Ms. Locke

Furniture, Fixtures & Equipment

Lighting & Flooring Can Affect the Mood and Value of Your Hotel

By Amy Locke, Director, Interior Design, Hatchett Hospitality

What puts you in a good mood?

Hotel owners and designers are constantly looking for new answers to that question because they know today's travelers want their hotel to be as pleasing as their trip. Colors, music, and artwork are among the popular ways hoteliers try to create a special environment.

However, two especially effective techniques are within reach and under foot, literally - in the form of lighting and flooring.

Lighting

Hotel lighting was once a "must have" basic function, but now lighting provides more than illumination - it complements furniture, architecture, and artwork; it saves energy; and it provides the finishing touch that brings a room to life.

With great lighting, even an ordinary room can look fabulous and can have a strong impact on making guests feel welcome.

There are three basic types of hotel lighting: (1) task, (2) ambient, and (3) accent.

Task lighting is used for areas where work takes place - such as reading, computing, or serving of food. It's achieved with fixtures that focus bright, direct light onto the work surface.

Ambient lighting is often called the "general light in the room" which provides a soft, comfortable level of light for watching television or having a conversation.

Accent lighting is decorative or accent lighting - it creates drama and mood. It's meant to draw the eye to a particular area or design element, such as a painting, sculpture, or architectural effect.

Another way to think of lighting in the typical room is as three "layers" - with task lighting and table lamps at eye height; with chandeliers or ceiling fixtures as providing ambient light; and with ceiling cans, track lights or pinpoint spotlights being decorative focal lights.

To successfully achieve these types of lighting requires part art, part science. The art is in creating the right ambiance, while the science is in selecting the right mix of lighting products - some decorative, some functional - from options that include chandeliers, pendants, ceiling mount fixtures, and sconces plus wall, desk, floor, and table lamps.

Remember that selecting the right products also means being aware of local electrical and energy codes, as well as requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

Public space provides the greatest lighting challenges because of the large open spaces and because lobbies today are used for many purposes - for eating, for computer work, for watching television, or for socializing with friends and fellow travelers.

As a result, there are different public space "zones" - and different lighting is appropriate for each of these zones. For example, a meeting zone may need both ambient and task lighting, while a socializing zone may need ambient and accent lighting.

However, guests check into a hotel to rest and refresh, which are activities that are centered in the guest room, so lighting the guest room should remain an important focus for hoteliers.

In fact, the two most common lighting complaints from guests are poor vanity lighting in the bathroom and poor reading light. To avoid these and other complaints, the typical guest room should feature seven types of lighting:

1. general ambient lighting for the room and bath, which sets the atmosphere plus provides proper lighting for safety and cleaning
2. task lighting for reading in bed and working at the desk, preferably with a dimming feature
3. mirror lighting - perhaps even as part of a personal mirror - that provides sufficient face light in the bath or dressing area
4. overhead lighting in the shower/bath area
5. accent lighting such as with a sconce or spotlight that washes a particular area with special effect light
6. lighting inside or very near the closet
7. a subtle night light to help guests find their way in an unfamiliar environment Two additional considerations related to lighting are shades and bulbs - shades are best in white or off-white because too dark a color will significantly reduce brightness, while bulbs are increasingly fluorescent instead of incandescent because they use up to 75% less energy and can last five times longer.

In summary, lighting is a relatively inexpensive way to add a significant design element during either new construction or renovation. When lighting is done right, the space feels right - and it's not an exaggeration to say that the quality of lighting defines the quality of a hotel.

Flooring

The floor is often called "the fifth wall" - in other words an area that shouldn't be ignored and should receive as much attention as the traditional four walls of a room.

Treatment options are almost limitless and include hardwood, laminate, carpet, ceramic and porcelain tile, vinyl, area rugs, granite, marble, and even decorative concrete. These options vary significantly in look, cost, and maintenance - so give careful consideration to your choices accordingly.

You can gain both aesthetic appeal and functional durability with tile, marble, or granite. A variation is to use tile, marble, or granite as a decorative "fringe" that leads in to carpeted area. Carpet can be specially-woven to feature a pattern that is unique to your property and that complements guest room schemes.

There is a common expression in hospitality that carpet doesn't wear out, it uglies out. However, new computerized manufacturing technology extends the design life of hotel carpeting and has changed the rules for selecting that carpeting.

Specifically, today's dye-injection procedures are vastly superior to the screen printing processes of the past because they make possible bigger, crisper patterns with brighter colors and better color matching. And from an economic standpoint, turnaround times are quick; installation times - and therefore installation costs - are lower; and product life and durability are longer.

At a time when every hotel is trying to make a "signature statement," it's hard to do with a standard carpet pattern that can be seen in many other properties. Customization means differentiation - and modern technology enables hotels that used to rely on standard carpet to now consider an almost unlimited array of custom options.

For example, patterns from bedspreads, draperies, or wallpaper can now be scanned into the computer and produced as matching or complimentary carpet. And while patterns used to repeat every three feet, new carpet manufacturing equipment permits patterns to extend for up to 100 feet before there is a repeat.

Of course, once you've created beautiful custom carpet, it's vital to maintain the look and extend the life of that carpet with proper maintenance. Carpet care falls into three categories:

1. preventative,
2. routine, and
3. periodic.

Preventative maintenance attempts to catch dirt before it gets on the carpet, for example, with walk-off mats placed strategically at entrances and high traffic areas.

Routine maintenance includes daily vacuuming and occasional spot cleaning.

Periodic maintenance involves deep cleaning with a hot-water or dry extraction procedure every few months, depending on traffic patterns and usage.

Lighting and carpeting - they are two areas of furnishing a hotel that can be easily overlooked, short-changed or ignored, but they're ones that clearly contribute in a big way to creating an impact and to enhancing a hotel experience.

And in the process, lighting and carpeting also contribute to such factors as site differentiation and improved guest satisfaction scores - factors which enable a hotel to charge higher room rates and achieve better financial performance in return on investment (ROI) and average daily rate (ADR).

So during your next renovation or new construction, don't forget to look up and look down - and you'll soon be looking good in the wallet!

Amy Locke is director of interior design at Hatchett Hospitality. She works with franchisers and franchisees on a wide variety of hotel brands, styles, and themes – from economy to luxury, from resort to business conference, and from traditional to modern. Previous to joining Hatchett, she held a position in interior design with Ethan Allen Interiors. Ms. Locke earned a bachelor of fine arts degree from the Art Institute of Atlanta. She is completing a degree in feng shuiand is an allied member of the American Society of Interior Designers (ASID). Ms. Locke can be contacted at 770-227-5232 or Amy@HatchettHospitality.com Extended Bio...

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