Hospitality Design - November 2009 - 82

on site jody turner Right: Lounge seating on the High Line’s sun deck. RT: So it sounds like one would select a resort dimensional. Because the single focus is just not enough any more. J T: Because we’ve integrated the ideas of having the great showerhead, and the great bed, and those are becoming kind of normal. So that’s why I say it’s evolutionary, or evolving. We have the great living room space. We have the great outdoor area. We have the great dining. We have the great bar. And we have all of those cool elements. Now, it’s about locality and how it influences the local, and how we can engage with the local. And also, it has to do with econographic (experience in terms of, ‘I can talk about this to friends and say I did this.’) The 18th floor of the Standard is not open yet, and it’s the same old idea of private, private, private, no one can get in. And then when people can get in, it will just be flooded. and be in a place that used to be a jail and learn about how great it is to be free. It is just edutainment mixed with evolution. It’s evolutionary edutainment. And we’re also doing a lot of reuse, that’s another inspirational approach. The big sewer pipes that are being used as little hotels or old 747s as hotels. Those sorts of things are really exciting to us, because they’re opening up a paradigm of how the future could be lived. they’re becoming entrepreneurs, and they’re [following their] passions. I’m speaking to banks about this. We’re speaking on the changing future of work. It’s becoming more mobile, which means that that would influence the hotel industry as well. So Lemonade asks, ‘how do you turn something into something else?’ So that’s what we’re talking about here. It is a transformative time. And how transformational you are [correlates with] how successful you will be. RT: Do you think you would go to a sewer pipe, 747, or shipping crate hotel more than once? J T: If it was comfortable. RT: If It was comfortable. And alluring. So we want to have all of these experiences, but in order to experience them more than once, we want them to be comfortable, and embracing, and somewhat luxurious. And very considerate. RT: So that’s also true of chain hotels. J T: Yes. The chain hotel has a niche if they are quality low budget, because that is something that we’ll need in these times. R T: There’s no better marketing technique than a ‘Keep Out’ sign, is there? J T: Right. It’s the limited edition approach and the invitation-only approach, but not in the old way of exclusion. It shouldn’t be that. I went up to the concierge and said, ‘Hey, my friend wanted me to meet him on the 18th floor,’ and he says, ‘Private events until the 29th.’ And I tell him, ‘I am here for information. Please be more informative. Give me the lowdown.’ And then he starts giving me the lowdown. Because they just want to brush people off, so you feel excluded. That isn’t the way to go. That is so old, and so stupid. It has to be more of an invitational feel, but not an exclusionary feel. So it’s a limited edition invitation, but let’s make the invitation accessible, if you provide something that adds to the situation. In the future, we’re going to be seeing a lot of online connection for hotels. This is going to be a big realm. Because, as it becomes clear that we are going to hotels for inspiration, and they’re becoming inspirational centers for us, in ways of living, the hotel will just evolve and get better and better at that. Whether it’s come here and learn how to live eco, or come here RT: And what about the quality, high budget, like Four Seasons? J T: There will always be high-end business travel, but people’s idea of luxury is changing. We will still have luxury the way it was, in part because people will want to have a retro experience of what luxury used to be, as a reminder and a remembrance. It’ll be vintage joy. J T: Comfortable and also to offer community connection somehow. That means there could be a community of people that try out all of the different reuse hotels in the world. They will just send that experience around the world. RT: So do you think that with the trends we see now, if a boutique hotel is seen as something that is a small hotel that’s trying to appeal too trendy, it’s just embarrassing. Do you think the boutique hotel will survive? Or evolve? RT: So what will be the new luxury? J T: I think this is more like intriguing edutainment, intriguing experiential that’s transformational. Like all of my friends who are making money are spending it on something like a National Geographic vacation. Something that gives you substance to talk about, because while a lot of us are really moving toward kind of grownup, unreal sort of experiences—because fantasy is always going to be great—a majority feel that status has changed. It’s less about materialism, and more about smart ways of living, the kind that informs and contributes to society. J T: Everything is evolving, because of the big disruption of the economy. So we’re turning away from economics to ethonomics, meaning it has to have something of more substance than just boutique-y coolness. It’s been evolving already for the last couple of years. And we’re all evolving. There’s a new documentary called Lemonade, and I think this is going to inform a lot of businesses, because so many people have lost their jobs, and now hospitalitydesign www.hdmag.com Photo by Iwan Baan for a focus, but that it has to be multi-

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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Hospitality Design - November 2009