Design
HOTEL Business Review
whereas a painted surface must be subjected to more frequent cleaning to maintain its appearance, and generally requires repainting after approximately every three years. While the initial investment is higher, choosing vinyl wall covering over paint can result in a savings of 30 percent or more over time.
Anil Mahale
Creating an Exotic Environment
“Several types of wallpapers are available in the market, depending on your budget. You can easily have a tailor-made look through your wallpaper. It gives more freedom to the designer to have the wall perfectly done and then work on the upholstery. As wall papers have a uniform flow, it creates a wow effect with the right kind of lighting,” said Himanshu Drawid, the Executive Housekeeper, Hotel Royal Orchid Central, Pune. Wallpapers can transform a hotel room or an outlet in a hotel from staid or boring to spectacular in a way that paint and other decorating techniques would find it difficult to attain. Wallpapers can create an illusion of making a room appear bigger or smaller, thus changing its functionality. “Different kinds of wallpapers can give different effects. To make a small room look larger, we should pick a wallpaper that has small designs or prints on it. For instance, small pansies can make a small room seem much larger than it Karan Sharma actually is. Another technique is to use lighter colours rather than dark colours,” averred Zulfiqar Ali – Executive Housekeeper, The Westin Pune Koregaon Park. To make a room seem smaller and much more cosy, one should use large designs and prints in the wallpaper. Dark colours will make a space seem smaller than it is. For example, if we are choosing wallpaper for a room that has a low ceiling and you want to create the opposite illusion then we should choose a wallpaper that has either stripes or pattern that flows in vertical lines from top to bottom. Colours greatly influence atmosphere. If we would like a room to seem warmer, we should choose wallpapers with warm colours like amber, gold, brick, and soft reds. “While selecting wallpapers, we should consider the area and the design where we will be placing the Archana Gaggar wallpaper. Keeping the
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furniture in mind, in one of the hotels we placed printed wallpapers above the head board, thus giving the room a very cosy look,” asserted Drawid.
Types of Wallpapers There are different types of wall coverings. Paper-backed printed wall coverings are called wallpapers in common parlance. In paper-backed vinyl wallpapers the surface design is achieved in vinyl on paper; in fabric-backed vinyl wallpapers the surface is vinyl and the backing is cotton fabric; in silk paper-backed wallpapers, different types of silks are treated with a paper lining; PVC fabrics are woven with different types of backings; in non-woven wallpapers normally wood pulp and polyester are used where the percentage varies from manufacturer to manufacturer. “Vescom manufactures fabric-backed vinyl, silk and nonwovens. We have supplied silks, fabric-backed vinyls to Novotel and Crowne Plaza properties among others. Our Indian operations is very recent but worldwide; we are one of the largest suppliers of wall coverings,” informed Anil Mahale, Managing Director, Vescom Wallcoverings (India). Generally, hotels use wallpapers which have a PVC front and backing of either fabric or non-woven paper due to its excellent scratch and impact resistance, which is a must in public places. “For certain specific places like suites and restaurants, the hotels may go in for more exclusive wallpapers like silk, jute, mica chips, glass beads, etc. Our clients include Shangri-La, Four Seasons, JW Marriott, Taj Lands’ End, Intercontinental and many more. Around 10 percent of our sales come from hotel clients,” elaborated Karan Sharma, Director, Marshalls Enterprise (India). “For hotels essentially, heavy vinyl wall coverings which are scrubbable, fire/flame resistant, sunlight fast, and low on maintenance have become the norm worldwide and in India too. These being constant, a design theme and aesthetic requirements need to be matched with wall coverings,” explained Archana Gaggar, Director, Ego Group of Companies. “All interior products in any hotel are specified by architects and hence it is very important to be in regular touch with them as they specify the right product for the hotel. Purchase orders are generally issued by the purchase head of any hotel,” pointed out Sharma.