Hospitality Design - January/February 2016 - 53

perspectives

brand identity

hotel rl
By Stacy Shoemaker Rauen
Photography courtesy of RLHC

1. A rendering of the
upcoming Hotel RL
Spokane's lobby-with
its version of the brand's
signature seating concept,
the Steps, and a climbing
wall.

RULE BENDERS

Industry veterans rethink the 3-Star hotel

Greg Mount and Bill Linehan-two hotel
veterans who worked together launching
multiple brands at Starwood Hotels & Resorts
and then most recently at management company
Richfield Hospitality-hatched the idea for Red
Lion Hotel Corporation's (RLHC) new Hotel
RL brand during a car ride conversation before
they even joined the company. On their way
to see a hotel in Atlanta, they were discussing
the possibilities at RLHC. "We recognized that
lifestyle brands tend to exist in upper-upscale
and luxury categories as new-builds, and there
was an opportunity in the 3-Star conversion
space, something that was more relevant with
today's lifestyle generation shift-a high touch,
authentic, coffeehouse type of feel," says Linehan,
now executive vice president and chief marketing
officer for RLHC. "There wasn't a good 3-Star

independent boutique-feeling alternative," adds
Mount, RLHC's president and CEO. "Red Lion
was a great Pacific Northwest regional player,
which had 40 years of heritage-it's where
people took vacations or had their proms-with
a lot of goodwill around it, but it had become
irrelevant." Mount and Linehan saw the chance
to take the strong elements of its independent,
Pacific Northwest-rooted ethos and "create a
more aspirational choice for 3-Star customers
and owners," Mount explains.
That was in late 2013. Linehan and Mount
both joined RLHC in early 2014, and Hotel RL
was launched less than a year later. The first
locations have recently opened in Baltimore
and Washington, DC (in August and November,
respectively), with more planned for 2016
in Spokane, Washington (the company's
headquarters); St. Louis; Salt Lake City;
Olympia, Washington; and for 2017, in College
Station, Texas (the brand's first new build).
During the creation process, the duo put
effort into rethinking industry standards-the
check-in desk, lobby layout, and the guestroom
desk, to name a few. "The notion of hotel service

has gotten totally warped," says Linehan. "As an
industry, we have become un-hospitable. Why
walk in a lobby and stand on a carpet and wait
until someone summons you over? The service
should be coming to you. Why does there have to
be a specific area for everything in the lobby?"
To answer these questions in terms of design,
they called in the Gettys Group, specifically
the firm's newly formed division PULSE,
which focuses on lifestyle brand design. "They
encouraged us to ask the question, 'Why not?' So
that's what we did," explains Jackson Thilenius,
senior design director for PULSE by Gettys. "We
approached most of the design with the idea that
both business and [leisure] travelers are explorers
and need a basecamp from which to launch their
next adventure."
Take the guestroom, for instance. Closets
have been replaced with a gear drop (with
retail-style slate walls and movable hanging
attachments); adjustable tables act as both a
coffee table and work station; and headboards
and integrated side tables are power ready.
"There's complete flexibility in the design to
allow people to play and work as they choose,"

hospitalitydesign.com January/February 2016

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Hospitality Design - January/February 2016

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Hospitality Design - January/February 2016

