Briefing: Design = Context and Lifestyle

Last month Marriott opened two new AC Hotels, ‘bringing the brand’s European design and style to the UK for the first time.’ Earlier this year the Grand Hyatt Rio De Janeiro opened. Hyatt had employed an internationally acclaimed interior designer in order to ‘set a new standard of luxury’. Meanwhile Starwood is a majority investor of Design Hotels™, a selective membership group for original and extraordinary hotels.

Why is design such a big selling point for these major groups? As our experts discuss in these videos, it can be a vital aspect of brand relevancy:

Marriott’s two new hotels are a 142-room AC Hotel Manchester Salford Quays and The 90-room AC Hotel Birmingham City Centre, situated at The Mailbox shopping area. According to Marriott the AC brand is ‘based on a belief that purposeful design can enrich lives’. Each hotel features a Lounge and a Library. One area is designed to be a lively hub other designed as a quite space, but both intended to offer a place for creativity and socialisation.

Internationally acclaimed interior designer Yabu Pushelberg, designed the accommodation at Grand Hyatt Rio de Janeiro in Brazil with the local assistance of Brazilian designer firm Anastassiadis Arquitetos. Also, acclaimed Brazilian architect Arthur Casas designed 3 signature restaurants for the property. Hyatt says that, ‘the hotel is meticulously designed to exemplify the Grand Hyatt brand’s signature level of grandeur with an abundance of options for creating spectacular experiences.’

The Design Hotels™ website allows you to search and book a holiday from a specially selected listed properties. It says that more than 400 hotels apply for membership with Design Hotels™ each year, but only about 5 percent of them are approved. Elements that influence this decision are ‘thought-provoking design and architecture; integration into the local scene; a strong identity; cultural and environmental responsibility; and the people behind the property’, among other factors.

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Video clips produced by ybc.tv for the Hospitality Channel, including interview from industry conferences such as the IHIF conference as well as specific Hospitality Channel shoots.

Briefing: Design – Demand and revenue

Hotel design is rapidly evolving to keep up with consumer demands and global trends. When it is done well, clever design can really add to the revenue of a hotel.

The hospitality industry spends annually about $3.7 billion on energy. Initiatives like UNWTO’s Tourism and Sustainable development goals are in place to help companies making good choices. A reduction in room size has emerged as another trend that can save hotels money while maximizing space through design.

In this briefing our experts discuss design drivers and profitability:

The pod or ‘capsule’ hotel concept, originated in Japan where space is exceptionally tight. It is being used mostly in airports and cities. Marriot has taken on board the small room concept in its Moxy brand, which has one hotel open so far at Milan Malpensa Airport. Yotel has hotels in New York, London, and Amsterdam. The successful Pod Hotel from BD Hotels has two hotels in New York, and one planned in Washington DC.

Sustainability has become an important aspect of development in all industries. As one of the worlds’ largest industries Travel and Tourism has a huge footprint.  According to the UNWTO, the industry accounts for 5% of greenhouse gas emissions, and a typical hotel uses 218 gallons of water per day per occupied room. As discussed above, improvements in this area will not only greatly benefit society and the environment, but can reduce outgoings for the hotel.

Although this movement is not driven by the consumer as much as other changes in design, such as social areas in hotels and wifi, studies have shown that guest are very much in favour of sustainability programmes. A study from Cornell University found that three quarters of guests participate in green programs when they are offered at the hotels, and 45% of guests in one hotel in New York said they would be willing to pay a higher room rate for hotel sustainability initiatives.

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Video clips produced by ybc.tv for the Hospitality Channel, including interview from industry conferences such as the IHIF conference as well as specific Hospitality Channel shoots.

Briefing: Hotels invest in innovative design

Last month IHG announced plans to open a new Hotel Indigo in The Sustainable City (TSC), a new large scale community development in Dubai. The city is intended to have the highest sustainability standards and the new Hotel Indigo will match this with a building designed to recycle all waste water and use 100% solar power. Also in May an innovative hotel design Snoozebox won the Good Design Award Trophy in the Architectural Design category at the Good Design awards in Sydney.

In this briefing four experts discuss the value of innovative design:

Great design ideas are helping hotel companies modernise, differentiate, increase sustainability, and tap into new markets.

Snoozebox is a self-contained portable hotel which can be set up at events and festivals as an alternative to camping. Each room has an ensuite wet room bed a TV and wi-fi. Each pod room is 7.5 square metres. Snoozebox is providing accommodation at many of the festivals around the UK this year including Glastonbury.
IHG’s Hotel Indigo brand has been around since 2004, it is focused on design with each hotel intended to reflect the area it is in and look like a boutique hotel despite being part of a brand.

