If you as the hotel developer or owner do not know where your “Center” is, maybe you do not know you should have one. What is it? It is that little space where a couple or a single guy would feel most comfortable being in, when no one else is around.
At a resort, may be it is that spot in the pool area or at the terrace bar. At a city hotel, the lobby bar and the restaurants all need a favorite and comfortable center, the most homey spot in the house. Like that old lounge in the den you go to on a raining winter night to watch Sunday night football with your dog.
Too many developers, operators and designers make impatient and non-carefully thought-out decisions on layouts and use of space. Extraordinary attention to details is needed for key small space planning where this couple and the single guy will spend hours. These areas form the long-lasting consolidated impression of many clients. They are keys to the property’s success, especially in a resort where customers hang around longer.
We have a talent for space planning that ONLY hospitality people who have worked in hotel spaces for years would have. This is a skill that is critical to a project’s success and can save you heaps of money in effective utilization or reduction of building space.
Do architects have this skill in planning? No. Do interior designers? No. But together with a ‘user’, that is, the hotelier, who utilizes the space day in and day out, hence knows what he is talking about, this is a winning solution.
We have the ability to think through carefully the impression that you will give to the customer who frequents your hotel in the off-season, in a quiet period, during down-time. We recognize that not 100% of the space will be used 100% of the time; and at down times, we need to be aware of the ambience that is lost when the space is empty of clients.
Most of all, without the eye-for-details input that can only originate from experienced hoteliers, architects and interior designers will inevitably fall short on practicality.
Reflection: over 10 years ago, when I was GM of a soon-to-be Four Seasons at Kuda Huraa in the Maldives, I spent the first weeks designing each restaurant table, the width, the length, the thickness and the height, not forgetting the lighting, the wine display, the condiment container, the sugar, the creamer, all had to be measured and their movements anticipated. My Executive Chef and I ‘sat’ in each seat and anticipated the view, the waiters’ traffic patterns and the face contact with other clients. It was not an accident that we had 80% occupancy in the fist 8 months after opening and was acknowledged as one of the 10 best small hotels in the world by Conde Nast Traveler as early as in the first year.
With our experience and insights as hoteliers we can help developers save tons of money in formulating the build-out program, and owners will reap the profit down the road out of effective space planning. If you are building a high-end boutique product then our thinking and eye-for-details are paramount to the success of your project.
Contact mark@turnerlodgingco.co for more insight into hotel space planning.
Hotel developers and hotel management companies, please make sure you enable your chefs to surprise and delight with the bread offerings. If more hotels provided adequate bakery sections in their kitchen and if chefs were motivated to learn to produce, look at what surprises could be in store!
Breakfast breads: Sri Lankan coconut breakfast bread, spelt breakfast bread, berry bannock, Scottish oatcakes.
Filled breads: Georgian cheese boat breads, Potato-and-herb-filled bread.
Sweet breads: Aromatic festive bread, Date-bread morsels, Apricot and almond bread, Norwegian wrapping bread, Sweet bread rings, Buckwheat honey country bread.
Savory breads: Bulgur bread, Olive ladder bread, Uighur nan with cumin and onion, Three-colour focaccia, Pizza with rosemary and garlic, Lamb and tomato breads.
Mildly spiced breads: Ethiopian spice bread, Moroccan anise bread, Aromatic festive bread, Thyme bread, Afghan snowshoe naan, Fenugreek corn bread.
Strongly spiced breads: Chile bread, Xichuan pepper bread, Rajasthani salt and spice bread, Fresh coriander, Ginger, and Chile crepes.
Great breads for snacking: High-tech crackers, Sardinian parchment bread, Pueblo sunflower seed breads.
Crisp breads: Norwegian crispbread, Sardinian parchment bread, High-tech crackers, Crisp lentil wafers.
Flat loaves for slicing: Ethiopian spice bread, Tibetan barley skillet bread, Apricot and Almond read.
Breads used as wrappers: Bejing pancakes, Wheat-flour tortillas, Fresh rice papers, Norwegian wrapping bread, Rice and black lentil crepes, Fresh coriander, Ginger and chile crepes.
Bread used for scooping: Soft whole wheat skillet breads, Deep-fried whole wheat breads with cumin, Blue corn tortillas, Corn tortillas.
Breads used as a “Sponge” for other flavours: Ethiopian sponge breads, Rice and black lentil crepes, Fresh coriander, Ginger and Chile crepes.
