Starwood launches new lifestyle concept rooms

Starwood Hotels & Resorts has launched its next generation designs for its lifestyle select brands, Aloft, Element and Four Points.

Each design brings something different: Aloft hotels will be serviced by new robot butler called Botlr; Element rooms will have smart floor tiles, mapping out a gentle lighting path for guests going to the bathroom during the night; while Four Points’ new concept will have smart mirrors with news headlines and weather forecasts.

During a presentation at Element Harrison in the US, Lara Shortall, creative director, global brand design for Starwood, said: “What we want to keep in mind when we’re coming up with a new design is that It’s not a revelation, it’s really about evolving the design and updating it so that any of the existing hotels can bring in the new design seamlessly with what they already have.

“There is a guest archetype or a mindset we think about when we’re developing a design and every part of the brand, so for Element it’s healthy active, for Aloft, it’s the self-expressers and for Four Points it's the independent thinker.”

Shortall confirmed that the first of the second generation Element rooms will roll out in quarter three of 2016, and date of implementation of the new concepts for Four Points and Aloft rooms is to be confirmed.

In the new Aloft concept room, guests will be able to control the air conditioning and lighting and set a morning playlist and coffee to brew at a certain time, all with their phones.

Using Apple TV, guests will be able to finish a movie they were watching on the plane, or listen to playlists using Bluetooth hooked up to a hidden sound system.

Additionally, at Aloft’s WXYZ bar, virtual reality stations will be installed so that guests can ‘soar’ through the air with a virtual skydive or take in the sights and sounds of a concert.

In Starwood’s long-stay, eco-friendly brand Element, the second generation concept will include new green materials and design,  mobile controlled lighting, as well as touchscreen cookbooks in the kitchen, and solar canopy charging stations so that guests can recharge their devices while sitting under the panels.

Virtual reality bike rides will be available at Element Motion fitness centres around the world, which give guests the experience of riding a bike outdoors while exercising on an indoors cycling machine.

Aloft and Element properties will also roll out SPG keyless, so that guests can use their phones as room keys.

In the new concept room for Four Points, Starwoods’ independent traveller brand, guests will have dual streaming TVs.

Guests will be able to watch two big games on any given Sunday or (with the included wireless headphones) and couples will be able to watch two different programs at once without disturbing each other.

Smart mirrors will offer news headlines and weather reports that can be read while a guest is getting ready for work.

For Four Points, Starwood is also testing out the idea of a virtual business centre, which would provide a noise-cancelling booth in the lobbies of the hotels for making calls, or for working on a pre-loaded tablet or on a personal device.

Starwood Hotels & Resorts announced the signing of five new projects under its Aloft and Element brands in Dubai, Doha, and Muscat earlier this month.