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Hotels across the country are changing the way that they attract potential clients. They increasingly are abandoning outdated customer service strategies in favor of unprecedented measures designed to appeal to a younger targeted audience. These eight hospitality design changes are just a few that you can expect to encounter during a hotel stay in 2019.
Many of the changes are geared toward a younger customer base and people who want the comforts of home during their hotel stays.
Hotels have long taken great care with how the outside of their buildings looked. However, many of them are now focusing on bringing in that outdoor appeal into the actual hotel space.
More hotels are creating all-year terraces on the insides of the buildings. They also are utilizing plants as part of the interior design while creating panoramic views of the outdoors for guests to enjoy during their stays. These changes are designed to give guests a memorable and unique experience and help people enjoy the best of nature inside the hotel.
More hotels are also integrating the local history and culture of the cities and states in which they are located. They purposely create a focal point for local retailers and services ranging from dry cleaning to deliveries.
Many hotels are also becoming hubs where locals can join out-of-town guests for exercise classes, massages, art shows, and concerts. Hoteliers increasingly are partnering with local artists and designers to create a unique interior design that reflects the feel and ambiance of the area’s culture.
The hotel lobby used to be a business-like center point with the main purpose focusing on checking guests in and and out of their rooms. Increasingly, however, lobbies are becoming extensions of main living areas in the hotel. They are being designed to be comfortable environments where guests can enjoy privacy yet not feel entirely disconnected from others in the hotel.
Another interesting hospitality design change with lobbies involves making them into extended business areas. Guests no longer have to sit in an isolated computer room or in their hotel rooms to do business. They can now relax in the lobby while checking their email, making phone calls, or conducting other business-related tasks during their stays.
Hotels are moving away from using inexpensive and boring building materials in their hotel designs. More of these establishments are now using exciting and colorful materials like large-format terrazzo.
Terrazzo is especially popular to use in areas like the hotel lobby, transition spaces, and dining areas. It is well-known for playing up natural lines and seams in the floor while creating interesting and whimsical patterns when it is laid out.
It is also becoming a more popular choice than traditional hotel flooring materials like porcelain. Large-format terrazzo is more cost effective than porcelain, and it also lasts for years longer without suffering damages like cracks or chips.
Along with large-format terrazzo, hotels are also using wood in their interior design plans. In particular, light tone choices like oak and wood are more popular than dark tones like mahogany.
It is now common to see wood used in hotel lobbies as well as in the furniture like desks and reception desks. Wood lends a fresh look and aesthetic appeal that people expect to see after a major hotel remodel.
While hotels use light toned wood in their furniture and reception desks, they are now using brighter colors when decorating the actual guests rooms. Many of these establishments are moving away from using neutral tones in the linens, draperies, and wall paint. These softer tones are giving way to brighter colors, unexpected textures and patterns, and contrasting contours.
It is also becoming popular for hotels to use locally handmade decor and vintage fabrics in their designs. Many hotels are said to be undergoing a renaissance of color today.
In a bid to bring in younger clientele, more hotels are creating smart guests rooms that offer a plethora of connectivity and technology options. Guests are now welcome in many hotels to text rather than call the front desk. They can also use their smartphones or mobile devices to unlock their hotel room doors or control the temperature and lighting during their stay.
Many rooms also come with charging stations where guests can connect their tablets, smartphones, and other devices. In the rare case a guest has not brought along such devices, some hotels are now providing in-room iPads along with free WiFi access.
For all of the focus on technology in guests’ rooms, customers still appreciate the comforts of home. Hotels now offer in-room coffee makers and homestyle kitchenettes for guests to use. They also get access to high-speed Internet that is perhaps faster than Internet that they have at home.
These eight hotel design changes are just some of the ways that hotels are making themselves more appealing to guests. They differ greatly from the strategies hotels once employed to keep guests happy. Many of the changes are geared toward a younger customer base and people who want the comforts of home during their hotel stays.
