There is no shortage of lifestyle shop hotels today. In fact, the term “lifestyle” was so largely adopted by major hotel brands that it is difficult to say what it even means. The properties are often heavy on the trend and light on the substance, focused more on photo sessions than customer experience. The result? A sea of avant-garde spaces that all start to feel the same thing. This is why a successful lifestyle hotel today cannot be another brand or interior design exercise. He must start and end with the guest.
As a established hotelier who has traveled through the continents and stayed in hundreds of hotels, Bijal Panwala knows how much the hotel design is missing the brand. For example, there are far too many pieces that look great in the photos but which often do not work well in practice. Other details that customers note, such as poor lighting in the bathroom, arrangements of clumsy furniture or a solid lack of intimacy, are often overlooked by operators focused on form rather than on function.
Instead of reproducing what already exists, hoteliers must examine the experience of the hotel from the customer’s point of view, not the owner. Design decisions must be rooted in the real behavior of customers. For example, the implementation of fog feeders in the bathroom, so that two people can prepare immediately, without delay, would be an improvement. Incorporating sound machines into each default room, rather than a good hour, for a better sleep night is another possibility. We could also use integrated speakers that play music from the main room in the bathroom, which makes all the space more usable and coherent. These are not only gadgets or furniture. This is how customers really live in space.
The most successful lifestyle hotels understand that the stay itself is part of the experience; The properties are not only a place to rest between the activities. A real lifestyle hotel does not only look different; It makes you feel different. This is part of your travel story.
Other ideas include replacing large dressers with open closet systems to reduce footprint and facilitate packaging and unpacking. Public spaces must be reconsidered to support the way people work and socialize post-pandemic, in particular by providing more power outlets, flexible seats and common areas which serve as spaces of day co-training and social salons at night.
An intelligent lifestyle hotel is not only to be cool. It is a question of being useful. It’s about solving the little things that make a flawless stay. In an industry flooded with options, customers will always remember what a hotel has made them feel and that it has made their lives easier or more difficult.
For owners and operators in the hope of entering or reinventing themselves, the lifestyle category, the advice is simple: do not start with the vision of your brand. Start with your guests. Ask yourself: what are the pain points of their day? What do they need to rest, recharge and feel inspired? What would really make their experience easier or more pleasant? Design around that. Build around this. Operate with this spirit every day. Because in the end, the strongest charming hotels do not only reflect a brand – they reflect the guests they serve.