A hotel is both a functional and an experiential setting, with guests looking for memorable interactions and surroundings which offer everything they need but in an immersive and often unique way.
Hotel interior design covers a multitude of areas, bridging the most practical of design elements with those factors which enhance the guest experience, and which carry your hotel from good to great in the eyes of customers.
One area which so often gets overlooked, and which forms the foundation on which every room and area of the hotel is build, is flooring – and it’s this which we’re focussing on for this blog post.
The importance of hotel flooring
Let’s be honest, flooring is one of those things that many people don’t really think about or notice until there is something wrong. While a thick pile carpet or vibrant rug might inspire a comment or positive nod, flooring is something inherently practical which we take for granted – and yet, when you really think about it, it has the power to make or break a space.
The right flooring can enhance the guest experience exponentially. It puts guests at ease in different spaces and settings, makes a room feel more luxurious, and can pull the design of each space together in harmony.
Best of all, as a hotel designer or owner, the flooring you choose can increase the practicality of each room and space across your hotel – with the following considerations all things to take into account as you select the flooring for both the hotel bedrooms and communal spaces.
Choosing the right floor for hotel bedrooms
Hotel bedrooms need to be comfortable and practical, with a hint of luxury and plenty of warmth. Carpet is an obvious choice and can be used to integrate your branding colours as well as inject different tones and shades into the space – however, take care to ensure the carpet you opt for is durable and hard wearing enough that it will not look tired after just a few guests.
Long pile carpets may feel luxuriously soft, but over time they become very obviously worn in certain areas of high footfall – ultimately making them look old and unloved before their time. Opting for something a little more hardwearing may be a better investment in the long run.
Choosing the right floor for communal areas and hallways
There are lots of different spaces throughout a hotel, from navigational hallways and entrances to bedrooms, bathrooms, dining areas, bars, and lounge areas.
Now, think about the flooring in different businesses and spaces which offer these different experiences and amenities. Have you ever noticed how the flooring ties directly into the purpose of each room – for example, carpet in the lounge area and bedrooms to make you feel more relaxed and at home, while dining rooms and bars are often bolstered with a hard floor for ease of movement and cleaning?
The flooring in a space can help guests to identify and feel confident in the way that space is used, particularly in a hotel where their experience is very much framed by the setting and how they choose to interact with it. It can also contribute towards the safety of the space, preventing slips and trips while also ensuring that the floor is durable and long lasting.
For communal spaces, some of the top considerations include:
- Acoustics, and how flooring impacts the movement of sound throughout the room or space. Carpet is an excellent choice for those rooms where you don’t want sound to travel or reverberate too much – with rugs a great investment for spaces with hard flooring where you want to soak up some of the sound.
- Durability and maintenance – including how easy it is for flooring to be cleaned, looked after, and replaced or fixed in the face of a problem.
- Comfort and aesthetics – the things that most guests look for when checking into a hotel. First impressions count, and while the entrance and reception space of your hotel is a primarily functional area where floor needs to be easy to clean, it’s also the first look your guests will get at how much you care about the first impression they get – so consider carpeting or adding a rug to the reception lounge space and working branding into the colour palette of any other flooring and features.
Where to start – flooring or interior design?
Flooring is an important part of the overall design of your hotel space, across both bedrooms and communal areas. But should you start with flooring or other aspects like furnishings and wall colour?
One approach is to find a floor which presents somewhat of a neutral aesthetic, and which compliments the way you use and dress each space. Continuity in terms of experience is a big part of hotel design, so find ways of creating and using a theme that runs throughout your rooms – for example, connecting hotel room carpet with rugs across the communal spaces.