24/06/2015
http://www.businessinsider.in/Heres-what-hotels-will-look-like-in-the-future/articleshow/47738897.cms
Here's what hotels will look like in the future
Four Points properties are developing Smart Mirrors, digital mirrors with touch screen capabilities.
To you, hotel rooms may seem the same - there's a bed, a TV, maybe two nightstands and a bathroom - but in reality, hotel rooms are changing at the speed of light: modernizing, adapting to today's traveler's needs, and looking to innovate for the future.
Hotels are scrambling to anticipate travelers' future needs, and while no one has a crystal ball, some changes already taking effect can help us get a glimpse of what's to come.
We spoke to hotel designers and industry insiders to get an idea of what hotels will look like in the future.
Bathrooms will get bigger
The quality of a hotel is generally measured by its bathrooms, and the number of fixtures those feature (two sinks, separate shower and bathtub, etc.), as bathrooms are the most expensive rooms to build.
According to Zeev Sharon, a hotel development vet and the founder ofHotelied, a hotel booking site that gives users discounts based on their social media presence, research also shows that guests increasingly evaluate a room based on the bathroom these days. He says that we will be seeing bathrooms expand more and more - up to 50% or more of the total hotel room - as the guest room becomes smaller.
Bathrooms will also become more spa-like
Flickr/sofitel_so_bangkok
A bathroom fit for a king at the Sofitel So in Bangkok.
"People like luxurious, spa-like bathrooms," Sharon explains. "When hotels design a bathroom now, they really need to think about things like counter space - is there enough space for a toiletry bag? - and a rain shower head is becoming standard. A lot of attention has gone into reinventing the hotel room bathroom to make it more spa-like, and you see it at every level hotel. It's all relative, but even at a three-star hotel a lot more attention is being given to the bathroom."
Guest rooms will get smaller
Sharon says that flatscreen TVs are a hotel developer's best friend, as they have allowed rooms to become smaller thanks to no longer needing bulky armoires to accommodate bulky TVs. Hotels are moving more and more towards the "essentials-only" model, as evidenced by pod hotels (likeYotel), of which he predicts more will pop up.
Mike Tiedy, the Senior Vice President of Global Brand Design and Innovation at Starwood Hotels & Resorts agrees. "On the select service end with brands like Aloft, Four Points and Element, the rooms are getting smaller and more efficient with the emphasis on the lobby for work and social activities," he says. "The room becomes a comfy nest with everything you need at your fingertips and nothing more."
Courtesy of Starwood
Aloft is experimenting with touch screens that control HVAC and lighting.
Rooms will have high-tech features like the ability to control the lights and air-conditioning with your phone
Most people rarely leave the house without their smartphones, laptops, iPads, fitness trackers, etc. Sharon says that hotels are starting to incorporate this into their hotel room design.
"It's becoming more about giving you access to hotel services through your own devices than providing you with the device. When was the last time you used a hotel phone? A lot of the thinking now is less about giving you the phone, but more about giving you the app to use on your phone," Sharon explains. This means that guests will likely be able to control everything - lights, blinds, AC - via their smartphones soon, or a provided touchscreen.
Marriott recently put this concept into action by collaborating with Netflixon their in-room entertainment, and both Personality Hotels and Starwood already let guests use their smartphones as room keys in many of their properties.
There will be lots of easily accessible outlets in guest rooms
The sigh of relief breathed by anyone who has had to charge their cellphone halfway across the hotel room or had to rearrange furniture to find an outlet is audible. According to Sharon, "everyone wants a lot of outlets to charge everything, and that's become a huge deal. Outlets need to be easy and convenient and there's a lot of thought going into that."
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