Breads for dunking in soup: Afghan home-style naan, Moroccan anise bread, Ethiopian spice bread, Olive ladder bread, San’a sorghum breads, Apricot and almond bread.
Breads for appetizers: Pizza with rosemary and garlic, Lamb and tomato breads, Three-colour focaccia, Olive ladder bread, Georgian cheese-filled quick bread.
Best breads for beginners: Pita, soft whole wheat skillet breads, high-tech crackers.
Breads made using an interesting technique: Ethiopian sponge breads, Rice and black lentil crepes, Flung and folded griddle breads, Hunza sprouted wheat breads, Lacy coconut milk pancakes, Pebbled Persian bread.
Breads using a soured dough: Rice and black lentil crepes, Paperthin lavash, Turcoman sourdough bread.
Breads to make with children: High-tech crackers, Pizza with rosemary and garlic, Berry bannock.
Flatbread “classics”: Pita, Corn tortillas, Afghan snowshoe naan, Paperthin lavash, Soft whole wheat skillet breads.
Yeast-free flatbreads: (A small selection) Soft whole wheat skillet breads, High-tech crackers, Sardinian parchment bread, Bulgur bread, Hunza sprouted wheat breads, Unyeasted date rounds.
Wheat-free flatbreads: (A small selection). Ethiopian sponge bread, Rice and black lentil crepes, Fresh rice papers, Corn tortillas, Rye hardtack rings, Scottish oatcakes, Lacy coconut milk pancakes, Finnish barley bread.
Mouth watering! Taste bud tingling! But how often do we even see them in hotel restaurants?
For help with your hotel food and beverage department in pre-opening or operational management, contact mark@turnerlodgingco.com.
Local building codes must be incorporated into each hotel design of course, yet the important step of ensuring all furniture, fittings and interior finishes are as fire and flame resistant as desired is perhaps not on the radar screen sufficiently enough during the design process for many independents, who do not have the support structure of a brand development team.
One important topic on this subject, and probably the most and single largest fire hazard in a hotel is the choice of all furniture, fixtures and interior finishes, with beddings at the top of the list where many fires over the years have initiated from.
The rating for all these materials is based on their ability to reduce the spread of fire and minimize smoke. All this is a bit complicated, as there obviously is a fine balance between the choices of visual attractiveness, wear and tear, and fire spread ability.
The importance of the Interior Designer, with the major responsibilities associated with this topic is more important in hotels than other building types. Hoteliers use what is called the coordination matrix, a tool to ensure that all responsibilities in the relationship between the architect and the interior designer are taken into account. The biggest issue is usually within the fixed décor, the finishes that apply to walls, ceilings, and millwork, and the make up of the guest bedroom.
So for all those smaller independent developers, not associated with brands and therefore unable to use their development teams who have years of experience in advising owners and developers, the responsibility is on their shoulders to ensure the right questions are asked to get the right results.
All interior finishing should have a smoke development rating less than 300. In cruise ships it is far less than that.
I wonder how many small independent hotel developers and operators have even thought about this in some parts of the world, let alone implemented it 90% correctly.
Add to that, budget limitations, capacity of exits, fire breaks in design, occupant load issues, travel distance to protected area, fire resistive and fire-retardant and other non flammable materials and you get the point – do not take short cuts with the quality appointment of the Interior Designer and a Hotel Consultant to guide him or her.
For hotel development consultancy, working with your Interior Designer to get it all right, contact mark@turnerlodgingco.com
Who does what in the process of design, construction, purchasing and installation of a new hotel?
What budget category, estimated by whom, designed by whom, contracted by whom, purchased by whom, installed by whom, approved by whom, signed off and controlled by whom?
Where does one start!
Take these areas of responsibility; general construction, furniture, art work, flooring, wall coverings, ceiling finishes, doors, lighting, mechanical, electrical, life safety, security systems, elevators, TVs, music systems, telephones and systems, audio visual, food service, laundry, housekeeping , maintenance related, shelving, office equipments, recreational equipment, window coverings, shower curtains, mirrors, accessories, bedspreads linen, mattresses, terry, uniforms, table ware, kitchen utensils, working inventories, signage, landscaping, roadways and pathways.
Then add-on to that all the team members involved such as the architect, acoustical consultant, audio-visual consultant, construction estimator, civil engineer, elevator consultant, fire protection consultant, graphic artist, general contractor, interior designer, food service consultant, laundry consultant, landscape artist, lighting consultant, millwork contractor, mechanical engineer, hotel operators purchasing department, systems consultant, structural engineer. Add to that also the owner and developer, perhaps even a real estate agent, the hotel consultant and the hotel manager.
