Lifestyle hotel design doesn't just mean living like a rock star. It can mean living in style--regardless of price point.
The latest takes on this hospitality design trend showed up in two new openings this week: The luxury
Fairmont Pittsburgh and the affordable boutiqe
Hotel Indigo Nashville Downtown (Nashville, Tenn.). They target different markets in different locations, but they share a focus on uncluttered, contemporary hotel design. Think the three Cs: color, comfort and casual elegance.
With its plush headboard and bed covers and the hand-made look of the textiles, the Gensler-designed
Fairmont Pittsburgh takes hotel guestroom design into new territory in terms of luxury without ostentation. What could be more welcoming after a day of hurried business meetings?
But comfortable doesn't have to mean boring. Nor do
es it take much to make a statement. Strategic pumpkin colored accents do the job at the Fairmont.
The new Indigo Nashville Downtown puts a spin on contemporary hotel design with its chic palette and a few eye-catching focal points. Playing up circular lighting concepts adds an contemporary hotel design edge within the historic framework of the historic buildings that house the 97-room hotel. The theme starts at check-in....
Phi Bar picks up on the hospitality lighting design trend, taking advantage of the soaring ceiling.
See how
lifestyle hotel design is being re-invented at the top of the market.
Maybe I'm just tired of bad news. But at least some of the indicators coming in from the hotel companies and consulting firms seem to point to a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel for hospitality operators and designers.
- Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels' Hotel Investment Outlook 2010 predicts this year's transaction volume will increase by 20 to 40 percent over 2009, the first rise in two years. In dollar figures, that could represent $11 billion to $13 billion worth of hotel purchases in 2010. Fortunately for designers, most of the new owners will be looking at hotel renovation and/or rebranding and repositioning. The most likely targets for your marketing push, whether for hotel architecture projects or hospitality interiors: Asian conglomerates seeking prime assets in key markets, especially in the U.S. and U.K.; sovereign wealth funds, primarily from the Middle East but also from Asia; public markets, thanks to a new wave of IPOs, rights issues and mortgage and equity real estate investment trusts (REITs).
- Average U.S. occupancy was flat in January, according to Smith Travel Research, but there were bright spots. Markets worth focusing your business development efforts on might include: Seattle, Boston, Washington, D.C., and Miami in the U.S. Internationallly, consider Rio de Janeiro; Beijing and Shanghai; major Australian gateways; Berlin, Moscow, Athens, Milan and, not a little surprisingly, Tel Aviv. Occupancy was up 47 percent in January. The Lebanese Tourism Ministry reported a 21 percent uptick in occupancy in 2009 versus 2008.
Howard Wolff, senior vice president, WATG, says the lion's share of the firm's current hospitality projects is located outside of the U.S. Asia is number one, but the Middle East (mostly outside of Dubai) is still strong. North Africa is another region to watch. At home, he says, it's mostly about hotel renovation.
Hotel chains are taking advantage of softer occupancy figures to freshen up hotel guestroom design as well as increase the appeal of the hotel restaurant design and conference center design. InterContinental Hotels Group is just wrapping up a systemwide renovation. Hyatt's also in the race to deliver contemporary hotel design and lifestyle looks. For more, go to:
http://www.hospitalitystyle.com/content/hyatt-hotels-focus-renovations
You don't have to reinvent the wheel to say something new about hotel guestroom design.
For inspiration, check out the new Hotel Le Germain Calgary. Lemay Michaud Architecture Design, Montreal, design and project architect for this urban boutique hotel, and Christiane Germain, Groupe Germain's co-president, envisioned the 143 guest rooms as "wooden treasure chests" clad in warm, natural wood. Inside, there's a trove of clever touches for both guests and the hospitality design industry at large.
Here are some of the hospitality design trends that can make even a standard bay memorable.
For example, a trio of task lights adds an edgy industrial chic to an otherwise natural guestroom environment:
Another idea likely to set hospitality design trends is the flip-down night table shown below:
As in residential design, most utilitarian items are being putting on display. For this property, that includes drinks and glasses that usually would be stored in a minibar--a nice way to merchandise products that drive in-room sales:
Even luggage storage gets "designed" thanks to the impact of a textured wall covering and the cleanly angular casegoods:
Check here for more hotel design ideas.
Photos: Michael Alberstat, Toronto
The world leaders who participated in last December's United Nations Climate Change Summit talked a lot about a greener world. But it's hotel companies such as InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) that are making it real. IHG's new 366-room Crowne Plaza Copenhagen Towers, the group's first property in Denmark, claims to be one of world's greenest hotels.
That's due in part to the hotel's architecture: the 279-foot-high structure has the largest solar panel park in northern Europe. It also has the first groundwater-based cooling and heating system in Denmark, which is expected to cut its energy output for heating/cooling by nearly 90 percent.
Efforts to become carbon neutral are reflected in the eco friendly lifestyle hotel design as well, right down to the low energy lighting and energy efficient hand dryers.
Read more and see what else is new in green design and products for hospitality interiors.
Watch for hospitality design to take a conservative turn this year as owners and lenders look for concepts that play it safe.
By Mary Scoviak
I had a chance to catch up with Jim Stapleton, FRCH Design Worldwide’s vice president, last week over lunch. The conversation started with the usual questions—how’s business (beginning to improve); what’s new (the recent debut of FRCH’s design for Home2 Suites by Hilton); what’s on the boards (a wide range of hotel projects and, maybe, a casino). But, when I asked Jim about what’s next in terms of hospitality design trends, he offered some surprising food for thought. 2010 isn’t going to be the year of Frank Gehry and Santiago Calatrava in the hotel industry, he predicts. “We’re going to see a lot more boxes,” he says. “They’ll be good boxes, but boxes nonetheless.”
The news about what constitutes modern hotel design is about what’s going on inside that box, says Stapleton. Watch for some fresh thinking on layout and space flow as franchisors shrink hotels’ footprints. Generally, you wouldn’t head to the hotel’s laundry room in hopes of finding the next hot trend—unless you were checking out a Home2 extended stay hotel. FRCH integrated the fitness center into the laundry area, giving people a reason to stay in the space rather than leaving their laundry unattended and a backlog of angry guests waiting hours for a washing machine.
Raw public space may be contracting, but Stapleton points out every square inch is going to have to multi-task. Guests will see a greater variety of destinations, even in smaller lobbies. He predicts more solutions like Home2’s “breakfast pantry.” Instead of being on display, guests can eat in this secluded, homey area just off the central portion of the lobby. Gathering spaces will be more defined, but by subtle changes in colors and textures or maybe the angle of the furniture rather than costly infrastructure.
When it comes to aesthetics, designers may not be walking on the wild side this year but they shouldn’t be using a conservative mood as an excuse to be boring. “You don’t have to put up bead board because it’s the only thing the budget allows. With all of the new surfacing materials, new lighting solutions, new fabrics out there, you can be really creative and still make the numbers work,” says Stapleton.
Powered by Compendium Blogware