TRENDS AND CHALLENGES IN THE HOTEL SECTOR
Despite the social and economic situation and the lack of skilled labour, the hotel sector is evolving to meet new demands. From In Out Studio we want to show you the new trends and challenges facing the hotel industry that bring exciting opportunities and challenges for the sector and, of course, for its designers.
Among the new trends that can be found today, below we will mention some of them that directly affect interior design.
Digitalisation of the experience.
Digitalisation is growing at an exponential rate, and with it digitalised people. Nowadays, guests are connected 24 hours a day, so hotels must implement new technological solutions in their businesses to meet customer expectations. Technology applications and services are becoming more and more important and are part of the customer experience.
Among these services are: mobile check-in, contactless payments, voice control, biometrics, QR codes, chatbots, electronic keys, etc. A clear example is the contactless doors of the brand Stuck, which in consequence of the pandemic have developed a model of doors (Kinetic Touchless) that do not need to be touched to open them.
Kinetic Touchless (Door) – Stuck Labs
However, being constantly connected not only brings with it the solutions mentioned before, but also helps to understand the customer’s digital footprint. In this sense, hotels should use and learn from guests’ behaviours, searches and preferences. Artificial intelligence helps to collect this information and be able to contact the traveller. In this way, the traveller is inside the hotel experience without actually being in the hotel.
Contactless applications for the check-in.
At home in the hotel Siemens Smart Hotel integrates all hotel services and optimises the overall operation of the building from a single platform. Thanks to an APP (available for download on all types of smartphones or tablets), everything from room climate conditions to lighting and room security can be controlled.
Technology offers security and confidence to customers, and can help to gain a foothold in the sector as it is a highly competitive field. Digitalisation is an indispensable tool that elevates the customer experience to the highest level.
Siemens Smart Hotel
Travelling alone, a new challenge.
The hotel offers spaces for the unexpected, through the development of various multi-sensory room typologies that make it unique. Our way of travelling is changing, more and more travellers prefer to travel alone, live different adventures and meet new people while travelling the world. However, what do these guests ask of hotels?
The answer is simple: experiences.
However, the challenge is to make it happen, hotels have to strive to make these guests feel at home and feel comfortable with the hotel staff. Basically, removing the barriers so that the treatment is more personalised.
Analysis of the different typologies of rooms – In Out Studio
The strategy to achieve these experiences is to create hotels with a series of characteristics that make them especially attractive to certain market segments.
This sensorial hotel designed by In Out Studio is created to respond to these new needs. Therefore, the hotel offers spaces for the unexpected, through the development of several multi-sensory room typologies that make it unique. This sensory hotel designed by In Out Studio responds to these needs by elevating the hotel experience.
Different typologies of rooms in the sensorial hotel – In Out Studio
Hotel & Coworking, the new fusion.
The pandemic has brought about a drastic change in our work environment, teleworking has become very common and is increasingly being implemented in companies. New spaces need to have a hybrid or flexible character to support the new ways of working.
This directly affects hotels and business travellers. In turn, this can also attract local workers who want a change of environment or new opportunities. Therefore, this point is directly related to the digitalisation mentioned above, as elements such as power sockets, printers or high-speed Wifi are needed. This is how the interior design and furnishings become very important because flexible spaces have to be created inside and outside the rooms.
In the rooms of the Hotel Colonial, a proposal by the studio, a work area is set up for the guest that accompanies the design of the room and creates a unique space.
Working spaces for a Boutique Hotel in Canarias – In Out Studio
In the Onomo Hotel project in Nigeria, coworking space was created outside the rooms for people who needed to work in a more relaxed environment.
Work Spaces Hotel ONOMO – In Out Studio
Environmentally sensitive travellers.
Guests want to do their bit for sustainability. Therefore, in hotel interior design, being sustainable and responsible is an added value that is of interest for the future.
In interior design, measures should be taken to incorporate a greater quantity of sustainable materials, not using single-use plastics, improving waste management or using local materials and suppliers. An example of the application of this new line of work sensitive to sustainability is the Le Sud Suite project in Marbella, in which tailor-made solutions were developed with specialised companies such as Tattoo Contract.
Le Sud Suite – In Out Studio
Holistic hospitality.
Today’s guests don’t just want to travel, they also want to take care of themselves. That’s why hotels are including health and wellness spaces in their programme to guarantee the relaxation that guests demand. Little by little, these spaces are also considered as a luxury addition to hotels that attracts more and more travellers, Wellness Services are becoming more and more valued.
Travellers are increasingly following a healthier lifestyle. This trend is reflected when planning our holidays and trips. Therefore, more and more hotels are incorporating wellness and health services such as vegan menus, spa or massage services.
Therefore, interior design is directly linked to these concepts as it is responsible for accompanying these services and providing a complete customer experience. Our NAAC Clinic meets the requirements of what hotels might ask for in terms of health and wellness in a luxury environment.
NAAC Clinic – In Out Studio
The way the hotel sector works and thinks is changing, and so is the interior design. In the same way, Nayra Iglesias and the team try to delve into these aspects so that today’s hotels are responsible and unique as you can see below. This is how we create experiences and guests remember us.
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