No wonder mistakes happen, items are forgotten, duplications arise, budgets get screwed up, owners get frustrated, delay overruns occur, development costs are strained.
For advice in compiling and overseeing the coordination and budget of pre-construction work resulting in calmness to opening, contact Mark Turner at Turner Lodging Co. whose services are customized to serve independent hotel owners and developers in Central America and the Caribbean.
This question was recently asked. “The maids do the cleaning, they can check it,” is the expectation. Yes indeed they can and should, as they work along a structured room cleaning process. But take a look at this sample of a hotel room inspection checklist, from a hotel I managed many years ago, and you get the picture. Expect the maid to get it right 100% of the time? When they have another 13 rooms to clean? Here is a basic checklist; housekeeping department s can create their own along these lines.
THE ROOM
a) Guest Room Door: are the seadbolt and chain lock in working order? Does the peephole close automatically? Is the door free of fingerprints and dust? Is the ‘Do Not Disturb’ sign on the inside handle?
b) Entry Light and Ceiling Fixture. Are they clean and functional?
c) Carpet. Are the edges and under the bed clean?
d) Walls. Does it need re-painting or re-glue?
c) Windows. Glass, ledges and sills all clean? Are the drapes and blackout lining hanging properly? Checked the drape pulls and window latches? For windows with shutter doors, are they dust free?
d) Beds. Are all the bedding items arranged correctly?
e) Ceilings. Any cracks, bubbles or cobwebs?
f) Furniture. Polished? Arranged according to set layout?
g) Drawers. Are guest amenities supplied in the right quantity and displayed in the correct position? For check-out rooms, check for any items left by previous guests.
h) Upholstered Furniture. Vacuum or spot-cleaing required?
i) Pictures and Mirrors. Frames dusted, mirrors straight, no streaks on the mirror?
j) Telephones. Cleaned the mouthpiece? Face plate placed correctly?
k) Lamps. Are the lamp shades clean? Switches work? All electrical cords neatly coiled up.
l) Television and Radio. Check the time on the radio. Ensure that the time is correct. Set the alarm on off-position at 12:00 p.m.
m) Wastebasket. Clean with new liner.
n) Closet. Dust-free? Number of hangers correct? Extra pillow (where applicable) provide? Room safe working? All other miscellaneous items are in place, such as clothes brush, shoe horn, shopping bag. etc..
o) Air conditioner. Is the thermostat set correctly?
p) Light switches. No finger marks and not broken.
q) Balconies and Terraces. Ensure exterior light fixtures are working, furnishings are dust-free, floor and handrails are clean.
r) Potted Plants. Ensure proper care is given.
s) In-room Minibar. Is it fully stocked? Check expiration dates of food items. Set glassware and supplies to standards. The ice bucket is filled with ice for check-ins.
t) Coffee Makers. Is it clean? Coffee and condiments must be replenished.
THE BATHROOM
a) Walls. Are the tiles clean and in good condition? Grouting okay?
b) Bathtub. Chrome and soap dish clean? Stopper and shower head in good condition? Faucet is in “tub” position (not shower). Vent above the tub clean?
c) Shower Stall. Check grouting, tiles, drain, chrome fixtures, soap dishes, proper amenity placement, doors and frame.
d) Basin. Is the sink clean? Chrome fixtures and counter top clean? Mirror has no spots or streaks? Light is working. Sink stopper is clean. Pipes under sink area are free of dust.
e) Vanity Top. Free of stains. Check amenity placement. In occupied rooms, ensure the guest toiletries are placed neatly. Glassware must be clean and free of spots.
f) Toilet. Check toilet seat and hinges and cover. Is it flushing properly? Toilet seat bumpers are in place, not leaking or dripping water.
g) Floor. No hairs. Ensure wastebasket is clean and with liner. Scale is clean and functional, with cover if applicable. Rug is placed in proper position. Inspect vanity stool. Check base boards.
h) Door. Lock and door handle are in working condition, free of fingerprints. Robe hook and door frame are clean. Inspect full length mirror for cleanliness.
i) Electrical Outlets. Clean? No cracks?
j) Shower Rod. Clean and polished. Shower curtain and linen clean and all the hooks are in place.
k) Supplies. Correctly positioned?
l) Maintenance Requests. Report any maintenance issues.
m) Ceilings. Check if vents are clean and free of dust, cracks, or smudges.
n) Terry Linens. Pay particular attention to the quality of the terry linens.
o) Make-Up Mirror. Clean and free of dust or spots. Light bulb is working properly and in off position.
