17 minute read
INTERIORS
DESIGNING SUCCESS
With the identity of a venue being a huge contributing factor to enticing new clientele, we look at how you can build a brand through your hotel’s interior design.
Creating a memorable guest experience isn’t always the easiest of tasks, but a relatively simple way to do so is by plunging them in to a journey during their stay. The overall interior design of a hotel can speak volumes to a consumer, allowing them to understand your brand’s ethos through your choice of colour, art, furniture and any added personal touches.
The Grand Hotel Villa Serbelloni in Lake Como is famous for its interior design and the history behind it. The venue still preserves furniture used by Churchill and Roosevelt during their stay, a piano played by Franz Liszt, paintings from the Second World War era; the decoration of every space defines its identity and tell stories from the decades gone by.
Associating a hotel group with a brand colour often works well. We asked the Grand Hotel Villa Serbelloni’s General Manager Jan Bucher if they think establishing a specific colour can help a hotel stand out from the crowd, making it easily identifiable.
Jan commented: “It works for both groups and independent hotels. The brand image needs to be identified and defined in order to be remembered, and it can be done with a brand colour, fonts, payoffs; but when talking about interiors, it’s more relevant for groups and chains in order to recognize all their buildings and venues, and less for independents, who can be a little more original and free.”
Sharing the ethos of a venue or brand can be successfully
Pg 32: Gatsby Athens Hotel Pg 33: Gatsby Athens Hotel
achieved through interior design and at Grand Hotel Villa Serbelloni, they do it mainly through art as a representation of the past. The hotel opened almost 150 years ago, and details such as the magnificent opulence of their curtains represent their past royal guests and the preservation of antique furniture involving local artisans pays homage to history.
A hotel’s interior can be designed with the target audience in mind in order to appeal to the consumers you specifically want to bring in. Jan explained that data massively helps with this: “When redesigning a space, we consult the notes about the favourite spaces of our guests, so we know in what direction we should move. We also know that new and modern buildings opt for market research and competitor analysis, but we prefer the voice of those who already lived and enjoyed this place.”
At Amada Colossos Resort, they have produced a brand strategy as well as a dedicated brand book, including a specific colour palette, for all the touchpoints with two main brand colours. Owner of Amada Colossos Resort in Rhodes, Mr. Soulounias, believes that identifying specific brand colours helps you apply a robust and seamless identity in all your touchpoints from the hotel’s interiors, to your website and social media content: “It will be easier for your audiences to connect with specific imagery while all your decisions regarding new applications and designs will be simpler and less time-consuming at the same time.”
Amada Colossos’ extensive redevelopment was completed in 2018, following guidelines and provisions of outstanding quality in terms of hygiene and sustainability. The team’s vision was to create a resort that would offer a spectrum of locally-inspired and meticulously selected
Pg 34: Leonardslee House Pg 35: Leonardslee House
details, a modern philosophy of luxurious seafront holidays, an irresistible combination of 5-star service and authentic Greek hospitality.
Founder and Creator of Villa Lena, Lena Evstafieva, notices that a strong identity will always make hotels stand out. Therefore, it is important to follow a style and to be easily identifiable, whether through colours or design.
At Villa Lena, the intention was always to magnify the existing location. Lena said: “We wanted to integrate as much nature as possible and respect the beautiful old buildings we have here. We always want to go back to the Tuscan design tradition, but make it contemporary. We use natural materials and colours of the area, like marble, but use it in a very innovative, contemporary design. For example, our Fattoria bathrooms look both grandiose and fresh.
“When we designed Villa Lena, we didn’t have a target audience in mind, but we thought of creating different Tuscan styles. Fattoria’s room designs are more about Italian luxury minimalism, inspired by Italian designers like Carlo Scarpa. San Michele is inspired by the traditional Tuscan Villa, and the traditional crafts of the area.” Lena added.
Alex Michaelis is the Co-Founder of Michaelis Boyd, an innovative design team who are responsible for the interiors at the Gatsby Athens Hote,l and he explained how an interior designer gets into the detail of every space: “We can bring an element of attention to detail that can sometimes be missed by architecture alone.
“At Michaelis Boyd, we don’t shy away from the bold, the peculiar, the unseen, and we don’t hesitate in challenging the norm or gently pushing clients to explore themselves. In this case, we were a great fit for the Gatsby Athens’ hedonistic and whimsical spirit. Interior designers are problem solvers, so by enlisting our expertise, clients can rest assured that the best solutions will be explored and that the utmost level of attention to detail will be provided, from the initial design through to delivery.”
Interior design is about expressing personality, be that of an individual or a brand. It can draw on multiple influences and bring together different elements into a cohesive expression. Although the Gatsby hotel’s name references the optimism of the Jazz Age and the interior draws on Art Deco influences, Michaelis Boyd did not design it as a
period piece.
There are many different ways to approach design. James Thurstan Waterworth, Interior Designer of The Bradley Hare, believes that one of the first things to think about is the identity of the brand, who the customer is, and what the building and the surrounds encompass: “We don’t set out to make something memorable but prefer to focus on creating something which fits in with the above key focal points.
