Blog Category: Architecture

I recently traveled to Koh Samui, Thailand and couldn't resist the opportunity to visit three popular boutique hotels. Here's a review of the hotels I visited.

W Retreat Koh Samui:
73 Rooms, 19 residences
Almost 2 years old
Designed by Singapore based MAPS Design Studio
Interiors by P49, Thailand

True to W-style, the hotel is stylish with accents of Thailand in the materials used. It was quiet and honestly a bit empty for a hotel that targets the younger generation, perhaps due to seasonality. A W insider (that is what they call a their staff) was nice enough to show us around and answer our questions. He mentioned that most guests were happy with their stay although some preferred the resort be more family friendly.

Hansar Samui:
74 Rooms
Almost 2 years old
Lobby and common areas Architecture: Suchate Ingsudhum,
Landscaping : Pajitpong Pongsivapai
The open air interior design was by the Inside Out Design Company of Bangkok.

Hansar took me by surprise as a small, well-managed hotel. The interiors were modern but most elements were done with local materials such as bamboo and wood. The rooms all feature sea views and have an open toilet concept. The hotel only has one restaurant but it's good enough to satisfy any food critic. The pool is always seemed to be surrounded by guests and its location at the end of the Bo Phat beach makes it a convenient yet quiet location.

The Library:
26 suite/studio cabins
Member of Design Hotels
Architecture and Interiors: Tirawan Songsawat.

As a member of Design Hotels, The Library is located on the busiest tourism stretch of beach in Koh Samui. Immediately upon entering, the minimalistic style of the hotel brings a sense of peace and calm. The rooms are organized by stacking one room on top of another. The feeling of the space is more residential than hotel due to the layout and the density. The "red" pool anchors the end towards the beach, together with its fitness, restaurant and recreation area, which looks a lot like an Apple store. The Library brings an interesting take on hotels to Koh Samui, but lacks a "sense of place" in general.

I recently had the honor of participating in a signing ceremony hosted by our client, Jingcheng Group for the Jingcheng Ruili Bay International Resort. George Berean and Trey Frank were also there to represent WATG.

The ceremony was attended by our client representatives, local government officials, and the media. The ceremony was featured on local news stations that evening.

We look forward to working with a great client on this exciting development. The resort will be in Ruili, Yunnan Province and will include a five-star hotel, villas, townhouses, and spa. Ruili is located in southwestern Yunnan province, adjacent northeastern Myanmar. It's an ethnically diverse city with a beautiful natural landscape. Ruili is one of the major border land port cities in Yunnan, under Dehong Dai and Jingpo Autonomous Prefecture.
 

On April 2nd I had the privilege of attending a luncheon hosted by the University of Hawaii School of Travel Industry Management honoring His Excellency Mohamed Rachad Bouhlal, Ambassador to the United States for the Kingdom of Morocco, and several other delegates; President of the Rabat-Sale-Zemmour-Zaer Region Council, M.M. Bouamor Taghouan; Director General of the Agency of the South, M. Ahmed Hajji and Secretary General of Economic and Social Council of Morocco, M. Driss Guerraui. The luncheon celebrated the Morocco-Hawaii Sister State relationship and the donation of an authentic Moroccan fountain to be installed on the grounds of the Hawaii State Art Museum along Richards Street.

As a representative of WATG, I conveyed our firm's design philosophy and its alignment with the Ambassador's vision for development and tourism in Morocco. WATG is already doing work in the region, so Ambassador Bouhlal was intrigued by our portfolio of world-wide projects as we discussed strategies to further tourism through planning and architecture.

We look forward to a long working relationship and collaborating to bring tourism to the region.

WATG, Belt Collins International, Hilton International, PIA International, John Chan Designs, GOCO Hospitality, and Ningbo Sunland Real Estate Company gathered in Xiangshan, China for a final meeting. This completes our design for the Hilton Xiangshan Resort Hotel. The project features 16 hotel villas, a presidential villa, and a wellness center.

We were featured on the local news that evening! And we dined with the Deputy County Governor of the People's Government of Xiangshan County, Qiu Jinyue.

A few weeks ago, Tiffany Lee and I participated in the Niu Valley Middle School's annual career day.  Sixth, seventh and eighth grade students attended two sessions that introduced them to possible career choices. Tiffany and I represented architecture and interior design.

During the first part of our session we discussed the roles of architects and designers. The second half was spent with an activity.  Students were asked to create bubble diagrams of their dream house and present their ideas.  A few students went beyond the assignment and developed floor plans with features such as: sunken living rooms, barrier walls, water slides and hidden passages.  Here are a few photos from our day.

About a year ago I saw a short movie made by someone who travels a lot for his work. Inspired by what I saw, I decided to make my own to show my family what it's like on one of our trips. Last November I had a long trip to Vietnam & China which seemed like a good opportunity to make a movie. This is the result.

One of the joys of our line of work is that we get to combine our passion for travel with our work. When those two interests overlap on the same trip, it's even better. Recently I had the pleasure of visiting Shanghai for the fist time for a project. Not only was this a client presentation but it was also an opportunity to work across offices with the Singapore interiors team and the  interiors team in Irvine. Prior to our client presentation, Zia Hansen and I met up, booked a car for the day, and armed with a list of hotels, we set off to see what Shanghai has to offer. Alas, our driver did not speak English, so the concierge at hotel was kind enough to translate our 'wish list' so that the driver would know where to take us. This proved to be an adventure throughout the day, as the driver would take us to each location and it was not until we arrived that we knew which hotel we were visiting! We spent the day taking in about 10 hotels, looking at F+B outlets, taking in the vibe of the lobby, walking guest corridors, and when possible asking for room tours.

