When will technology really disrupt the hotel business?

A few weeks ago, I wrote about hotels of the future, which expressed essentially thoughts about comfort. Another aspect of the evolution of hotels is connected to technology and how it has become key to brand strategy differentiation. Technology is a catalyst for increased building efficiency and it is becoming a key element of disruptive market strategies by hotel owners,operators and the designers that support their vision.

The recession limited the comprehensive modernization of hotel systems, but it also coincided with an incredible growth in interactive technology, and particularly its ability to impact the guest experience.

As renovation budgets become more robust and new construction accelerates, we’ll increasingly see the deployment of integrated systems that improve hotel performance and also enhance the guest experience. A few successful examples of hotel concepts that are already pushing the envelope are YOTEL and CITIZEN M.

Yotel in New York is the most recent outpost of the brand:

Yotel New York - Entrance 

Yotel New York - Lobby

Yotel New York - Typical Guestroom

And Citizen M opened the first of three London hotels in July 2012:

Citizen M (website)

Citizen M London - Typical Guestroom

Citizen M London - Guestroom Control tablet

The focus of end-user technology varies across market segments:

• Upper-upscale and luxury hotels have had a greater ability to add high-end technology to enhance the entire experience from concierge services to entertainment.
• The upscale segment, and in particular business oriented hotels, have deployed technology to improve check-in, to achieve some customization of guest relationship, to offer advanced meeting space functionality and to provide some in-room amenities.
• The economy to mid-scale segments have focused more on the implementation of building management systems looking at cost control and operational sustainability, with a more incremental use of technology in public spaces and in-room technology.

We are starting to see state-of-the-art technology in all hotels, from tablets to 3D TV, from digital art to smart keys. But when will we begin to see a truly integrated approach to technology deployment?

The reality is that the conventional operation model has not changed much, and the use of technology in hotels is essentially a layer applied on top of the traditional services, and issues affecting equipment reliability and inter-operability have discouraged owners and guests alike about the validity of turning technology as ubiquitous in hotels as it is in homes and offices.

I believe that this will only come through a re-concepting that merges the hotel operation, the asset management and the guest experience through solutions that address simultaneously service, comfort, entertainment and amenities.

A more seamless hotel experience is one that will bring together the human, physical, personal needs of the guest and the capabilities permitted by technological innovations.

I am sure that behind retina-scan access doors at the HQ of large hotel companies there are very smart people wielding state-of-the-art tablets and thinking about what the hotel of the future will be.

I wonder if these are the questions they are trying to answer:

• Can a hotel become an intuitive experience that anticipates the guest’s needs within a very efficient operation?

• Can we make a hotel react to the guest?

• Can a hotel ever become an extension of the guest’s own personal environment?

Right now, there is an opportunity for hotel owners, operators and designers to re-think radically the role of technology and how it can catalyze a deeper integration of interactive capabilities in the hotel physical space.

Who will take us on this journey first?

Do historic hotels dream about their past? Some thoughts on the renovation of iconic properties.

Hilton Worldwide, owner of the historic Waldorf Astoria hotel in New York city has begun a phased upgrade and much needed renovation of the crown-jewel in its portfolio. This iconic hotel is not only the quintessential urban luxury hotel, but it is also the flagship property of the company's luxury brand.

On the tail-end of a recession that hit the luxury segment particularly hard, hospitality executives have worked hard to re-tool and compete in a market that has blurred the lines between luxury, lifestyle and boutique. Defining a clear vision for the luxury experience and communicating a compelling brand narrative have become the keystones of renovations, especially when the buildings carry such weight.

The plan to bring the Waldorf Astoria into the 21st century has been carefully considered, and will be implemented over the course of years to come. The Park Avenue Entrance is setting of the tone for the rest of the hotel renovation, which will be overseen by New York based designers Champalimaud and BBG. This area re-opened recently with a few architectural modifications, a renewal of furnishings and lighting, and a focus on the existing murals and flooring pattern. 

So what do we see upon entering?