Cost effective? Makes good business sense? You bet it does, and those who skip this process to save on payroll pay the consequences.
For advice on housekeeping polices and procedures, contact mark@turnerlodgingco.com
Hotel development critical processes: value design, value engineering, value life cycle, what do they mean?
Value-added design is a process through the stages of the use of space program.
A project’s viability can be truly reflected after profound but minor economies. In the ‘Art of the Deal’ developer Donald Trump cited using three hinges on each ball room door, instead of four, thereby saving 25% of installation and material costs.
The process, although based around common sense, requires an experienced development team, who can justify the use of all space as it relates to the unique market concept of the hotel.
Firstly they need to answer the questions, ‘is the space essential?’ and ‘how best do we use it?’
Value engineering involves the architects, engineers, manufacturers presenting a cost-benefit-analysis of the maintenance, reliability, durability of all major materials, systems and equipment being considered. Obvious aspects are hot water systems, elevators, air conditioning, communications, floor finishes, and kitchen equipment; this process also involves a life-cycle cost analysis estimating energy replacement and maintenance costs. The developer is then educated in the selection process. This takes time and perseverance, but the long-term viability of the hotel is often defined at this stage. Operating profits for years to come are defined, and a project manager experienced in the hotel field is an invaluable asset to this process.
Building safety codes, systems for exit due to smoke and fire, and fire resistance of construction elements, from doors in 3 hours walls, roofs, windows, to kitchen hoods, all need to be taken into consideration.
Obviously, cost management needs an effective and efficient system of control. Work scheduling, material and labour, technical aspects, quality standard control measures, all need to be monitored in detail so that any budget overruns can be managed well in advance.
It is in the planning stage that the major costs are reduced, the stage where the hoteliers, architects, interior designers, suppliers, lighting and acoustic consultants, etc., create value-design, which is then supported by value-engineering.
For expert advice in your hotel design process, contact Mark Turner at mark@turnerlodgingco.com.
So you want to develop and operate a restaurant. Consider the following, and these are just the basics!
The business concept stage
- Do you have a restaurant development check list?
- What is your development cost estimate and timeline?
- Do you know how to get your team together and who should be in it?
- What will be your concept and unique positioning and branding and how are you to develop name awareness?
- What kind of analysis of the competition will you focus on?
- What future expansion is envisaged and how will you expand your brand awareness?
- What suppliers are available with what product?
- What menu will suit?
- Do the initial figures work?
Business Planning
- What legal structure suits you?
- How deep will your market analysis be so you can ascertain the needs taking into account competitive offerings and pricing?
- What will your management and support organization be? Do you know how to create your management structure and organization, skilled in operating one?
- Have you done a feasibility study and are you capable of creating your detailed operational business plan?
- Building, leasing, joint ownership, what is your development plan?
- What professional and advisory support will be needed? Need expert advice with startup expenses and capitalization, and other startup costs and your financial plan?
- How will you fund this? How will you fund growth?
- How do you implement administrative and financial reporting that makes sense?
Issues to consider with the restaurant location and its actual site
- Do you know why the real estate aspect matters?
- Will you lease?
- Are you knowledgeable enough to negotiate a lease with a fair rent?
- Do you know all the design and architectural issues needed to be addressed and managed?
- Are you skilled in compiling technical agreements with service providers? What professional assistance is needed?
- Are you skilled in restaurant space planning, kitchen area and adjustable space planning, or will you leave all of that to others?
- Have you considered design aspects including the consistency of appearance, color, curb appeal, furniture, fixtures & equipment, intimacy, lighting, music, signage? What about parking, insurance, permit needs?
Menu and beverage considerations
- What strategies are you implementing with your menu and its menu design?
- Know what menu engineering means going into operations?
- Who are your vendors and why, why will you purchase from whom?
- What hygiene and food storage standards will be implemented?
- Can you cost out a menu, control inventories, understand what a preparation list is, calculate the cost of goods sold, and have the skills set to lead the team and your chef?
- Do you understand the responsibilities of owning a liquor license, other liquor license considerations, knowledgeable on wines, and all other beverages?