CitizenM is another brand hinged on design. Its hotels incorporate bright colours, modern style furniture, ‘luxurious living room style lobbies’ and a 24hour canteen and bar to appeal to modern travellers and distinguish itself from more traditional hotel design.

The Good Design Awards is an annual international event which covers design in all industries. The European hospitality industry also has its own European Hotel Design Awards. Last year the wellness hotel the Lanserhof Tegernsee, Marienstein, Germany won the European Hotel Design of the Year Award at EHDA, and The Edible Hotel by Dexter Moren Associates won Tomorrow’s Hotel for a design with an open plan lobby, an edible wall, and an aquarium.

If you’ve been sent to this page and you’re not yet on the circulation list to receive these regular briefings and you would like to sign up, you can do so here. It’s free.

Video clips produced by yBC for the Hospitality Channel, including interview from industry conferences such as the IHIF conference as well as specific Hospitality Channel shoots.

Briefing: the importance of design

It is clear that the emphasis placed on design and innovative features varies, depending on the type of hotel under construction. However, are consumers now placing more importance on hotel design in their buying patterns? Should investment into quirks and features be taken seriously by all or should it be limited to boutique hotels?

Finding the right balance is essential. An outdated hotel, in terms of features and aesthetics, can have a severely detrimental effect on a potentially returning customer.

In this week’s briefing we hear some differing perspectives on the role design plays in hotels. Including comment from:

  • Chris Boulton, CEO of yoo, on his belief that design is becoming very important across all aspects of hospitality.
  • Debrah Dhugga, Managing Director of Dukes Hotel talks about how her boutique hotel mixes vintage and contemporary design together.
  • Joe Stenson, of Queensway Group on his belief that location is much more important than the features of a hotel.
  • And Guus Bakker, of Frasers Hospitality on the new concept his company is bringing to the market.

 

 


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Video clips produced by yBC.tv for the Hospitality Channel, including interviews from industry conferences such as the most recent IHIF conference as well as specific Hospitality Channel shoots.

Briefing: contemporary hospitality innovation

Innovation within hotels is an essential part of hotel construction. Letting rooms go too long without renovation can severely damage a brand, especially when pictures and opinion can be readily shared at the click of a button. But how can you be innovative without huge investment.

Some of the leading brands are taking new steps to reduce costs with room construction as well as renovating old rooms to come in line with the modern-day consumer.

How innovative can you be with a hotel room though? Many believe that the real innovation we are going to see is in marketing and communication of brands rather than the physical innovations of a hotel.

These issues are discussed in this week’s briefing. Including comment from:

  • Robert Shepherd, of InterContinental Hotel Group speaking about constructing rooms off site to reduce costs.
  • Andrew Sangster, of Hotel Analyst, on innovations seen in communication not engineering.
  • John Brennan, CEO of Jurys Inn Hotels, on the investment his company is undertaking in technology
  • And Guus Bakker, of Frasers Hospitality on equipping rooms with relevant technology.
 


If you’ve been sent to this page but you’re not yet on the circulation list to receive these regular briefings and you would like to sign up, you can do so here. It’s free.

Video clips produced by yBC.tv for the Hospitality Channel, including interviews from industry conferences such as the most recent IHIF conference as well as specific Hospitality Channel shoots.

Briefing: Aligning modern innovation with business

Consumers are now associating themselves with brands like never before, therefore new product that comes to the market needs to have something to lure them to it. Innovations in design and technology allows businesses to differentiate themselves from competitors and consequently appeal to different audiences.

Some hotels are embracing new ideas to gain further market share. They are really seeing the benefit of doing something alternative and contemporary. Design and hotel features has arguably, in the past, been viewed as irrelevant but there are companies now working within hospitality whose key differentiator is this component – and they are seeing great success.

Experts this week discuss innovations and the modern day technologies that can be used to compliment their operations. Including:

  • Chris Boulton, CEO of yoo, on bringing design to the hospitality world.
  • Gordon Drake, CFO of Kingdom Hotel Investments about the multiple sources of income some of their hotels enjoy
  • Mark Wynne-Smith, Global CEO of Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels on the investment needed for innovation
  • And Ewan Cameron, CEO of Lonrho Hotels, about the correlation he sees with hotel development and social media.
 


If you’ve been sent to this page but you’re not yet on the circulation list to receive these regular briefings and you would like to sign up, you can do so here. It’s free.

Video clips produced by yBC.tv for the Hospitality Channel, including interviews from industry conferences such as the most recent IHIF conference as well as specific Hospitality Channel shoots.

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