Gone is the Starbucks which offered a confusing welcome to guests even before they got to the main lobby. Gone is the mezzanine that lowered the ceiling height and removed any sense of greatness upon arrival. Gone is the chandelier that seemed so out-of-place in the Art Deco inspired building. Gone is the characterless carpet. In fact, gone are many layers of decor that were added over the years in vapid refurbishments that did nothing for the space except to hide the natural aging of the building. The designers have been careful in de-layering the existing space and restoring it to a grand, elegant look and arrival experience. The Waldorf is, in the words of its designers, "modern again".

 Park Avenue Lobby - Before                                                                                                             Proposed Design - Courtesy of Champalimaud 

                                                                                       Waldorf Astoria New York 

We can't underestimate the challenge involved in renovating an 80-year old, 1200-room urban hotel running at permanently high occupancy rates and with one of the busiest function businesses in the city. And although the hotel interiors are not landmarked, there is a need to deal with the reaction, not always positive, of the community at large towards any kind of improvement or modification.

There are many parallels to be drawn between the renovation of the Waldorf Astoria and other emblematic hotels in cosmopolitan centers. Aside from this project, I was closely involved in the renovation of hotels that have been key destinations in their cities for at least two generations, and I have gained a significant understanding in to how to best approach these projects. 

The projects I have been involved with include the full renovation of the Hotel Bel Air in Los Angeles (California), the re-branding of the oldest luxury hotel in China, the Astor Hotel in Tianjin (Starwood Luxury Collection property), and the phased re-energizing of The Dorchester in London. These distinct properties in three continents interestingly have had many aspects in common through the renovation process. 

Hotel Bel Air - Typical Guestroom (Before and After - Image courtesy of Champalimaud Design)

Hotel Bel Air - Lobby/Reception (Before and After - Image courtesy of Champalimaud Design)

Hotel Astor Tianjin - Exterior (Old Building and Renovated Building)

It is interesting to notice that the perceived history of the buildings by the local community and current guests tends to be a somewhat exaggerated view of the truth, and it often veils a serious acknowledgement of how much the hotels need to be renovated. This is true both in terms of the quality of the building's architecture and interiors, as well as the stories and myths inspired by popular culture. Often the most vocal disagreements towards any renovation come from people that haven't really set foot in the building in a very long time. Although time-consuming and sometimes devoid of any real substance, dealing respectfully with these subjective aspects of a renovation is an important step as they can add extraneous uncertainty to the project, and are often key to generate the right buzz around the hotel's re-opening.

While the subjective variables are very important elements, there are also very tangible aspects of historic hotel renovations that designers must address thoughtfully as they work with the Owner to deploy the investment successfully. I find that some questions must be answered very objectively as they are determinant in the programming phase: 

• How extensive must the renovation be to achieve a measurable increase in the property's competitiveness?
• How much "newer" must the hotel look like after the work is completed?
• How will changes affect the hotel's ability to provide increased guest service?
• What to keep and what to change when it comes to art, furniture, memorabilia, etc...?
• What investment is required in technical services such as lighting, HVAC, guest technology and entertainment, to increase the guest comfort and experience?

Answering these questions will help focus the efforts and I've compiled here a list of lessons learned, to-dos and not-to-dos when it comes to historic hotel renovations. This is by no means comprehensive, but it touches on a few significant aspects that should be taken into account:

