Challenges in designing hotels

With the expansion of hotels in different categories, the greatest challenge to interior designers is to create something different which is functional, will provide warmth to the guests and will be different in terms of providing a competitive edge over others. By Bibhash Chatterjee

It's always better that a new upcoming chain of hotels flows with a concept, so that when the individual hotel becomes a chain the guests can easily recognize the same flow. The Park group of hotels has been able to successfully achieve the same in their properties, or for that matter the Oberoi group in the luxury segment. This becomes more important in business class hotels.

When designing a hotel, the various aspects that need to be kept in mind are:

The location of the property and its surroundings. Bedrooms, especially, have to be totally soundproof, which most hotels lack The air circulation in the rooms has to be perfect, otherwise food, cigarette smells and damp odour prevails, which is a problem in many hotels. This also results in dampness on surfaces, so hotels in humid places needs to install de-humidifiers in the system

Perfect economisation of space is very important, as real estate costs are high. Therefore every inch of space should be saleable or support sales. Lots of hotels lose much more space in bigger shafts than required, for e.g. in excess utility space like stores, receiving and engineering areas. The reception lobby should be ideally planned according to the guest flow that the market segment is catering to, depending on the city.

The final finish and polish of the surfaces are very important, so when you observe a polished door, the door looks perfectly polished but when you look at the frames, the polishes are either uneven, or the frame of the wood is not perfectly flushed with the wall. This happens due to the low quality of wood used, as it's a challenge to keep quality control, especially when tons of wood are being bought for a hotel site. Instead use pre-fabricated door frames, which are now available.

The design and finish of the room floorings and furniture are rapidly changing. The styling is unconventional; beds do not need heavy big bed heads as long as they are comfortable as a backrest. Business hotels must avoid upholstery finishes on the bed heads as regular cleanliness is a problem, due to heavy usage of the rooms. The coffee tables in many business hotels are bigger than necessary, which makes the room look smaller. The study table can function as dining table whenever required. Many hotels do not provide sufficient working electrical points on table tops, which is a drawback, as it becomes inconvenient to connect laptops to points below the table.

The lighting is a problem in many hotels. Lighting should not leave dark corners, or create shadows in the room. Some hotels have excessively more lights than required which again not only increases project costs but also the cost of energy. One of the best examples of public area lighting is JW Marriott Mumbai. Many modern hotels are reducing the use of wood and using metal, as the costs of maintenance are much lower. Lots of natural surfaces are being developed, which are easy to lay and maintenance-free, especially important for business hotels. Provision for additional lights for dressing area must be provided due to the large number of corporate and individual women travellers. They also need full length mirrors, which modern hotels should incorporate in the design.

Thus we have to be innovative; thinking out of the book to create a new look in overall finish to avoid likeness in appearance of hotels.

(The author is the director of Creative Interiors, Mumbai)