NATIONAL REPORT—Through new lighting technology and innovations, the lodging industry will find new ways to improve and personalize the guest experience in 2016, according to leading lighting designers.
“The bar for lighting in the hotel industry has been raised so that each experience in the hotel must be better than ever before,” said Paul Gregory, founder and president of Focus Lighting, an architectural lighting design firm. “From the view from the street, to the front desk where the receptionist’s face looks warm and inviting to the hotel guestroom, the experience needs to be heightened significantly to remain competitive.”
Today’s discerning travelers expect more than just a fluorescent light over the bathroom sink or a bedside lamp in the guestroom, Gregory noted. “People want to be able to lay their clothes on the bed and differentiate the dark blue suit from the black one, and not just when the blinds are open and the room is flooded with sunlight,” he said.
Through innovative lighting design, the hospitality industry is striving to create a comfortable and residential ambiance in public and private spaces, observed Renée Joosten, lighting design director of ICRAVE, a design and branding studio. “Decorative light fixtures play into this as individual, unique objects, each with their own character,” she added.
Providing guests with even more opportunities to create their own individual experiences has become a defining characteristic of light-emitting diode (LED) technology. Lighting design experts agreed that high-quality, tunable white LEDs offer the same warm-glow dimming capabilities as an incandescent lamp.
“Warm-glow dimming LEDs mimic incandescent light, gaining more amber tones as they dim down,” said Joosten. “Personalized LED technology and one-of-a-kind lighting fixtures align with the overarching hotel industry trend to create more intimate, residential environments.”
The development of warm-glow dimming LEDs and tunable white LEDs serve as versatile sources for the hotel industry. “Tunable white LEDs, initially developed for healthcare applications, can reduce travel jetlag when tuned with guests’ natural circadian rhythms,” said Joosten. “The tunable white light allows the color temperature and intensity to be traveler-tailored, creating an environment that encourages wakefulness during the day and promotes sleep at night.”
Hoteliers should choose dimmable LEDs with warmer color temperatures and high color-rendering index (CRI) values to save on costs while creating inviting environments, Joosten suggested. Most LEDs are available in warmer color temperatures such as 2700K (Kelvin), she added.
Recent technological advancements to LEDs have led to increased supply and demand. “Five to six years ago, 10% of our offerings was LED; now, it’s 99%,” said Robert Sonneman, founder of Sonneman – A Way of Light, a contemporary lighting producer. “Often, hotels specify energy savings through fluorescent lighting, but it’s not as efficient as LEDs. Technology has opened the possibilities to how we use LEDs. It is only going to become more significant and successful.”
More and more hotels are slowly converting to LEDs since fluorescent lighting has an initial high investment cost, noted Beatrice Witzgall, founder and CEO of LumiFi. “The typical lifetime of any LED is between 25,000 to 50,000 hours, which greatly outlasts fluorescent lighting systems that typically end up being six times more expensive over the same time period,” she said. “By replacing old light bulbs and systems with modern and more-efficient LED technology, hotels can save significant amounts on their energy bill and may become eligible for tax and energy rebates.”
However, the color temperature of some LEDs is not as attractive compared to incandescent lighting in hospitality settings, Witzgall noted. “Halogens have natural color-changing dimming behavior as they turn warm amber when dimmed,” she said. “New LEDs also allow for this dynamic shift and can mimic this behavior, but lighting controls are needed and are traditionally an expensive proposition.”
Lighting control systems have become a popular guestroom experience for the upscale segment, but there has been a recent shift. “With new technology, such as wireless systems, the price point is now lower and the controls are more affordable, flexible and can be deployed in mid-range, lifestyle brands,” said Witzgall.
With the emergence of wireless lighting controls, Millennial travelers expect to control guestroom lighting with their smartphones, noted Witzgall. Additionally, pre-curated lighting scenes that can be changed based on guest preferences through lighting control systems are trending. These systems can also schedule alarms and sleep timers, and give guests the ability to turn on lights prior to entering a dark or unfamiliar room.
New control systems on the market are focusing on WiFi and LED controls, bringing the install cost down while offering intuitive, flexible and easily adjustable lighting controls for guests, according to Joosten. “In addition, technology is evolving to allow LEDs to dim down at a constant rate without flickering,” she said. “All of these advances significantly enhance the guest experience.”
LED and lighting control technology have allowed lighting designers to reimagine the form factors, scale and application of luminaires. “Lighting is at its infancy in terms of its next wave of evolution,” said Sonneman. “Integration is the key to the evolution of lighting science. No longer generated by burning fuel or filaments, lighting is provided by exciting electronic signals to produce luminous energy.” HB