Boutique Design - January/February 2019 - 34

THE BRANDS

Renaissance Hotels; Westin Hotels & Resorts

THE PROFILE

Distinctive; Premium

THE SCOPE Renaissance Hotels: 175 hotels with 55,099
rooms open; 31 signed hotels with 8,321 in the pipeline; Westin
Hotels & Resorts: 223 hotels with 82,153 rooms open; 50
signed hotels with 13,578 rooms in the pipeline
THE MEGATREND

Planning for the Future: Wellness and

RENAISSANCE DOWNTOWN HOTEL, DUBAI, DESIGNED BY WA INTERNATIONAL

Digital Infusion

boutiquedesign.com JANUARY + FEBRUARY 2019

THE WESTIN BUFFALO, NEW YORK, DESIGNED BY CT+C DESIGN STUDIO

introduce more natural light, but also to develop lighting programs
that subtly support an optimal sleeping/waking cycle.
For Westin's sister brand, Renaissance, what Kepron calls a
"digital infusion" serves as one of the flag's today-to-tomorrow hallmarks. "People seek out novelty. No one remembers boring," says
Kepron. "If design can get a guest to look and look again-to pause-
that sets a deeper memory in the brain."
Interiors that make a local statement with a theatrical spirit provide
the real-world backdrop for high-tech experimentation that engages
customers and stimulates interaction. In the Renaissance New York
Midtown Hotel, scissors, thread and even the warp-and-weft seating for
the rooftop bar tells guests of this Fashion District property where they
are. But tech takes over with elements such an interactive, wall-sized
map of the area and graphic walls that change each time the traveler
steps off the elevator or walks down a corridor to open the door to
where that person could be and how he or she wants to experience that.
Tech has another huge upside for hoteliers, designers and guests. "We
need to create spaces that are perpetually relevant. Digital elements can
do that," says Kepron. It also enables hotel flags to keep evolving without
losing their core identity. "Brands flow through life in dynamic ways," says
Povinelli. "There can't be anarchy with everything changing all the time.
We have to be consistent in terms of the brand experience; it's how that's
executed in design that will change. Still, hotel guests and operators can't
be stuck with a concept that won't change for 10 years."

BRIAN POVINELLI

DAVID KEPRON

H A K A N A K D E M I R W I T H G O L G E S T U DYO ( R E N A I S S A N C E D U B A I ) ; B R A N D O N B A R R É ( W E S T I N ) ;
C O U R T E S Y O F M A R R I O T T I N T E R N AT I O N A L ( K E P R O N ; P O V I N E L L I )

There's a new word at the
top of the vision board: Ownable. "The flow of brand experience
creation is increasingly from the customer/guest to the brand,
not the other way around," says David Kepron, vice president,
Global Design Strategies, Distinctive Premium Brands. "I think
guests will want to be more involved in how that unfolds-and
they should be. The more they shape their engagement, the more
relevant it will be to them. But that forces brands to be really
clear and increasingly differentiated with experiences that are at
a very base level, iconic and ownable. At the same time, it shifts
the emphasis for design from how something looks to how a
thing is done or used. It's about the process, not just the pretty."
Hospitality interiors not only have to be flexible enough to
anticipate how this new guest/collaborator chooses to
engage with the hotel's spaces now; they also have to be
inventive enough to showcase a vision that customers will
want to explore in the future-and share with their social
media circles. So, designing for the Westin flag starts with the
premise that guests want to feel better as a result of their stay.
Operations and marketing can lay the foundation for that
with the brand's Eat Well menu, TRX functional training
equipment, Peloton bikes and even a program that offers
workout wear in case the guest forgot to pack it. Design
moves that into territory most guests haven't even visited.
"When we were developing the new Westin guestroom
design strategy, we asked ourselves how to take wellness into
that space. Sustainability isn't enough; it's a given. So, we tried
something no other big brand has done by tying in biophilia,"
says Brian Povinelli, senior vice president, Global Brand
Leader, for Le Méridien, Renaissance, Westin as well as Autograph Collection Hotels, Tribute Portfolio and Design Hotels.
For the "now," a decluttered aesthetic, clear floor space to
do streaming in-room workouts and a menu of "Eat Well" fare
give health-minded guests control over their daily routines.
As a next step, Kepron, Povinelli and their teams are taking a
deep dive into the effect of light on the brain and how that
affects circadian rhythms. "Modulating light is a key driver to
whether people sleep well," Povinelli adds. "We changed the
game with the Westin Heavenly Bed® and delivering the
promise of a better night's sleep, but that's not going to solve
the problem if guests' brains are telling them to stay up."
Designers and architects will be tasked with finding ways to
HOW THAT'S CHANGING DESIGN

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