Comment: Hotel design innovation in the mid-market

Innovative design seeks to find new ideas and methods which allow us to efficiently solve the existing needs and requirements of the hospitality market. It is therefore the customers’ various needs which provoke innovation, and so they are the most accurate source of new ideas.

The businesses which choose to remain conservative and are not willing to take a risk by investing into innovation, will almost definitely fail in their growth and not withstand the competition in the market. However, in a world where everything is becoming visual, aesthetics and beauty in design have an important role to play in attracting people’s attention. But can we assume this to be considered innovative?

While it is true that, no matter how impressive or futuristic something may look, to bring any benefit there must be economic added value or business purpose behind it. It is also true that the benefit of the innovation may also be social: the ability to somehow improve people’s life or make any task easier should not be undermined. So while there are infinite high-tech products appearing in the consumer landscape nowadays, they can only be described as innovative when they are fully functional. Moreover, innovative solutions are not always related to new technologies.

In the field of hospitality, an innovation may be as simple as including a housekeeping closet in each hotel room, thus avoiding the daily trundle of carts along the corridors. Design technologies are already beginning to be controlled via digital systems and devices which are tailored to the individual user. As a result, services are becoming more and more personalised.

In the hospitality sector, this can be seen in hotel guestrooms which are already becoming more dynamic, allowing the space to be treated as a shell, ready to receive the guests’ personal requirements, whatever they may be. For instance, some guests prefer darker settings, while others brighter. Some prefer silence while others have a liking towards white noise; the profile of a hotel guest has infinite possibilities, which must all be catered for.

Additionally, hoteliers are looking for ways in which to reduce the personal engagement between a guest and a hotel employee in an effort to minimise the disturbance of a guest during their stay; for example ordering food via a mobile app, separate spaces to pick up/drop off laundry without interrupting the sleep or privacy of a guest, etc.

How convenient would it be for all those involved, if a hotel guest could digitally outline all his or her personal preferences prior to arrival?

About the Author:

Daousser Chennoufi Chairman and Key Architect of the Draw Link Group.

Daousser Chennoufi is a chairman of the Draw Link Group, a group of companies, composed of Draw Link Interior Link Architecture, Draw Link Project and Draw Link Technical Works; with its head office in Dubai. The company also has offices in Qatar, Tunisia, Belarus and Shanghai.

Chennoufi previously founded Trans Dazz Interior Design and Concept Showroom in Dubai. He is also responsible for the design and concept development of the Hues Hotels & Resorts properties. Contact: www.draw-link-group.com