Our tour included well known brands like Marriott and St. Regis and newer players like Hotel Indigo. We even took in a small property called the Waterhouse that was very charming.

By far the most gracious was our tour of the Waldorf Astoria. Thru some contacts I was able to get an in depth personal tour of the property for us. We walked the hotel up and down, toured the rooms and suites, got to ride in the historic elevators (only operated by select trained staff) and see the famed Long Bar, located in the historic old gentleman club that the new hotel tower is attached to. It was a real treat to get an in depth perspective on a beautifully designed hotel.

Shanghai was thriving, full of energy, and a sight to see. The Bund lit up at night, is a thing of beauty, and the people gathered and walking along the expansive waterfront path is delightful. Across the river, in the Pudong, towering skyscrapers meet Vegas with lighting that illuminate the skyline in a kaleidoscope of LEDs.

In the end is was an exhausting but rewarding day spent learning about properties in the area and gaining insight in the city we would soon be putting our mark on.

The Honolulu office presents a bi-monthly lunch-and-learn program we call WATG-U. Each session builds upon previous presentations and keeps our designers, managers and technical staff engaged in lively conversations about contemporary design techniques and processes. It's a great opportunity to learn … without exams or papers! In this session, the legendary George Berean shares his experiences in working with Pete Wimberly and inspires all of us to think about how we approach design in this day and age.

One of the best parts about my job as an architect designing hospitality projects around the world is the opportunity to visit many of our projects' destinations to experience, and learn from, our client's competition in a given locale. There are moments of inspiration and wonder. There are (I can admit) moments of envy at not having thought of something first. And then there are moments of…?

On a recent trip to Vietnam, one resort, in particular, stood out amongst the crowd. I recall briefly glancing at a few online images prior to booking our rooms and seeing advertisements for the resort in the in-flight magazine, where I noted the opening date of January 2010 (a full 18 months prior to my arrival, the importance of which will soon be clear). It boasted a large infinity-edge pool, great guestrooms and other standard accoutrements for a tropical beach resort of its type. In short, I was looking forward to the stay and to documenting it for future reference.

Little did I know at the time that my documentation would be of quite a different sort. Things started off promising; the lobby was fantastically large and the guestroom palette spoke of elegance and sophistication. I liked it. Then I stepped onto the balcony echoing with the sounds of circular saws slicing through stone. Eighteen months after opening, I could see construction underway around the pool, the fitness center, what I assume will be a specialty restaurant, and nearly an entire wing of guestrooms. It was curious, but I didn't give it much thought. Low season I told myself, some minor tune-ups, not a big deal. The more I explored, however, the more I came to realize I'd arrived at a textbook example of how not to run a hotel.

Throughout  my short stay I kept my camera in hand, ready for the next photo-op of what-not-to-do. What sort of things did I stumble upon? For instance, the hotel staff was kind enough to leave a variety of vertical-chase doors open for me to investigate. The route to the emergency stairs was a virtual wonderland of half-conceived retrofits, dangling wires and accessible, unused roof terraces. The hotel directory helpfully informed me that the spa was located on the second floor; but when the elevator doors opened, I was greeted by a dark vestibule covered in dirt and construction debris with a stack of mattresses two meters high. I wish I could say I took the responsible course of action and alerted the hotel staff to their potentially dangerous oversight, but instead I snapped a picture, tweeted it, and rushed off to tell my colleagues about my discovery before our next appointment.

My experience at this particular resort -- while entertaining for someone who uses every stay as a chance to explore and learn -- spoke of the importance of taking great care in making a choice about who will design, operate and maintain your hotel. Guests don’t want to spend their holiday at a construction site. They don't even want to see a back-of-house corridor. It is up to us as designers and our clients as developers and operators to ensure that doesn't happen.

Also, I never did find the spa.

Design is a critical aspect of any brand's positioning.

I recently had the honor of presenting some insights on the subject at the Cornell Brand Management Roundtable, hosted by Professor Chekitan Dev, PH.D. and The Center for Hospitality Research.

When it comes to branding hotels and resorts, both art and science are involved. Under the category of art comes stunning photography, which is one way to showcase a property and communicate its "wow" factor.

The science comes from understanding the elements of good design – functionality, quality, and impact.

Where functionality can be assessed (Is the building well designed for its purpose?) and quality can be evaluated (Will the building and materials last?), impact (Does the building lift people's spirits?) is harder to measure ... but that doesn't mean it can't be done.

Using a tool called DQI (Design Quality Indicator) to gauge the impact of 99 design-related variables, Hyatt administered a questionnaire to 2,000 guests and employees at 24 of their hotels. They were able to correlate high DQI scores with strong guest and employee satisfaction as well as with individual properties' RevPAR index.

In a longitudinal study conducted over 20 years, WATG engaged Smith Travel Research to examine the effect of design on a property's top and bottom line by comparing 27 hotels that the firm designed in four separate geographic areas against competitive sets in the same markets managed by the same operators. The WATG hotels outperformed the control group in occupancy, ADR and RevPAR.

These studies, coupled with owner/operator interviews as well as comments from guests and employees, provide quantifiable evidence that good design adds value. And it can do so in three measureable areas:
- Asset value: higher valuation as well as lower operating and maintenance costs;
- Quality of environment: improved productivity and better guest experience; and
- Brand identity: recognition, visibility and media exposure.

A summary of the entire proceedings, called "Fresh Thinking Outside the Box," can be obtained from Cornell for free in exchange for your email address here.