• Before the concept is developed, a good deal of research should occur. Investing this time wisely will definitely be valuable . In this research there should be interaction with the community that includes existing guests, local residents and any parties that hold a stake in the hotel's future. There are many different reasons why people feel attached to historic hotels, and it isn't always style or function. It could be memories, and it might just be the fact that they are used to seeing it in a certain way. It is very often a question of perception and of emotion. Displaying a respecting for those emotions is easy to do and has a huge pay-off.
• Every aspect of the current plans must be questioned. Older hotels tended to have large public spaces with no services associated to them. Activating public areas with F&B service, lounging, informal meeting areas or retail can impact the operations very positively and increase the ROI of the project.
• Avoid giving the new spaces a room-set feel. Hotels with history have too much authenticity to become mere vignette spaces. They need to be imbued with personality: they need to be a child, or a grand-child of the original, but never a distant cousin.
• Pastiche should be avoided. Re-creating the original is never a good idea, it often appears fake, and no space can ever live up to what it once was, even if the look before was out-dated. The obvious trick of using old photos and memorabilia never really seems to create the connection it intends, and seldom provides a historic link. Curating a high quality collection could work, but it must be done in the right framework (for more on this, read my post "Is curated overrated?")
• Seek to re-juvenate, re-energize and do not sacrifice comfort for look. Paying proper attention to selection of furnishings and uphosltered goods is critical.
• Choose a limited number of vendors rather than spreading specifications over a large number of suppliers. Chances are adjustments will be needed as we near installation, and vendors that feel involved in the process are more likely willing to help. Every vendor likes the idea of being involved with a property that stands out in their credentials and they will go the extra mile on this.
• Lighting is very important, but traditionally is has never been a feature in itself in more historical interiors. Lighting should enhance visual comfort and perhaps a few key interior architecture features, but it should not be too visible a layer. It must be like the pause in music: without it it is not the same, but you never really know it's there.
• Avoid thinking that major infra-structure investments are restrictive aspects of the renovation. Technical services are often out-dated and must be upgraded or modified to achieve essential comfort and improve building efficiency. However there are very effective retro-fitting solutions for air conditioning and lighting that should be explored. These are not always clean-cut solutions, and might require additional surveying costs, but they can have an impact in overall investment and save valuable dollars that can be directed to the guest's visual experience.

These are just a few key thoughts that should be kept in mind, but my most important learning has been that the renovation of a historic building is most successful when there is adequate time to develop a comprehensive, holistic approach to the building in one effort, even if the implementation will be sequenced across a longer schedule. Soft-cost investment to bring all the consultants on-board early and the allocation of adequate concepting and planning time by owners and operators is bound to yield high returns later in the process. The best approach in my experience is to work on a game-plan that addresses the building deficiencies, that listens to the community concerns, that focuses on the appropriate variables that will increase the hotel's performance, that provides a vision that will create the right product and that sets a clear framework to guide the key decisions by all stakeholders. Then the schedule can be fine-tuned, and the budget can be properly allocated, but it is important that all essential questions about the hotel's identity are asked and answered before the renovation begins.

Hotels of the future: will they be comfortable?

Whenever I see articles with propitious titles like "Hotels of the Future" I already know it will be all about renderings of buildings that visionaries like Fritz Lang or Ridley Scott imagined long before there were such things as easily available desktop rendering programs. 

Don't misunderstand me: some of the proposals that are floating around are fabulously inventive and they do push the envelope of the built environment (Forbes.com: Hotels Of The Future: 7 Architectural Stunners On The Horizon.)

Zaha Hadid's Dorobanti Tower - Bucharest

My issue with these images is that what seems to impress so much is only the result of very controlled studio experiments, that so often get diluted as they approach feasibility. And outside industry conferences, or the usual tech talk, few people really talk about what the experience of a hotel will be like 30 years from now.

One thing I am sure: it will increasingly be about choices that relate to our own comfort. The choices might be between service and independence, or between human connection and pre-determined selections, or between random ambiances and perfectly controlled environments, but I have no doubt they will relate more to human "stuff" than to building shapes.

There is one thing that architects can't imprint into these buildings at the edge and that is things like a sense of history, or a sense of comfort, or the homely notion of relaxing in a space that takes care of us. The surrealist french writer Boris Vian wrote that music can alter the "roundness of room corners". I think that what hotels feel like is what will really impact our comfort in a world full of tech.

So I wonder if we should be talking about the hotels of the future in these terms, or if we should be talking instead about the ones that will be able to create that sense of unexpected and inner traveling. I have a few favorites, some that I have been to and others that I dream of visiting, and here they are (in no particular order).


The Saint James Paris (France)

Vidago Palace Resort (Portugal)

Fasano Punta del Este (Uruguay)

The Upper House (Hong Kong)

Amangiri (Utah, USA)

Is curated overrated?

How much more often can the word “curated” appear in conversations and articles, and still make sense? And aren’t you under the impression that what curated really means is no more than what professional interior designers and interior decorators have been doing for years? If you agree, stick with me and let’s try to make sense of this.

                                                                                                            Byblos Arts Hotel

Just for the sake of formality, let’s check the definition of "curation":

According to the Oxford Dictionaries, it means “to select, organize, and present using professional or expert knowledge”, or “to organize and maintain a collection of artworks or artifacts.”