Marketing your restaurant
Do you know how to create and utilize a website, direct mail and data management? Compile monthly email newsletters, identify best advertising options, make use of special events, use media releases to best advantage, write articles, make best use of the local business network, put local networking functions together, create culinary events?
Human resources
How skilled are you in the hiring process, pre-employment screenings, compilation of the employee manual, training manual, creating the job specification and job description for each position, your service and kitchen training and development plan, defining your service standards, initiation of incentives, payroll control, labor and employment contacts, best practice and work scheduling?
Then you have to run it, and grow it.
Where do you begin?
For advice on developing a hotel food and beverage department contact mark@turnerlodgingco.com
The term condominium hotel is best summed up by this description: The accommodation units are individually owned but they are under a management umbrella and marketed as a unified group and operated as a hotel. Add on some common area facilities such as a spa, a front desk, restaurants and bars and administrative areas, with in-room dinning, property upkeep and maintenance .
All very simple really, or is it? What makes a condo hotel unit such a complicated piece of real estate to purchase and be owned? The following commentary is not unheard of. Not what you will hear from a real estate agent!
The most important aspect to consider is the relationship between the players, i.e., the developer and real estate agent who are hell-bent on selling the units, the rental management operator or hotel operator who is concerned the buyers are being misinformed with hugely overstated revenue projections by the developer’s sales team (revenues they will never be able to achieve), the management of the common areas ( strata) who may or may not be the rental or hotel operator who is concerned that the owners are not fully aware of all the ongoing fees and cost involved in looking after the property as perhaps these fine details have not been presented in the purchase contracts (a classic response to any one who asks is “they are being worked out right now”) and the owners, the buyers who buy into it.
First up the buyers (the owners ) review all those glossy sales packaging, great pictures, revenue projections in your face that have little or no realalistic market research behind them, which may or may not resemble the actual projections the management company presented to the developer, who package it all very well of course with fine print that is basically meaningless. Your home in paradise!
Then owners end up being peeved off with the management company who have to bear the brunt of the owners’ frustrations as they gradually find out that their net revenue, after all the commissions and operating costs, in no way cover all of the ongoing costs, and that includes strata fees to cover the management and upkeep of the common areas and the like, all the general repairs and maintenance, taxes, etc. Especially so after deducting the rental operator’s fees that could be near 50% of revenue.
So as condo hotel ownership gets to be a bit of a financial let down for the owners, the pressure gets tight, everyone is trying to reduce costs and maximize revenue. So the owner decides it is about time to take a trip and have a bit of a break, and experience his second home and see what is actually going on.
Upon arrival the front desk agent greets you in the same friendly manner as they would greet a normal guest, and a key is handed over and you make your way up to your unit.
As you enter you are immediately taken to the dark marks along the wall near the entry door, luggage marks you guess, the dining table has large scrape marks and one leg is partially broken, there are glasses and plates missing from the stock you originally purchased, the towels look faded and worn, the carpet hasn’t been vacuumed well, the drapes are not fitted correctly with broken attachments at the top and the bed sheets have hairs on them.
You reflect back to your last monthly statement, which details costs of 50% of revenue to the rental manager, $275 in maintenance and repair costs, the electricity and water bill, your portion of travel agents commission costs and credit card commissions, and the hotel marketing franchise fee, and then you try to figure out how much if any will be left over to pay the mortgage and property taxes. You also note last month was the high season and you couldn’t even stay in your unit so you expected your bottom line income to be one of the best months of the year.
You ask to speak with maintenance about the work not completed in your unit, and get transferred to the rental management company’s in-house maintenance department. A voice mail kindly responds with a message request, which you leave, which is not replied to.
On return from a day enjoying the sights, you decide to speak to the rental management company to complain, firstly about all the revenues which are below expectations, and then all of the repairs and maintenance issues you feel are costs that should be borne by the rental management company as the damage you have seen in the unit has to be renter and guest related and not owner related.
A conversation then occurs that focuses on the definition of what normal wear and tear is, and the owner’s responsibility in covering normal wear and tear costs, but the broken table leg is agreed to be fixed by the management company at their costs. That makes you feel good, until you remember the rental income issue was never discussed. You then make a call to someone else and are reminded that there is a lot of competition and the rental market is not growing as was originally thought, but “we are out performing the competition,” what ever that means. You decide it’s time for a night out to relax and take a meal in the hotel’s restaurant thinking any profit will be reflected in your next monthly statement until you realize on return to your unit that the hotel management company does not share any profit in other areas of the hotel other than income generated through the rental of the units.