“Making sure the light switch for the bed is in the right place is just as important as a beautiful piece of furniture in making the guest experience memorable. Items such as bespoke pieces and antiques help to create a unique environment for each new hotel. There is a fine balance between creating something unique yet also familiar enough that it feels comfortable.”
The Endeavour, Glenapp Castle’s penthouse castle apartment, opened in May 2021. Four years in the making, The Endeavour has been the dream of Proprietor Paul Szkiler and part of a bigger seven-year plan, since he acquired the hotel back in 2015. Helen Smith and Helen Bampton worked with Paul to design The Endeavour. Helen said: “The Endeavour had to be a home from home. We wanted it to have everything you feel you can get from your home but so much more – it had to be more opulent, it had to feel calm, as if you were relaxing in your own space. We wanted to keep the integrity of the rest of the castle and the feeling of a Scottish baronial castle, but bring a new standard of style and luxury and attention to detail. Paul played such a big part in the restoration – he steered his vision and I had to then interpret his vision into the design.”
Paul Szkiler commented: “We believe The Endeavour penthouse apartment provides a world class destination in both its unique setting, surroundings and in providing a standard of service from a bygone era.
“Style, luxury, opulence and interest are all important in an interior design journey. It is so hard to pick just one important feature, as you want to lap up all you can see and all you can smell - it is the whole package. It is also about the ambience, but all the different design elements are cogs in a machine that come together to create the whole memorable experience for guests. I constantly go to Glenapp Castle and move some things around, see what we can recover, or what art we can feature so the interest always remains there and we can encourage repeat business. It is a collective of experiences but we want to ensure guests walk away having taken in every detail.”
Martin Hulbert is The Grove’s designer, who redesigned
Pg 36: Images of The Bradley Hare by Martin Morrell
the hotel’s West Wing, The Glasshouse restaurant, and some of its lounges. He likes to create a journey through his work by means of a subtle flow from room to room with occasional surprises. For example, this can be achieved by a piece of art, a spectacular chandelier or a dramatic colour change, which can be noted in the Lounges at The Grove.
Martin added: “I think colour choices should be chosen to complement the interior, particularly the natural aspect of each space. For example, at The Grove in Hertfordshire, there’s lots of yellow bursting in as we wanted to evoke the feeling of sunlight, even on a grey day. They should also be selected in relation to what the room is to be used for. For example, a room with north facing windows needs warmer tones; if it’s an evening bar, it should be warmer richer tones. If it’s a sunny south facing drawing room, you can use cooler or even brighter colours.
“I think it’s more important that the guest feels incredibly comfortable in each space rather than adopting a blanket colour scheme. More specific colour in relation to branding can follow through in details such as the menus and uniforms to hold everything together.”
Interestingly, Martin explained that he thinks interior spaces within hotels should not necessarily be dedicated to one thing. He believes that guests should be able to have drinks in the lobby and eat supper in the drawing room or even the spa. This is more of a bespoke experience adjusted to each guest, which makes their entire stay more personable.
Estate Manager at Leonardslee House, Adam Streeter, believes that working with a particular theme – whether that be a specific colour or a specific pattern – can help a brand stand out from the crowd, as this becomes the signature design and what it is known for. At Leonardslee House, rather than a single colour, they worked with a floral colour theme for the ten new bedrooms which is inspired by the beautiful Grade I Listed woodland gardens in the 240-acre estate, known as ‘the finest woodland gardens in England’.
Adam said: “It’s important to design an interior and overall guest experience that is memorable, one which people will recommend and come back for time and time again, as this is what drives revenue and retains loyal guests.”
The hotel industry is constantly changing, and so is the demand for a quirky and memorable design. There’s no one-size-fits-all approach to ensuring that a hotel is at the forefront of consumers’ minds based solely on their interior design, but a great place to start is to keep tabs on the industry — specifically via social media for design trends to ensure that you’re meeting customer needs and staying with, or ahead of, the competition.
STEP INTO THE LIGHT
As far as UK manufacturer of decorative lighting is concerned, Iberian is in the top league. Established in 1963, Iberian Lighting has a balanced sustainable and innovative approach to manufacturing lighting in the UK.
In the late 1980’s China became a huge problem for European manufacturers with cheap lighting products and aggressive subsidised pricing along with a UK political system that encouraged service industries and positively discouraged manufacturing China pretty well destroyed manufacturing in the UK and Europe. The need for the west become less reliant on goods imported from lower wage economies as well as the desire for better quality, longevity of the product, traceability and service have been turning the tide ever since.
Markets in the Far East have also steadily grown and so have local fashions and tastes and there is an increasing divergence between European designed styles and ones from the other side of the World. That and increasing import costs and transportation delays mean the pendulum is swinging rapidly towards locally produced goods.
The people
A team of 20 incredible talented individuals who can turn their hand to almost anything lighting oriented is led by Les Allitt, Tom Acciarini, both driven by design and product innovation.
Les: spent his early years working as a mechanical engineer, more specifi cally research and development and
in the late 1990’s moved somewhat by accident over to the decorative lighting sector bringing his wealth and breadth of experience to this market. Les’ passion for design and technology transferred well into this sector.