So there is professional expertise involved, but there is also selection. And the ability to select is not just one that comes from experience – it requires an understanding of what one is trying to achieve, it requires a reason or a concept that sets the boundaries for the selection. And if we push the definition, I would say it can’t be done successfully without intuition and culture.

                                                                                                           Byblos Arts Hotel

In today’s world, where we are flooded by redundant information, by ideas that are shared before they are fully processed and by countless versions of the same product, being able to select is essential. However, that ability is not on its own the answer to deal with the excess of things, let alone the way living spaces should be designed.

Yes, it is seemingly easy to find original products online (thank you, 1st Dibs). Yes, it is seemingly easy to find ideas (thank you, Pinterest). Yes, it is seemingly easy to put them  together (thank you, Olioboard). Yes, it is easy to find where the image came from (thank you, Google Images). But most of this does not amount to more than somewhat shallow experimentation.

To me, real curating is just another way to say “less is more”. It is the process by which designers and decorators edit the ideas that are less than perfect, the process by which layers are peeled to reveal elegance, crispness, scale and proportion – it is how timeless interiors are created. And no great designer has ever set-out to “curate”: either by intuition or by process, they imagine, then they test, then they search, then they combine, and then they might unveil an answer that is unique and that is possibly the right one.

I remember a moment, when still a design student, after a studio presentation for an art gallery project that had particularly inspired me, a colleague congratulated me and said: “You did great. You found the answer ”. At the time I thought that comment made no sense, as many designs would certainly produce an answer. But today, I go back very often to that elusive moment in which I had apparently come up with a design that made sense to other people. Did I ever think I had curated the space? Did I think I had curated the objects in that space? No, it was always part of a larger scheme, part of a broader effort to achieve unity in the design. In Ancient Rome this notion had a name: Ars Una – Art is One.

                                                                                                            Mondrian Miami

So if curation makes no sense when there is a designer involved, why is it such a popular buzzword?

I think it is a by-product of our times, of how the creative process in interior design has sometimes been so fragmented through specialist consultants, either due to reasons of liability or cost of service.

Maybe clients accept to curate when the scope of work is apparently too small to engage a designer – somehow it can simulate originality.

Or maybe clients accept to curate when their designers lack the ability to edit their designs, and they think that another partial specialist can fill that void.

Or maybe designers accept that they are curating when there isn’t enough time to come up with a real concept … maybe it is linked to money, maybe it is due to fast-track schedules, maybe it is linked to lack of original resources and maybe it is even linked to a lack of culture. Culture is not just acquired from experience, it is more the result of curiosity, travel, research and open-mindedness. And that is often lacking in young designers. 

I think the spaces that really appeal to us, the spaces that last, are never curated … they are designed.

Hotels provide great examples of properties where the unity of concept and where the integration of thoughtful ideas can determine their success and ensure a long-lasting design. I have been “curating”  a few images on my Pinterest board aptly named "Designed, not Curated". Below are some of my favorites, but you can explore the others, and why not recommend a few ...

Byblos Arts Hotel – Verona,Italy  

This converted 16^th century Palazzo, located in Verona, houses a permanent collection of work by the likes of Damien Hurst, Cindy Sherman, and Anish Kapoor. The art is so well integrated with the concept of the hotel and the spaces that guests experience,that nothing seems "too much", no art piece seems out of place, or even randomly selected. It is One.

Villa Kennedy Rocco Forte  - Frankfurt, Germany  

The Villa Kennedy is a luxury hotel in Frankfurt nestled just off the south bank of the Main River in a wonderful villa landscape. Combining tradition and innovation, the hotel was built around the traditional 1904 Villa Speyer. It is tasteful addition to a historic building where finishes, furniture and art blend together seamlessly, all selected within a congruous and sophisticated palette that could belong to the original owners of the Villa.  

Ace Hotel -   New York, USA  

Roman and Williams have created original, eclectic, “seems to have been always there” spaces in this New York modern hospitality icon. It feels effortless and un-layered, and provides the feel of a room that could be our own. The permanently fully-booked lobby is a testament to its comfort.