The next morning on awakening you feel water on the bathroom floor and look up to see on the bathroom ceiling a water stain and dripping water. A quick call to the front office agent and you get passed onto the rental maintenance department. However you are then passed onto the common area building maintenance department, the strata property management company as your building has both a rental and a strata property management company and is not managed by one operating company. The strata property manager then makes it clear this is a strata issue and that the owners of the unit above will be contacted and this issue will be fixed by the strata property management company. That seems ok to you.
The strata property manager how has to ascertain the reason for this leak, and after some time and cost to the owner above concludes it was from a leaking water pipe connection to the dishwasher in the kitchen above, which backs onto their bathroom.
So you pass that information off thinking that the owner above wasn’t in the unit at the time and why didn’t the rental management company take action on this to stop it, as they rented the unit out. Or shouldn’t they have charged the renter you think, but on asking the strata manager for an explanation so you can better understand how the system works get told that the rental management company didn’t report the issue, as they should have done, and the guests were not charged for any damage. On asking the rental management company why this happened you are told that the guest checked out before they noticed anything wrong as it was a hidden pipe problem, so they could not consider charging the renters, and anyway this was a wear and tear issue and not related to any actual direct action which could be defined as abusive by the renters, so no action would have been taken to charge the renters anyway.
You are perplexed and further confused.
Why was the leak not reported to the strata manager earlier, why did housekeeping not report the damaged ceiling in the suite below?
All this leaves you wondering why you did not have this kind of discussion with the strata property manager and the rental manager prior to purchasing the unit. You reflect that the only information you were supplied was some beautiful artistic renderings and some income projections. You leave more troubled than you were when you arrived, blaming yourself for not doing adequate due diligence on buying a second home.
Now add-on to this, how about this model being further complicated by a developer promoting it as a fractional development with 3-month segments with 4 possible owners, and a flexible rental pool option? One owner can rent if they wish, the others may not if they do not wish to. Yes, it happens! Anything to sell something!!
Work that one out!!
Who pays for what, is the first question one needs to ask as a buyer, then do your sums and work out the bottom line and ask yourself ‘will this be a good financial deal for me?’ It is a financial investment transaction, you are not buying into a second home, you are buying into an investment where the users of the unit will not be as caring as you, with an investment model which over the years has proven to be a risky one.
Lesson: Owners and buyers, beware of the so-called ‘income projections’ presented by the developers and uneducated real estate agents that are totally unrealistic and that bear little or no resemblance on what the net income could possibly be. Get independent advice before buying into a condo hotel.
P/S Potential owners should check your tax issues as well, advantages relating to these investments need careful analysis.
Developers and owners who are diligent enough to seek professional advice on condo hotel development or unit purchase issues are advised to contact Mark at mark@turnerlodgingco.com. Yes there are condo hotel operators and a few good condo hotels to invest in, but owners do the diligence!
Jumping from the design of the guestroom floor with the slab and design configuration options, defining the room mix is at its core based on the market study, or the basic understanding of what market the hotel is to attract. The guestroom program defines what bay within the architectural design will be allocated to king, queen and twin bedded rooms, the variety and number of junior and king suites, service areas, and what connects to what directly. The design team, and that includes the interior designer at the outset, studies a wide range of options and room layouts paying particular attention to the optimum width of the architectural bays, and how to use them to best advantage.
Over the years it has been ascertained that a width of a hotel bay and the associated net width of the interior of a guestroom in a single bay, be at a minimum 4.1m for an upscale property. This permits a major advantage in that it allows the king bed to be positioned against the bathroom wall and not as one usually finds in a standard hotel room on the side of the wall. It should be noted there is not that much advantage in a wider width unless it reaches 4.9m. Then a lounge or/and work area can be placed on the opposite wall to that of the bed, and allows for a 5-fixture bathroom.
The market definition for boutique hotel usually arrives at a consensus that 75% of the rooms should have king beds with additional keys being allocated to single or larger suites and queen queen rooms. In boutique hotels the rooms are usually somewhat smaller than the norm given the fact many are renovations of old hotels that owners have acquired at an attractive price and cost-effectively remodeled, the role of the design team becomes even more important in applying techniques for combining the guest activity zones within a room in a way that increases the flexibility of use.
