Many stakeholders have ideas and opinions when it comes to hotel design, from owners to operators and designers themselves. Conflict can arise when the groups can't align on preferences, brand standards or current travel trends.
London-based hotel designers Sharon Grob and David Harte from Studio Moren joined The Upgrade: EMEA Hospitality News podcast to talk about creating new and fresh hotel design amid all the stakeholder opinions. Grob, a partner at the firm, and Harte, co-head of interiors, shared examples of recent hotel design projects and talked about how they interpret today's travel behaviors and trends to create stylish senses of place.
Bringing the local community and its uniqueness into the hotel remain paramount, both said.
Design is “no longer just the classic interpretation of luxury, that is, formal service, large guestrooms, extensive public spaces with a broad range of facilities. We’re not saying properties like this are not performing or will not continue to be built, but there’s a new, additional type of lifestyle product that sits within the realms of luxury,” Harte said.
Grob added that from an investment perspective, luxury is taking the lion’s-share of attention, but even within that echelon, design evolution is clearly happening.
Studio Moren recently was the architect of the 1 Hotel Mayfair in London, which opened in 2023 after a full renovation. Grob said for that project, the team "worked on bringing luxury in a more accessible manner to a new demographic."
That idea of approachable luxury is trending across all elements of hotel design and operations. She cited hotels like Hyde London City as examples of hotels that "do not feel like traditional luxury but very definitely targeting what millennials and younger generations want more of from design, detail and experience.”
“Younger generations don’t want to feel intimidated or daunted as they cross the threshold,” she said.
For more from Hotel News Now’s interview with Sharon Grob and David Harte of Studio Moren, listen to the podcast above.