BONITA SPRINGS, FL— In terms of bathroom design, exceeding standards shapes up as standard operating procedure at the Hyatt Regency Coconut Point here. Prior to the 454-unit deluxe property’s opening roughly a year-and-a-half ago at this resort destination on Florida’s Gulf Coast, Atlanta-based CMMI was retained to design two levels of bathroom— one at the Hyatt standard, the other at a higher standard. But in each case, the objective was the same: to blend a sense of tradition and local flavor with the brand’s upscale and out-of-the-ordinary ambiance and amenities. “Our mission was to incorporate ‘plantation’ styling and a palette of soft earth tones into the property’s bathrooms; those in the hotel’s standard rooms evoking a simpler, somewhat rustic feel, while those facilities in the resort’s deluxe suites are designed on a decidedly grander scale,” said Jim Culpepper, CMMI’s design team principal and overseer of this Hyatt Regency project. To this end, the property’s typical bathroom features a double-bowl vanity, a four-fixture bath, a tub with a built-in ledge, and a compartmentalized toilet area. In addition, the area includes floor tiles with good slip-resistance, a decorative shower drape, Hyatt-standard amenities, and the omnipresent bathrobe— all in a space sized to comfortably accommodate a family and set behind a raised, two-panel door. And while Culpepper contended this configuration has elicited “great feedback from guests and hotel management alike [particularly because of its easy maintenance and cost benefits],” it is the deluxe suite bath areas that really come across as eye-opening, especially so because they are styled around the concept of an executive apartment. Separated into three distinct compartments, these considerably larger suite facilities comprise a separate dressing area, a tub area (with a free-standing tub), and a vanity area that includes the toilet and shower, and opens out onto a private balcony. Also on tap is a television housed within built-in cabinetry, and other space has been set aside to position a private treadmill in the bathroom. As for the amenities on-hand within these upscale bathroom facilities, in addition to extra thick and plush robes and towels, the products themselves are luxurious, aroma-therapy-types, evocative of the level that are par for the course in the resort’s 19,000-square-foot on-site spa— one of Hyatt’s string of Stillwater Spas. In particular, the dual spa-and-suite amenities are Verbina- as well as Stillwater-branded products. In addition to the bonus cabinet and storage space within the Hyatt Regency Coconut Point’s suite bathrooms, other style and fashion touches include dimmable mood lighting, upgraded floor and wall finishes, and a bevy of shutters (rather than drapes) covering a wealth of windows throughout the space. “Coming up with the right design for these bathrooms obviously offered a challenge,” Culpepper said. “However, once we got past the planning stage, the actual construction of the facilities presented very little problem at all.” Of course, if crafting in “the Hyatt touch” came easy to Culpepper and his team at CMMI, it just might be because he and his organization have been in the hotel-design field for some 15 years now. Moreover, it does not hurt that his company’s experience includes design work for such upscale properties as The Park Hyatt in Chicago, ostensibly the brand’s flagship facility and very much a showplace in its own right.