To fit the market position as a true boutique hotel, projects need to create elements that distinguish themselves from being just a traditionally renovated room, adding flair and humor to give distinction from just a remodeled hotel room.
Nowhere in the room is the planning and design more important than in the guest bathroom; to maximize the efficiency of design, bathrooms are positioned in pairs, together with the pairing of two guests rooms back to back.
Usually total guestroom area allocation at a minimum for an upscale property equates to about 24 square meters for the living area before space is allocated to a closet and an entry area, with a 1.8m by 2.8 meter bathroom. Total guestroom of 36 meters square at a bare minimum.
Summing up, 3 key areas need addressing, the net width of the inside walls, the length and the size and shape of the bathrooms. However it is not so much the size, it is how that size is utilized that holds the key to a well designed market-focused boutique hotel room.
Larger and more sexy bathrooms for boutique style properties are obviously more important than in a 3-star branded hotel at an airport. Guest bathrooms with compartmentalized toilet, separate shower stall with spa style shower heads, 2 sinks, and a tub are becoming more the norm and guests are sure to measure the boutique hotel experience to what they enjoy in their homes. Obviously exceptional good use of space by the interior design team for each square foot available can overcome in the guests mind any limitation of size of the living area and the bathroom.
However the space is utilized, the bottom line is that innovation and artistic expression need to go hand in hand with practicality, designs that combine good flexible function and comfort within an established budget based on the market positioning, with technology aspects within the room that are easy to use.
For more advice in the design of boutique hotels contact Turner Lodging Co; remember, a hotel design team is only as good as the hotelier who guides and inspires their creativity, helping them to integrate operational efficiency and day to day functionality into the design as only a hotelier could.
What exactly is a Boutique Hotel? It seems the word BOUTIQUE has been misused and marketed irresponsibly by many hotel owners in Costa Rica and Panama. Nowadays you see the word associated with 2-star Days Inn styled rooms at so-called ‘eco’ resorts where the only eco aspect to their operation is a few plastic bins for so-called separate waste disposal in the guest rooms. Both the word ‘eco’ and ’boutique’ are clearly overused and in most cases not at all relevant to the property marketing itself as being so.
So to educate those in need of it.
A Boutique Hotel needs to reflect the following. Small, fashionable and independent; when lacking innovative design and stylish high quality personal operations and impeccable amenities, these small hotels are in violation of the fundamental boutique motif and are merely small. Add to what boutique should reflect in a hotel, innovative design, distinctive, individuality, flair, original, and creativity, and you can see how this word has been turned into more than rather a vague term confusing the market, and undermining those that actually achieve it.
Cool, or hip or historic, themed, marketed for business or leisure and more often than not both, the meaning is now an extension of the original boutique hotel urban properties where the key descriptive components were fashion, elegance, glamor and style. Nowadays the word transcends these earlier definitions and crosses many hotel classifications, from small to not so mall, luxury to affordable, urban to resort, chic and cool to traditional. Boutique Hotels have many sub segments.
Ignoring the attempts by chains to be boutique ish, the W brand for example, and the Malmaison Group in the UK, boutique hotels independence has enabled owners and operators to keep at arm’s length corporate standards of the chains that more often than not hinder the creative ideas of those employees on site in supplying distinguishing and personalized hospitality services to the travelers they know. In boutique hotel operations it is much more than employees knowing each guest’s name, which in some of the so-called larger boutique hotels is an impossibility anyway.
It is in my mind more a return to traditional hotel keeping, knowing your guests and fully understanding their requirements as individual travelers and then actually delivering that service in an exceptional manner, all within an environment that has innovative design, distinctive characteristics, where individuality and flair shine through, and the whole experience to the traveler is original and creative.
Some development priorities summed up.
- An at home feel in both size, elegance and throughout it is of a different perspective.
- Inviting, at peace with itself, snug, social.
- Top of the line, select and personalised. Personalised means sincere and warm
- Home made, hand-made, not the standard factory produced stuff. This goes not just for the set up and fit out, add to that food, beverages, paper, amenities.
- Hello to the designer! Square foot by square foot thought through!
- Concepts that are of quality, from deign to delivery
- Amenities unseen near you, out of the box, from soaps, to personalized jams, cookie wraps, cocktails on arrival, room diaries, limos to the office, and the house essence,
- And time and time, time to create, time to prepare to deliver!.
For consultancy on boutique hotel design, operations and management that deliver on the true concept of the word, contact mark@turnerlodgingco.com.
