Hotel & Motel Management - January 7, 2008 - (Page 58) 58 Roundtable DESIGNER ROUNDTABLE H&MM January 7, 2008 | HotelMotel.com www.HotelMotel.com/digital_edition Consumer trends Continued from page 56 to new lengths in designing bathrooms. Many times people spend more time in the bathrooms than they do in their beds. They’re out at the resort most of the time. Anita Degen: Research has shown that men will complain, but women won’t come back. That’s why designing for women is a pretty good move. Amanda Schafer: I think so. Our firm is focusing not only on guestrooms, but on public areas as well, by putting a lot more special effects into things. For example, the Grand Hyatt Macau is still in design concept phase, but it has a stairwell coming down into the public area that has [light-emitting diode] projection to make it look like a waterfall, without actually using water. It’s this technology of making it look like a waterfall that will make it unique. It’s the new thing and it’s user friendly. Anita Degen: Technology is best behind the scenes as opposed to guest-interactive. Q Hotel Design: How do you do that in a guestroom? Q Hotel Design: 2007 turned out to be the year of the bathroom and 2008 is shaping up to be the year of technology, with guestroom entertainment being the focal point of the designer. Amanda, is 2008 going to be the year of technology? Anita Degen: You have to use the “keep it simple” philosophy. Travelers are weary and tired. They don’t want instructions on how to work the room. Simple things like putting your room key in to turn on or off all the lights—now that’s a great piece of technology that is easy for a guest to understand. Everyone expects to be able to plug in his or her iPod and use it. Amenities like that that are easy to understand are the best kinds of technology to incorporate into a room. Technology that can be used behind the scenes in hotel operations that makes life better for the guest is where we are currently. A guest wants a good bed to sleep in and technology that’s easy to work. Consumer confidence is on the rise, said Jane Humzy, of Jane Hamley Wells. Designers must differentiate to meet guest expectations, she said. Brooke Pearsall: They want technology that’s beneficial to them. The drapery opening back and forth is cool, and in more luxury hotels I see that being a requirement. But in other branded hotels, it’s really about ease and whatever makes their experience enjoyable. Anita Degen: I know of a fivestar hotel that just opened in Seattle and its edge was to be state of the art in technology and incorporate as much technology into the guestrooms as possible. I talked to the g.m. after they opened and asked how it was working. He said the guests are not using 80 percent of the technology. They basically check in, go to sleep, plug in their laptops and leave. Deborah Lloyd Forrest: Maybe in a resort where the stay is longer, they’re going to get to know and spend more time in their room. Then it makes sense. When we have people in hotels for a one-night stay, then it’s not so critical. Robert Polacek: Also, going back to the guestrooms, it’s high-tech versus high-touch. We sometimes want to escape staring at a computer. There are days where I don’t talk to anyone all day except through e-mails, voicemails or text messaging. When you get to the hotel, you almost want to let that go, but you want to be able to operate everything you need with ease. Q Hotel Design: That also affects everyone here in the design process. When you’re designing with technological advances in mind, what goes through your mind that you have to take into account that 10 years ago wasn’t even considered? Deborah Lloyd Forrest: One of the most important considerations is knowing that three years from now, whatever you’re putting in now is going to be obsolete. Designing flexibility into the environment so that you can upgrade technology is vital. Wireless is the boon to all that. I’m waiting for wireless electric systems. We do have to spend a lot of time researching and understanding and trying to take the Jack Pack and incorporate that into a piece of furniture. It has to be built into who knows where and we know that particular piece of equipment that we built into that furniture will be obsolete. Amanda Schafer: That’s huge. Technology is moving so fast that when you’re in hotel design, you specify [products], and because we work with so many standards, we’re always hearing, “Here’s our new TV. Oh, and here’s our latest TV,” just months later. You have to keep redesigning until the last second. LOOKING FOR THE ULTIMATE IN FRANCHISE VALUE AND SUPPORT? 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