IIDA Perspective - Summer 2019 - 40

The Hobo Hotel in
Stockholm-which
includes space for
coworking-markets
itself as a meeting
point, a workplace,
and an office.

perspective

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The Bleisure Hotel
When the boutique Hobo Hotel opened in Stockholm, it
took a distinct approach to marketing. Instead of putting
room amenities front-and-center, the hotel declared itself
to be "a meeting point, a workplace, an office, or just a nice
place to visit and hang out."
It's a statement on the changing times of work.
According to research from LogMeIn and GoToMeeting,
60 percent of respondents agree they're more likely to
accept a position that allows a remote work option. At
the same time, nearly half of workers ages 18 to 21 are
freelancers, a number that is only projected to grow in the
next five years, according to a 2018 report from Upwork.
Instead of being tied to a desk in a traditional office, these
employees are working on the road, from their home, from
coffee shops, and from the ever-increasing number of
coworking spaces opening up around the world.
To appeal to that traffic, hotels are making the
workplace a central feature of their strategy. In some
hotels, this new workspace is manifesting into refocused
lobbies, which have traditionally been designed as passthrough areas. New York's Ace Hotel, for example, has
long been a trendy place for mobile workers to set up shop
for the day or night. The space offers free Wi-Fi, long
communal tables, comfy couches, plenty of outlets, and a

Photos by: (previous spread) 21c. (left) Nordic Hotels & Resorts. (right top) courtesy Ace Hotel; courtesy NEST

When the Henn na Hotel opened just a few years ago it
quickly garnered a slew of press thanks to the more than 240
robots on hand. The automated staff did everything from
checking in guests to mixing cocktails to entertainment. The
goal of hiring robots over humans was to help the Sasebo,
Japan-based hotel overcome a local talent shortage while
creating a unique experience to draw in guests.
For a while, it worked. But soon the robots started
breaking down and they weren't always getting fixed.
Others-such as the in-room voice-activated assistant-
started to malfunction, negatively impacting the guest's
stay. Eventually, the hotel had to start bringing on more
human staff.
It's an important lesson: No matter how unique the
concept, if it hurts the experience, the hotel will struggle or
perhaps even fail.
"The biggest challenge for hotels is providing an
experience for everyone, everywhere, all the time," says
Gail McCleese, firmwide hospitality leader, design
director, and senior associate at Gensler in Houston.
To hit the mark-and capitalize on other movements-
many hotels are taking on a hybrid approach. They're
integrating everything from coworking spaces to major
retail moments to differentiate their brand and build a loyal
customer base.

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IIDA Perspective - Summer 2019

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