Woodhead was a platinum sponsor at HICAP Update 2011, a Hotel Investment Conference focusing on Asia Pacific, held at Pan Pacific Hotel in Singapore.
Geoffrey Lee, Woodhead Principal and Hospitality Portfolio Leader, was a panellist for the Design & Technology session, discussing “Planning Your Hotel for the Future, Today!”
As both an Architect and a frequent business traveller, Geoffrey was able to provide unique insights on the critical design touchpoints that hotels need to do well to create memorable guest experiences. Many of those touchpoints involve practical design details and the integration of technology within guest rooms, and unfortunately many hotels still get it wrong. When asked what new technologies we are seeing come on-stream, Geoffrey emphasized how often it was about the coordination and integration of technology that is important. He cited the example of Park Regis Hotel, for which Woodhead designed the interiors – as a project where there were at least 7 different technology providers within guest rooms that were 18 sqm and required careful coordination. Aside from its thoughtful open-concept design without walls separating the bathrooms, it is technology and its seamless and invisible infrastructure, yet simplicity and ease of use that enhances the comfort and amenity of the otherwise compact guest rooms.
The facilitated discussion also included what hotel room elements we should see more of but don’t, such as USB outlets for powering and operating guests’ own mobile devices. Geoffrey remarked that when we stay at a hotel, we want the experience to be even better than what we have at home. Recently during a holiday in Hawaii where he stayed in 4 hotels within a 2-week period, he was unable to find one where he could easily dock and plug in his iPod, something we do easily at home but unfortunately not in a hotel room setting. Beyond the guest room, there are many opportunities to harness technology when designing hotels, such as incorporating utility management systems back of house to ensure operational efficiency. Geoffrey acknowledged the challenge of incorporating the differing views between the owner and operator, as well as the reality of budgets that often steer decision making amongst design schemes.
Challenges of putting in the right technology, the right way into hotel design:
- Reality of budgets
- Speed of change in technology
- Differing interests of owner and operator when defining design schemes
- The coordination of technology – should be seamless and have a largely invisible infrastructure to the user, have simple and easy to locate user controls, and be intuitive to use
Business traveller pet peeves and opportunities for hotels to consider:
- Make it easy for guests to charge their phones – easily identifiable socket location, practical and functional position with sufficient clearance around socket points to allow adapters to physically plug in.
- Hotels to provide infrastructure to integrate guests’ own mobile devices in the hotel room, such as iPod docks; wall sockets with USB outlets for charging / powering mobile devices directly
- Enable ease of use of mobile devices to enhance the guest’s experience during their stay in the hotel and the city, especially in foreign language environments. For example, setting up seamless airport and taxi transfers at pre-set times, with local destination names and maps that can be relayed to taxi drivers.
- Controls to the room and motorised systems – aircon, lights, TV etc should be simple and easy to operate and should be lit up at night so as to be easy to locate
- Using technology to recall the guest’s control preferences for TV station, light and curtain settings when entering the hotel room
- Ability to pre check-in whilst the guest is on the go, using technology to retain guest personal and credit card information, so as to eliminate potentially long wait at check-in only to fill in information previously already provided when booking.
- Make internet access in rooms a standard feature.
Geoffrey Lee is an expert in hotel design & development and Woodhead’s Group Hospitality Leader. As such, Geoffrey oversees a growing portfolio of Woodhead hotel design projects internationally.
For more information on Woodhead’s hospitality experience please contact hospitality@woodhead.com.au
