The Gettys Group, an award-winning international hospitality consultancy headquartered in Chicago, explores some of the international hospitality trends making an impact in the industry. From luxurious guestrooms to tech-savvy properties, today’s hotels have applied an understanding of guest expectations to create new solutions. Here are five innovative tips:
1. Luxury Plus
Luxury hotels are becoming a dime a dozen, and today’s traveler expects more than great design, high thread count and exceptional service. Hotels are now required to go the extra mile, giving their guests a culturally relevant experience. The hotels that will stand out tomorrow will help their guests create and curate their experiences. For example, the St. Regis Aficionado Program offers local immersive excursions with a focus in Food & Wine, Fashion & Design, Art & Literature, Speed & Sport, Society & Philanthropy, Spa & Relaxation.
2. Hyperlocal
Celebrate and incorporate everything about what is around you and give your guests a compelling sense of place. Use local influences and materials, and highlight local art and artists in your design. Indiewalls curates hotel art collections by sourcing artwork from local independent artists, instead of stock imagery. This means that the hotel’s artwork—both in public spaces and guestrooms—is unique, interesting and locally relevant. The program allows guests the opportunity to buy local art and interact with artists.
3. Creative Partnerships
From the mini bar to pop-up shops, hotels are collaborating with like-minded brands to enhance the guest experience. Claridge’s in London recently partnered with Diane von Furstenberg on interior design, while Gramercy Park Hotel worked with Lorenzo Martone to create “the Christian Louboutin” of bicycles for guests. And Nike Golf recently partnered with Inversiones en Resorts Mediterraneos, the largest group of Jack Nicklaus-designed golf courses in Europe to stock exclusive gear at the Pro Shop.
4. Smarter Smart Phones
Technology continues to shape the hospitality industry. Features like voice recognition, gesture interface, keyless entry, and mobile payment are on the horizon, allowing guests to completely bypass the front desk altogether. Loews Hotels is currently piloting a test program that allows guests to make requests via text messages, while Hyatt’s Andaz brand offers “floating check-in” with iPads, and Starwood plans to roll out “smartphone as room key” technology to all W Hotels and Aloft hotels by the end of next year.
5. Rise of the Chinese Traveler
Asian-branded hotels are rising in Western Europe with the recent openings of the Mandarin Oriental Paris, Shangri-La Paris and The Peninsula Paris (slated for August 2014). Attention to detail is a must, such as avoiding the use of the number 4 and decorating with white flowers. Staff are required to speak Mandarin and Cantonese, and F&B is centered around Chinese preferences. As this segment continues to grow, brands must pay attention to Chinese preferences for travel—especially in design.
Gettys’ Brand Design:
Gettys Brand Design considers the entire journey – approaching each project as an exploration into the needs, beliefs and desires of clients and guests. Their research-based methodology combines crucial insights, compelling content and impactful design in order to tell brand stories with integrity, power and vision.
The Gettys Group is an award-winning international hospitality consultancy headquartered in Chicago. For more than 25 years across the globe, Gettys has specialized in creating value through interior design, procurement, branding, and development services from project conception to completion.
For more information and a sampling of Gettys’ extensive portfolio, please visit www.gettys.com.