Hospitality Design - January/february 2016
Contents
Online TOC
From the Editor
Behind the Design
People: CitySCENE San Francisco
People: Platinum Circle Awards Gala
Perspectives
Sketchbook
Brand Identity: Hotel RL
5 Questions for Thread Collective
Products
Profile: Patricia Urquiola
Trends: Made in America
Wallcoverings
Casegoods
Window Treatments
Special Feature: Hidden Treasures
Projects
The Durham Hotel
Quirk Hotel
The Buchanan
Shui Mo Xuan Tea House
Ad Index
Back Space
Hospitality Design - January/February 2016 - Intro
Hospitality Design - January/February 2016 - Hospitality Design - January/february 2016
Hospitality Design - January/February 2016 - Cover2
Hospitality Design - January/February 2016 - 1
Hospitality Design - January/February 2016 - 2
Hospitality Design - January/February 2016 - 3
Hospitality Design - January/February 2016 - 4
Hospitality Design - January/February 2016 - 5
Hospitality Design - January/February 2016 - 6
Hospitality Design - January/February 2016 - 7
Hospitality Design - January/February 2016 - 8
Hospitality Design - January/February 2016 - 9
Hospitality Design - January/February 2016 - Contents
Hospitality Design - January/February 2016 - 11
Hospitality Design - January/February 2016 - 12
Hospitality Design - January/February 2016 - 13
Hospitality Design - January/February 2016 - 14
Hospitality Design - January/February 2016 - 15
Hospitality Design - January/February 2016 - 16
Hospitality Design - January/February 2016 - Online TOC
Hospitality Design - January/February 2016 - 18
Hospitality Design - January/February 2016 - 19
Hospitality Design - January/February 2016 - 20
Hospitality Design - January/February 2016 - 21
Hospitality Design - January/February 2016 - 22
Hospitality Design - January/February 2016 - 23
Hospitality Design - January/February 2016 - From the Editor
Hospitality Design - January/February 2016 - 25
Hospitality Design - January/February 2016 - 26
Hospitality Design - January/February 2016 - 27
Hospitality Design - January/February 2016 - Behind the Design
Hospitality Design - January/February 2016 - 29
Hospitality Design - January/February 2016 - 30
Hospitality Design - January/February 2016 - 31
Hospitality Design - January/February 2016 - 32
Hospitality Design - January/February 2016 - 33
Hospitality Design - January/February 2016 - People: CitySCENE San Francisco
Hospitality Design - January/February 2016 - 35
Hospitality Design - January/February 2016 - 36
Hospitality Design - January/February 2016 - 37
Hospitality Design - January/February 2016 - 38
Hospitality Design - January/February 2016 - 39
Hospitality Design - January/February 2016 - 40
Hospitality Design - January/February 2016 - 41
Hospitality Design - January/February 2016 - People: Platinum Circle Awards Gala
Hospitality Design - January/February 2016 - 43
Hospitality Design - January/February 2016 - 44
Hospitality Design - January/February 2016 - 45
Hospitality Design - January/February 2016 - 46
Hospitality Design - January/February 2016 - Perspectives
Hospitality Design - January/February 2016 - 48
Hospitality Design - January/February 2016 - Sketchbook
Hospitality Design - January/February 2016 - 50
Hospitality Design - January/February 2016 - 51
Hospitality Design - January/February 2016 - 52
Hospitality Design - January/February 2016 - Brand Identity: Hotel RL
Hospitality Design - January/February 2016 - 54
Hospitality Design - January/February 2016 - 55
Hospitality Design - January/February 2016 - 5 Questions for Thread Collective
Hospitality Design - January/February 2016 - 57
Hospitality Design - January/February 2016 - 58
Hospitality Design - January/February 2016 - Products
Hospitality Design - January/February 2016 - 60
Hospitality Design - January/February 2016 - Profile: Patricia Urquiola
Hospitality Design - January/February 2016 - 62
Hospitality Design - January/February 2016 - Trends: Made in America
Hospitality Design - January/February 2016 - 64
Hospitality Design - January/February 2016 - 65
Hospitality Design - January/February 2016 - 66
Hospitality Design - January/February 2016 - 67
Hospitality Design - January/February 2016 - 68
Hospitality Design - January/February 2016 - Wallcoverings
Hospitality Design - January/February 2016 - 70
Hospitality Design - January/February 2016 - 71
Hospitality Design - January/February 2016 - 72
Hospitality Design - January/February 2016 - Casegoods
Hospitality Design - January/February 2016 - 74
Hospitality Design - January/February 2016 - 75
Hospitality Design - January/February 2016 - 76
Hospitality Design - January/February 2016 - 77
Hospitality Design - January/February 2016 - 78
Hospitality Design - January/February 2016 - Window Treatments
Hospitality Design - January/February 2016 - 80
Hospitality Design - January/February 2016 - 81
Hospitality Design - January/February 2016 - 82
Hospitality Design - January/February 2016 - Special Feature: Hidden Treasures
Hospitality Design - January/February 2016 - 84
Hospitality Design - January/February 2016 - 85
Hospitality Design - January/February 2016 - 86
Hospitality Design - January/February 2016 - 87
Hospitality Design - January/February 2016 - 88
Hospitality Design - January/February 2016 - 89
Hospitality Design - January/February 2016 - 90
Hospitality Design - January/February 2016 - Projects
Hospitality Design - January/February 2016 - The Durham Hotel
Hospitality Design - January/February 2016 - 93
Hospitality Design - January/February 2016 - 94
Hospitality Design - January/February 2016 - 95
Hospitality Design - January/February 2016 - Quirk Hotel
Hospitality Design - January/February 2016 - 97
Hospitality Design - January/February 2016 - 98
Hospitality Design - January/February 2016 - 99
Hospitality Design - January/February 2016 - The Buchanan
Hospitality Design - January/February 2016 - 101
Hospitality Design - January/February 2016 - 102
Hospitality Design - January/February 2016 - 103
Hospitality Design - January/February 2016 - Shui Mo Xuan Tea House
Hospitality Design - January/February 2016 - 105
Hospitality Design - January/February 2016 - 106
Hospitality Design - January/February 2016 - 107
Hospitality Design - January/February 2016 - 108
Hospitality Design - January/February 2016 - 109
Hospitality Design - January/February 2016 - Ad Index
Hospitality Design - January/February 2016 - 111
Hospitality Design - January/February 2016 - Back Space
Hospitality Design - January/February 2016 - Cover3
Hospitality Design - January/February 2016 - Cover4
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