You Won't Believe How Flat-Panel TVs Are Saving Hotels Money (And Other Design Tips)
In hospitality, developers are often subject to the whims of guests when it comes to designing rooms and selecting amenities. Panelists at our Phoenix Retail & Hospitality event yesterday gushed about using flat-panel TVs and discussed the implications of other trends on the hotel business.
"Something as simple as going from a 38-inch deep armoire with a big TV in it to a 1-inch deep flat-screen TV has changed our attitude about a shoebox room," Allen & Philp Architects founding member Mark Philp said.
Above are panel moderator Anissa Mendil, director at 3rd Story, Classic Hotels & Resorts' John Grossman, Woodbine Development's Kristopher Harman, Starwood Hotels & Resorts senior director of development Chris Stanley and Mark Philip.
When flat-panels first came out, it was difficult to justify bringing them into guest rooms until developers realized it meant they could shave two feet off rooms. Chris says those two feet amount to tremendous savings because dropping from a 12-foot to a 10-foot room means trimming the floor, the walls and the building's outside surface.
“The introduction of the flat-panel TV into guest rooms has saved us more money than you could ever imagine,” he said. “It’s probably the most significant cost-reducing item that’s been introduced for new-build hotels.”
The discussion then turned to other amenities. Picking out guest room amenities isn’t always so cut-and-dried, according to Woodbine Development VP Kristopher Harman. Different hotels are trying to attract a distinctive kind of traveler, which dictates each hotel’s style.
“Most people won’t work on their desks inside the room,” Starwood's Chris said of selecting the right furniture for guest rooms. “They’ll go down and work at a communal desk. There’s a generational divide here: if you’re above 50 years old you’ll still work inside the room, and if you’re younger than that, you’ll work on the bed if you work in your room at all.” There is a move to get people downstairs and out into the community, he said.
When designing The Element Chandler, Chris said it was worth spending a little bit more money to bring pieces of the community into the hotel so people could get a better feel of why the area is such a special place. Starwood brought local art into the lobby that represents Tempe and tells the story of the location.
As for the immediate future of Phoenix’s hospitality industry, Woodbine's Kristopher has noticed developers have a way of talking themselves off a cliff. There’s a cautious attitude right now because of world events, even though the industry as a whole has mostly recovered. However, hotels lead recessions so developers feel they can never be too careful.
“Our current feeling is that we squeezed FireSky in at the eleventh hour,” Grossman Company Properties president John Grossman said. FireSky is the company’s baby at present, a project that will revitalize a Spanish-style 1962 hotel. “We probably won’t pick anything else up for a while.” After getting priced out of too many deals, the company launched a mezzanine fund to leverage the work that went into underwriting those bids.
John added getting rid of FireSky’s Tuscan undertones tacked on in a 1998 renovation has been a bit of a bear. There’s a plethora of Tuscan-style rock work throughout that will be labor-intensive to remove.
One of Chris' biggest challenges is convincing a franchise owner to renovate his project when elements have gone out of style, even if they aren’t due for replacement yet. Getting rid of carpet that is perfectly good except for its putrid orange color, for example, is hard to justify. Designing projects today to make them easy to update down the road is critical, he said. Starwood has been adopting features that allow for an easy color change a few years down the line without major renovation.
One trend that developers are betting won’t go out of style is sustainability. Chris says The Element went green almost by accident, adding, “We realized one day that all of our designers had basically designed a green hotel without meaning to. When we looked at the cost of doing a green hotel, it really was only about 5% more back in 2008. Now, it’s even more cost-effective.” The Element Chandler will open in November and will be LEED certified. There are 30 Elements open or opening and another 50 or so in the pipeline.
