The hotel guest experience is like theatre. Each guest is an actor in their own play, with the hotel providing the backdrop to their story. For many guests it’s a chance to escape their daily lives, and experience a lifestyle that is impossible in a domestic setting.
Affluent guests, who may enjoy at home many of the benefits a hotel offers, are also on the stage when they stay in a hotel. The hotel experience needs to reflect their lifestyle choices, and may have a tough job of being ‘better than staying at home’.
Business users are also in their own production. They may need their hotel experience to provide them with the right environment to work, hold meetings and recharge after a busy day; there is a purpose to their stay and the hotel can help them act the part.
However, unlike a play where the scene is just a painted backdrop, the hotel is tangible. So if the aim is to provide a luxury experience, everything about the hotel interior design must reflect that goal. Let’s face it, even if the customer service team at a budget hotel wait on their guests hand and foot, it will never feel like an A-list experience.
Hotel interior design is an integral part of delivering the promised guest experience, and giving guests what they want.
First Impressions And Hotel Interior Design
The first indication a guest has as to whether they’re in for the experience they hoped, is the hotel reception and entrance areas. These areas need to make the right first impression and reassure guests that they’re in the right place. If your guests are expecting a luxury experience, the reception and entrance lobbies need to reflect this with luxurious lighting, furnishings, flooring, wall art etc.
However if your focus is on business users, the reception areas may be more functional and ‘business-like’ with practical features such as mobile charging stations, seating for informal meetings, or space to work privately.
The purpose of your reception is to move guests on: either to their rooms, the restaurant, bar or other facilities. But at the same time an empty reception, devoid of guests, can feel unwelcoming. Therefore, areas of seating designed to accommodate your guests’ needs are important. If you’re promising an A-list experience that might be a combination of intimate seating areas offering some privacy, as well as more central seating for those guests who like to be on show.
The Importance Of Lighting
Lighting is a functional part of any hotel interior design, but also important for creating ambiance and enhancing the guest experience. While public areas in the hotel need to be lit to enable guests to find their way around, and to do practical things like read a menu, lighting must not detract from the promised experience.
For example, stark lighting in the bedroom may enable guests to read a book or apply their make up, but it doesn’t add anything to the luxury guest experience. More subdued and soft lighting is required for this, with specific lighting solutions for different needs such as lighting around a mirror or positional lighting for reading.
For the A-list experience, lighting must be flattering. Not just when a guest looks in the mirror in their room, but also – perhaps even more so – when using public areas such as the hotel lift. If you want to make your guest feel like a superstar, a mirror and unflattering lighting in the lift or in the restaurant’s bathrooms will not achieve this.
Colour And The Guest Experience
Colour has a profound affect on our mood and we also have preconceived ideas about what colour means in certain contexts. For example, we associate white furnishings, bedding and design elements with luxury. However, we don’t have to use white to create a luxurious hotel environment. Deep, saturated colours and monochrome colour schemes can also be used effectively to give guests a sense of style and luxury.
Colour alone cannot truly deliver this experience though. The fabrics used, the finish on walls, the quality of flooring etc. all need to be aligned with your promised guest experience.
Layout, lighting, colour, furnishings and other interior design elements all contribute towards setting the scene for your guests’ stay. Therefore when thinking about the design of hotel bedrooms, bathrooms and public areas, it is important to understand who your guests are and what they want from the hotel experience.
What ‘play’ will they be putting on during their stay and can you provide them with the right backdrop to ensure it’s a sell out performance?
