Have you ever walked into a hotel around the festive period and spotted a giant Christmas Tree in the reception area, only to return a few months later and see that the tree has been replaced by a giant floral installation?
This is an example of how hotel design can be adapted according to the season – creating fun and immersive ways of embracing the season within a hotel setting.
Of course, different spaces within a hotel lend themselves to different forms and degrees of seasonal design. Reception and open communal spaces are relatively easy to dress and decorate, while individual hotel rooms are more time consuming to change on a regular basis. That’s why, when it comes to particularly seasonal décor, you will find that most hotels focus much of their energy on communal spaces and leave the individual rooms largely neutral in design.
In this blog post, we’re looking at some of the ways that you can adapt your hotel for year round appeal, focussing on hotel design and small changes that you can make to have a big impact.
The power of seasonal design in a hotel reception or lobby
With the hotel lobby acting as the first impression for all guests checking in, while also acting as a main central point of the guest experience, it’s no wonder why this is an area that designers are keen to focus on.
As soon as guests walk into your hotel, you want to hit them with an experience that they will remember for all the right reasons. In many cases, this means balancing your brand and hotel theme with seasonal décor and with the kind of setting that your target guest expects.
Seasonal design can be subtle, or it can completely transform a space – how you approach it is up to you and will depend on things like your budget and the amount of space available as well as your target audience.
Some fun ways of reflecting the season in your design include:
- Seasonal flower arrangements / greenery / Christmas trees during the festive season
- Decorative accessories on the reception desk and other communal surfaces
- Light installations which frame the reception or lobby space
- Hotel team uniforms – take your seasonal design one step further with set uniforms for different times of the year
Opening up your hotel’s outside spaces in the summer
One of the easiest ways to emphasise the spring and summer seasons at your hotel is by opening up your outside spaces for guests to enjoy.
Creating an access point which flows from your inside area to your outside space is a really easy way of highlighting the warmer weather and summer season – not to mention, it creates effortless design flair without even trying. Suddenly, your outside space becomes a part of your overall hotel design, supporting the guest experience with ease.
Integrating seasonal design into your onsite hotel restaurant
Beyond the lobby, arguably the second most important communal guest space in your hotel is the onsite restaurant – and when it comes to seasonal design, there really is no better place to have some fun.
Consider the way that food is presented, the layout of your restaurant, and even the menu and drinks that you serve in relation to the season. So much of the dining experience is underpinned by how food looks and how it is presented, making this a great way to enhance the overall guest experience in your hotel between the different seasons.
Do you have to make seasonal décor a part of your hotel design?
This is an important question to ask, because for some hotel designers the theme of the hotel itself is infinitely more important than the season. What’s more, while seasons change all the time, the theme and look of your hotel does not – making your hotel brand more important in the grand scheme of things.
Having said that, there’s an element of guest expectation that comes with some seasons, that you simply can’t escape. At Christmas, guests expect some form of festive décor; in summer, they crave light and bright spaces. Bridging this with your brand aesthetic is crucial – and is why so many hotels are turning to professional designers like the Carroll Design team for help and support.
For more guidance on how to inject seasonal décor into your hotel space, get in touch with the Carroll Design team directly.