The importance of design

                                    

Since the beginning of time hotels have known how to attract their guests with different customer experiences or different environments where the customers feel better. As (LeBoeuff, 1987) suggests that the more customers can see, hear, touch, smell, taste, and feel how wonderful it is to buy what you sell, the more value they will perceive and the more likely it is they will buy. Based on this fact most hotels look forward to a good first impression when they are welcoming the customers. A good environment, where the customer feels like home will most likely make him talk about it to other people.

It’s important for a hotel to make a good first impression by investing in the hotel’s design because the value of design for budget hotels comes in the development of the room module which is, in many ways, the ultimate test of good product design. External appearance influences perceptions of product quality, and therefore has a key role to play in adding value. Refurbishment of bedrooms, for example, usually has to take place every seven years to cope with wear and tear.

As time passes customers are expecting more modern hotels where they can stay during their journey. That’s why, overtime, wooden furniture and red velvet patterns were replaced by warm colours and a more relaxed style. The use of technology also became one of the important characteristics that a customer is looking for. Customers are more likely to check-in at a hotel that can provide technology friendly services and where they can relax but in the same time be in touch with everything around them. One of items might be a laptop friendly bedside table or Bluetooth speakers besides their bed. Customers these days are looking for a more dynamic place to stay and they want to do things faster and easier.

One of the designs applied by some of the Asian hotels is the Chil-Bo, which is one of the traditional Korean designs for furniture ornamentation. The original design has been extruded into cubic forms to stand out and be mounted on the facade of the wall behind the front desk counter and in the lobby lounge. A yellow colour has been applied to the symbol at the front desk because it possesses high visibility in contrast with the reddish brown wood panelled wall. This being regarded as one of the most important philosophies in redesigning this hotel, the visual communication replaces any written or verbal advertisement.

References

“How to Win Customers and Keep Them for Life” by Michael LeBoeuff, (1987)

"Hotel Design: Renovation", Chong, Hye Sue, (1998)

"Hotel Design: The Need to Develop a Strategic Approach", Amanda West Elizabeth Purvis, (1992), International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, Vol. 4

http://www.worldpropertyjournal.com/international-markets/vacation-leisure-real-estate/sheraton-incheon-hotel-starwood-hotels-resorts-worldwide-nysehot-songdo-city-hotels-new-luxury-hotel-openings-2009-1194.php

"What is “good” hotel design?", Josef Ransley Hadyn Ingram, (2001), Facilities, Vol. 19 pp. 79 – 87