DETROIT—“We can take the worst of the worst and turn it into something amazing, and that’s really the heart of our design expertise,” said Bob Kraemer, co-founder, Kraemer Design Group (KDG). Founded 20 years ago, the architecture, interior design and procurement company has expertise in handling projects from beginning-to-end through construction for hotels and hospitality projects, as well as a combination of retail, commercial, residential and historic projects.
“In addition to working with hotel franchisees across the country, we also have experience working with the brands themselves—IHG, Hilton, Marriott and Starwood,” said Kraemer. “This includes corporately owned properties, prototypes and even food and beverage concepts, like the Burger|Bar dining concept IHG launched at the Holiday Inn Atlanta Airport South. We also have experience working with independent and boutique hotels.”
Problem solving is what drives the firm’s design philosophy and creation process. Clients seek out the firm because they don’t have a standard building, they have a problem project that needs solving, noted Kraemer.
“We take pride in our ability to utilize our expertise in unique projects, including problematic buildings and complex ground-up projects. An example of this is when we worked on a hotel that had been rated the worst in the city. The brand was trying to distance itself from the property, and it was in terrible shape. We took over for a new owner, which at the time was a financial institution, and we were hired to reinvent the space into this phenomenal property,” he said. “Another example of a project we’ve done is a Holiday Inn in San Antonio along the Riverwalk. This was a dated architectural facility, both in style and function. We updated the food and beverage concepts and reinvented a tower to create guestrooms that were more modern to fit the needs of today’s travelers. This was a transformational project, and that’s why we were hired. We routinely work for financial institutions because they trust us in our ability to handle their assets for them and they know we can tackle these interesting and challenging projects.”
Having established standard lobby and restaurant design prototypes for large hotel flags, it’s clear that Kraemer Design Group understands the importance of a first impression. In a conversation with Hotel Business, Kraemer shares his tricks of the trade.
Enlist the experts
For hoteliers charting a new set of brand standards, Kraemer recommends working with a trusted partner to ensure the most bang for the buck and plotting out creative solutions from the start.
“Our value is looking at the standards, looking at the requirements, and determining the best process flow that’s most economical from a time and budget perspective. Brand standards are the first thing we look at, as well as any recent updates. Then we identify how the proposed updates fit in with anything that’s already been done,” he said. “If you’re renovating or redoing corridors and guestrooms, you’ll want to make sure the order of everything flows and that the construction process won’t damage work you’ve just completed or spent money on. We try to make sense of the project timeline and goals from an architectural and construction process that is going to meet the timeline and budget of the process, and we have a lot of expertise in that area.”
Spend wisely
What is the secret to meeting budgets? It’s all about planning. Renovations can often have difficult and unforeseen problems that pop up throughout but, according to Kraemer, proper planning and due diligence can resolve problems quickly and under budget.
“The upfront costs spent on planning architectural and interior design services will result in savings and adhering to budgets. We have no problems meeting budgets set forth by clients. One of our philosophies is that paint is cheap. If we spend money on the right things from the start, we can maximize a budget and still meet the goals the client has for your project,” he said. “Hiring an architecture and design firm early means you have someone on your team who can help you plan ahead, which is going to be critical to meeting objectives. That’s especially true with complex renovations. The project team has to be smarter with the money we spend. We pride ourselves with meeting budgets.”
Max out space
Another way to save money is to maximize space and make good use of it. According to Kraemer, it’s more valuable to create spaces that can be used 24 hours a day. When creating a space, make sure it’s used for the maximum amount of time possible.
“Any space created needs to have multiple uses. You don’t want to create a space that can only be used one hour each day, or for only a couple hours here and there,” he said. “Instead of creating a room that is only for eating lunch, develop the space into a multipurpose room that could be used for meals but can also be used for meetings or any other use the client might have. This means you’re getting a bigger return on your investment.”