5 Design Tricks Large Hotel Brands Can Learn From Boutique Hotels
In recent years, boutique hotels have increased a good deal in popularity, leaving larger brands desperate to learn from their smaller counterparts as a new generation of travelers begins to wield more spending power in the global hospitality industry.
Big names in hotel design all seem to agree that larger hotels must provide increasingly individualized hospitality experiences to stay relevant. The days of a property in New York looking like a property within the same brand in Tokyo are over. Younger travelers want individualized experiences when they travel.
With that in mind, it's important that larger international hotel brands learn from what smaller properties have been doing for years—using unique and localized design to entice travelers who are interested in special, one-of-a-kind experiences.
Here are 5 design tricks that these large hotel brands can learn from boutiques:
1. Use a colorblock. Colorblocking very simply means that you pair two or three contrasting colors together in such a way that it makes a statement. For example, the back wall is navy blue and the side wall is lime green. These contrasting paint tones can create a dramatic feel in any room, without doing any modifications to infrastructure. Famed designer Vanessa Scoffier recently praised the practice in an interview with the Wall Street Journal, saying "The color stands out so much, you don't even notice the simplicity of the space."
2. Customized furniture. Boutique hotels work overtime to make their guests comfortable, so comfortable that they may not want to spend much time off the premises. Large brands can learn from this trick by investing in custom-made furniture, such as plush chairs, rustic wood tables and other trimmings that will make guests want to stay in their room or at the hotel bar longer, ordering another meal or another drink.
3. Use function to your advantage. Great hotels have very large amounts of traffic. People are flowing in and out of their spaces daily, around the clock. This adds to wear and tear, but with savvy hotel design, large brands can use utilitarian spaces to their aesthetic advantage. Practical materials that can be trusted beneath a high volume of use include concrete and ceramic tile, both of which, it just so has it, have been increasing in hotel and residential design popularity thanks to the chic and simple look they lend a room. So maybe instead of traditional wainscoting in an easily dirtied entry way, large hotel brands can resort to a glossy demi-wall of navy subway tile. It'll look good and preserve the building at the same time.
4. Doors. Turn the doors into creative design touches by approaching them with some artistry. This tip can be looked at the same way as furniture. Invest in custom-design, carved doors and entice your guests to stay longer and enjoy the ambiance and the stylish tone you've struck.
5. Drapes in the bedroom. With only a mattress, frame and a sleeping area, large hotels can create draped bedroom set ups that turn a bland bed into a romantic getaway.
TOPHOTELNEWS is a platform which provides all the latest updates from the international hospitality industry. We are to the point, data driven and focus on what you love. Take a look at www.tophotel.news
Lennart Kooy
associate partner TOPHOTELMEDIA
TOPHOTELPROJECTS
