Blog Archive: January 2009

Jacqueline King, Harris Christiaansen and I visited a mosque in Abu Dhabi last month.  Women were asked to wear traditional robes and head scarves before entering the mosque.  Everyone was required to take their shoes off as well.

It was a beautiful mosque -- not quite complete after four years.  A sheik was buried on the site four years ago in a small mausoleum adjacent to the mosque where someone reads from the Koran 24 hours a day, seven days a week as if to keep his spirit alive.

I'm speaking this month at a hospitality conference in San Diego - ALIS (Americas Lodging Investment Summit) – on a panel entitled, Design as a Differentiator. The subtitle is: "Why do some hotels outperform others? Because catering to the lifestyle of your customer matters." Bad copywriting, I'd say. Why even bother to show up at that session, when you've already got your answer?

Taking for granted that design can be a differentiator, and assuming that catering to customers' lifestyles can be achieved through design, what are the drivers?

Today's travelers are looking for four things: a connection with people and places; physical and psychological comfort; a greater choice of guestrooms and amenities; and convenience. And they want to feel that they are getting these things at a great value. Owners, operators, and developers who understand the public's changing demands stand the best chance of capturing the lion's share of business in this competitive environment.

Successful destinations mirror co-existing desires of their guests - providing settings for  privacy as well as for connection. Choices for social interaction abound. Wireless Internet access is offered in lobbies not just in guestrooms and business centers. Lobbies are being outfitted as casual living rooms. At night, pools are being transformed into al fresco nightclubs. The numbers demonstrate that people are leaving their rooms, even when they don't have to. They are using fitness facilities, spas, and restaurants and lounges on the property.

As a counterpoint, guests sometimes want to cocoon themselves in an insulated, private world; and guestrooms and bathrooms are growing in size as a result. In the luxury market, bathrooms are approaching 50% of the square footage of guestrooms. Hoteliers are providing more luxurious amenities and more sophisticated technology for guests. They are also waking up to the fact that 85% of Americans consider themselves environmentally conscious, so more and more hotels are going green by design.

In today's uncertain economic times, traveling professionals feel like they have to stay in touch, even when on holiday. In a survey of 5,000 executives, four out of five confessed they end up working during their vacations. Others are shortening their leisure travel getaways. Those who are choosing not to forego the family vacation are finding that children and teenagers can wield veto power over destination choices.

To appeal to kids, the emphasis is on interactive "experiential" programs. To accommodate the whole family, more connecting rooms are being designed into resorts. At luxury properties, the trend is toward two-bedroom villas, so kids and their parents can both enjoy "togethering" without sacrificing privacy or a sense of space.

Today's resort guests want the feeling of comfort and security they left at home. In fact, home, comfort, and security are paramount concepts in current hospitality design. Post 9/11 – and with every subsequent terrorist attack as a reminder – safety is on the minds of international travelers. The nature of hotels is to be open and welcoming; the design challenge is to help hoteliers and their guests feel safe and secure without turning their properties into fortresses.

The desire for convenience starts with having the right location and then extends to making every guest interaction with the property an easy, expedient and positive experience. Convenience is often taken for granted and, therefore, more apparent when it is absent - noticed through feelings of frustration, annoyance and aggravation when things don’t function as smoothly as they should.

Differentiation by design is much more about substance than style. Delivering enduring quality, functionality and impact in hotels and resorts is the over-arching goal. We and our clients need to take a long-term view of their investments, focusing on trends rather than trendiness. If we do our job well, our designs will be both timely and timeless... and sustainable in the broadest sense of the word.