Hotel & Motel Management - September 15, 2008 - (Page 52)

52 Design CASEGOODS H&MM September 15, 2008 | HotelMotel.com www.HotelMotel.com/digital_edition BY EMILY HANNA, ASSOCIATE EDITOR on the For many people on the road, a hotel serves as a home away from home, but for some, it also poses as an ofﬁce away from the ofﬁce. So to give guests the luxuries of both in one room, designers must merge a clean ofﬁce setup with the comfort of home. Hyatt Place found that its guests have become more attuned to style because of the prevalence of design TV shows and popular retail stores, so the plan for Hyatt Place followed this model, giving guests an oversized desk and ergonomic chair, said Alison Kal, VP of marketing for Hyatt Place. “We even made sure the desk had rollers so it could be easily moved to any area of the room. In addition to the traditional workspace, our Cozy Corner—and 8-foot sectional sofa sleeper— offers another work option for guests,” she said. At Sheraton, D.B. Kim, the brand’s VP of design, stressed a sense of comfort and familiarity that exists in the room—with one notable difference: “In a way, it’s almost like it’s better than home because at home you’re conﬁned to the space that you’re used STARWOOD HOTELS & RESORTS WORLDWIDE home road to, but this is really focused on efﬁciency and not having cluttered space. Predominantly, at home, you may have clutter.” To avoid clutter, the casegoods are designed in a “collected” style, in which furniture pieces overlap, such as the desk nestled underneath the console, Kim explained. Additionally, the design offers an extra ledge where hotel information that usually is set up on the desk, like menus, directories and tabletop ﬂiers, can be displayed to leave a clear space for working. Plus, the desk offers clear organization space that guests can use and easily see what’s stored away. Microtel Inns & Suites’ desk also offers an open “cubby” area to organize—and hide—items like remote controls and television guides, said Bijal Patel, director of interior design for Microtel and Hawthorn Suites. For Microtel, giving all guests the comfort of home and the ofﬁce was important, so they worked to accommodate different situations. With its 96-inch desk, a Microtel room allows for two people to work—or play—comfortably. “If two people, maybe work partners, are sharing a room, they could both work at the desk,” Patel said. “Or, if one person wanted to dine and watch TV and the other person to work on the laptop, they could. It allows for more teaming.” Work from a face LIFTS Hilton Québec renovated 80 of its 571 guestrooms and opened a redesigned executive lounge on the 23rd ﬂoor. The hotel’s $12-million makeover also will cover the lobby, all four meeting rooms and the rest of the guestrooms. The renovation is scheduled for completion by the end of 2009. On the Ave-NYC Hotel added a new full-service restaurant, The West Branch. The hotel also now features in-room dining from the restaurant, enhanced minibars, a new 24-hour ﬁtness center and two stateof-the-art meeting rooms. The Marriott Wardman Park in Washington, D.C., completed a $100-million capital investment by its owners. The 1,316-room property features a fresh new look and feel to the guestrooms, meeting space, lobby, restaurant and bar. The hotel is owned by The JBG Cos. and managed by Marriott International. The Roosevelt Hotel in New York opened a rooftop lounge, mad46. STARWOOD HOTELS & RESORTS WORLDWIDE To avoid clutter, the new design for Sheraton includes a desk nestled underneath a console. Clear storage space allows guests to easily see items they’ve tucked away. Quotable Ergonomically correct Many designers are stressing the importance of having an ergonomic setup of furniture in the rooms, especially in the workspace. D.B. Kim, VP of design for Sheraton, noted that the desk chair in Sheraton “conforms to your back and it breathes. The cushion is very comfortable … and it provides accessibility for the [electric and data] connections.” But what does ergonomic mean? According to Merriam-Webster OnLine, ergonomics is deﬁned as, “an applied science concerned with designing and arranging things people use so that the people and things interact most efﬁciently and safely.” The Chicago Marriott Downtown Magniﬁcent Mile completed a $36-million propertywide renovation that included a new lobby with front-desk pods and self-check-in kiosks, a new restaurant and faster elevators. All meeting space and ballrooms were redesigned, adding 10,000 square feet of meeting space and a 4,000-square-foot ballroom. KSL Resorts invested nearly $4 million in creating Splash Landing at La Costa Resort and Spa in Carlsbad, Calif., along with the creation of the Vibz teen center and Kidtopia children’s center. Compiled by Emily Hanna, ehanna@questex.com “ The way we went about this desk is that we received feedback from our customers saying they want a bigger workspace. I’ve never heard someone say they want a smaller workspace. So we created a streamlined style concept—it’s 8-feet long and it has double-curved edges.” BIJAL PATEL, director of interior design for Microtel Inns & Suites and Hawthorn Suites http://HotelMotel.com http://www.HotelMotel.com/digital_edition

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Hotel & Motel Management - September 15, 2008 Contents Microtel, Hawthorn Settle in at Wyndham Is it Black or Red for Green Hotels? New City on the Strip When in Doubt, Purchase some Seashells Legal FAQ Consultant's Corner Sales Clinic On Finance Travel Trends Franchise Law Guest Column Events Cornell Insights HotelWorld Update Trends & Stats Top Hotel Companies Survey Awards Lending Requires Knowledge, Preparation Casegoods Minibars Historian to Keynote Leadership Forum at IH/M&RS Fitness Equipment The Lodging Conference Preview Accent Lighting Awards Vacuums Supplier News Transactions People Ad/Editorial Index Marketplace Classifieds Checking Out

Hotel & Motel Management - September 15, 2008

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