In order to make them look more pleasing, hotels are taking help from the very people they want to please the most — guests. Indian and international hotels are increasingly taking suggestions from existing and potential clients to design their properties to make them more pleasing and customer-friendly. The strategy is helping them win customers, as well as save cost by cutting down on things that guests feel are unnecessary, say industry executives.

Hotel rooms have been fundamentally the same in design for the past hundred years, said Sanjay Puri, founder and lead architect of Mumbai-based Sanjay Puri Architects. But today's tech-savvy guests have become more design-aware and expect both the basic and top-end amenities in their rooms. "Ample charging outlets, sound proofing, complete blackout blinds and curtains are some of the necessities in the hotel that have stemmed from customer requests," he says. Puri's company has designed boutique properties like Chrome Hotel in Kolkata and Oceanique in Goa.

Bars with dart boards and gaming consoles, retail outlets in lobbies and women-friendly rooms with extra security, full-length mirrors and jewellery boxes are among the facilities that some hotels are providing at budget prices after finding that their customers expect these.

Read the full article at The Economic Times