the difference between success and walking away empty-handed.
For players to perform at their best, they need to be well looked after, and hotels play a crucial role, providing a home away from home.
Over the last five years, we’ve welcomed several high-profile and national sports teams from across the globe. While accommodating guests requires attention to detail at every level – providing more than just a place to stay – when it comes to athletes, it reiterates just how important a comfortable and secure environment is to ensure they are physically and mentally prepared for competition.
One of the biggest areas of focus is ensuring privacy, particularly for high-profile football teams. Being centrally located with the ability to secure all entrances and exits to the premises, via vehicle or on foot, allows athletes to have easy access to stadiums and training grounds while maintaining their privacy. Managing this is a delicate balance and requires close collaboration between our staff and security teams to ensure there are no disruptions from the public or media.
Once athletes are checked in through our private entry route, the real work begins. From room temperature to meal plans, everything is meticulously tailored to cater to their specific needs; and it goes far beyond comfortable beds and luxury towels.
We work closely with sports agents to ensure we are well prepped ahead of every visit. For instance, additional health and safety measurements are often taken to ensure no potential harm comes to players ahead of match day. We once had a football team stay at Hilton Glasgow and had to ensure all the rooms were pre-lit ahead of arrival to reduce the risk of injury when entering rooms late at night.
For teams with packed training schedules, hotels must offer easy access to physio rooms and meeting spaces. Being a core part of an athlete’s routine, it’s essential these rooms are prepped with the necessary equipment and tailored to the needs of the teams – be it a quiet room for a strategy discussion or a larger, theatre set-up for team talks.
Athletes’ diets are another area where no detail is too small. Our chefs collaborate with nutritionists and private team chefs to craft a meal plan that meets their goals, right down to the exact portion weight and calorie count. But ingredients aren’t always easy to source, especially when out of season. We once hosted a team who could only drink freshly squeezed orange juice. As you can imagine, sourcing fresh oranges in the middle of a Scottish winter was not easy. Luckily, we have strong relationships with suppliers, and we work together to ensure the freshest produce is delivered and available ahead of time.
As we look ahead to supporting the Commonwealth Games in 2026, we’re gearing up to apply everything we’ve learned from accommodating elite athletes over the years. At the highest levels of sport, success can come down to the smallest margins; from recovery to preparation, every detail counts. By providing athletes with the environment they need to win, hotels play a vital role in helping them find that extra inch.