Tom: a multilingual artist with an earlier career as a Master Blacksmith and a lifelong passion for lighting and design works alongside Les on research and development of both products and technologies.
Dave: having spent most of his life in the lighting industry heads up the manufacturing department, personally running our wire forming machines with mixture of skill and determination. No job is ever too big or too small or too complicated for him.
Elaine: Competently spearheads our office operations ensuring the smooth running of orders, production and shipping.
Cameron: Ably and speedily quotes and deals with most of our day-to-day enquiries.
And a special mention to Andrea, Julian and Ray in manufacturing, Martin in dispatch and Julie, Linda, Ines, Angela, Valentina, Ilona, Irena, Natalie and Sarah in our workroom, Roy in our wiring department and finally Mike and Stan for IT and marketing.
Decorative Lighting provides the perfect playground to explore creative ideas and innovate using modern and traditional materials and manufacturing processes.
A typical project goes something like this: Iberian is sent a broad specification and design idea from the customer, this is distilled down first with hand sketches, followed by a digital design and a 3D render. This produces a practical solution that works from a manufacturing perspective, all the while staying as close to the original design intent and is within the client’s budget. In many cases transport becomes a consideration because of the size and fragility of the final product. Iberian always consider the best way to manufacture at the same time making sure that the onsite contractors are not given an impossible task in fitting! The client then signs this off and issues a purchase order and Iberian work their magic turning the design into reality. Iberian’s technicians have the skills and technology at their fingertips through using many in house processes, this may include CNC turning, milling, laser cutting, wire and tube forming, tig welding brazing soldering, industrial sewing, electrical wiring and testing polishing, powder coating.
I guess if we were to sum up Iberian lighting Ltd it would be pride, pride in what we do, pride in how we do it, pride in British design, pride in the finished product and most of all pride in our work force most have worked for us for many years and all of whom we could not manage without.
AN INNOVATION IN SERVICE
Hutech Robotics introduces PuDu’s world-leading technology, an innovation in customer service robotics, providing cost effective solutions to improve productivity in commercial operations, including hotel restaurants.
Tell us about Hutech Robotics…
The Managing Director of Hutech Robotics, Paolo Hu is a partner in TCB Unlimited Dining a Chinese Restaurant chain operating in the North West of England. During the COVID pandemic the restaurants moved from a Buffet Style Service to table service, which changed the front of house operation completely. It meant recruiting more staff at a time when hospitality staff were becoming ever harder to attract, so he turned to using Robots to serve front of house and sought out PuDu Robotics, a world leader in the field of robotics, not to replace staff but to supplement and support those team members already working. The move proved so successful for the chain that they now have 14 robots operating in five of their restaurants. This provided the next step, deciding to distribute the robots to other restaurants and Hutech Robotics was formed.
What are the key benefits for a hospitality venue using a Hutech robot?
Our robots are currently generating a huge amount of interest in the industry for a number of reasons, making them the perfect addition to front of house teams. They’re an immediate solution to staffing shortages, able to do all the restaurant running between serving and tables, which is a huge aid to front of house service staff. It allows them to spend more time with customers, enhancing the customer
experience, as well as increased revenue, being on hand to upsell further drinks, etc. and of course, not forgetting an attraction to new customers, as well as offering huge operational cost savings. As a short term solution to the staffing shortage in hospitality, the benefit is obvious but secondarily, aside from the very practical uses the robots perform as ‘food runners’ and general front of house servers, everyone agrees that freeing up FoH staff to spend more time actually front of house, rather than running backwards and forwards, means that customers get better service, with more attention being paid to customer engagement and delivering a much enhanced customer experience, something that would only benefit the restaurant in return bookings and even staff gratuities.
Can you explain the various applications of your robots?
We currently have a number of robots in our range and I stick to hospitality to explain their various functions but as we’ve found they all have multiple applications when considered by people from other industries. Our lead robot is BellaBot, or ‘Bella’ as she’s affectionately known. Her primary role is to deliver dishes from the kitchen or servery directly to the table. In certain establishments she might just deliver to a serving station, acting as a Comis De Rang, leaving a front of house server to make the final, short delivery journey to the customer. Our other robots which make up the range are KettyBot, HolaBot, FlashBot and Puductor. (See our website for details on other products at hutechrobotics.com)
Can you explain how your robots can assist current employees, rather than just replace them?
As I explained earlier, hospitality is going through an unprecedented period of staff shortages. But without going through the reasons for that, almost everyone in the industry we speak to agrees that staff shortages are one of the biggest challenges. This is where the robots come in, they offer a real solution to the shortages as well as providing a very practical solution to the front of house service. Savvy restaurant and hotel owners and employees won’t only see robots as a replacement for FoH staff but an aid to assist them in their role. Running plates back and forward from kitchen to restaurant is hard work, so taking the legwork out of the operation for the human staff, allowing them to spend more time attending to the needs of customers can only be a good thing. Let’s face it, when did you last hear a front of house member of staff revelling in how much they love carrying heavy crockery to and from the kitchen, however most of them will comment on how much they enjoy the customer interaction.
