In the competitive world of hospitality, a hotel’s bar is more than just a place to grab a drink – it’s a focal point of the guest experience.
Designing a unique hotel bar requires a blend of creativity, functionality, and a keen understanding of your clientele. Whether you’re looking to attract trendy locals or provide a cosy nook for weary business travellers, the design of your bar can set the tone for memorable experiences.
From selecting the right theme and decor to ensuring comfort and convenience, each element plays a crucial role in creating an inviting atmosphere.
In this blog post, we’ll explore essential bar design tips to help you craft a distinctive space that not only stands out but also enhances your guests’ overall stay.
Setting the Theme
The best hotels lean into a theme which supports their brand, their location, and their target audience. This can typically be communicated through your branding and design throughout the hotel – with your hotel bar the perfect opportunity to further immerse guests in that theme.
Some popular examples include a localised theme based on cultural influences, modern chic, an outdoorsy nature vibe, and a vintage aesthetic. Choosing the right theme can play into the experiential side of your hotel and create a local landmark – not to mention keeping guests on site and enjoying all you have to offer.
Strategic Layout and Flow
The right hotel bar layout can enhance guest satisfaction while maximising the space available and playing into the operational efficiency of your hotel.
Whether your bar is large and open, or set in a more contained space, it’s important to consider the ways in which guests use and interact with the setting – and whether you would benefit from an inside-outside bar design, the infusion of more booths and intimate seating areas, or a large focal bar.
Choosing the Right Furniture
Furniture doesn’t just bolster the functionality of a space – it also provides comfort to guests and helps to breathe life into the shell of your hotel bar. Ideally, hotel owners and designers should bridge functional and practical benefits with timeless style, selecting furnishings which are durable and easy to maintain.
Remember, a hotel bar tends to be a high traffic, high turnover area, meaning that every surface and furnishing needs to be built for continued use. And when creating a unique bar specifically for your hotel, all of these practical needs should be balanced by the desire to add the kind of personality and character that will keep guests and locals engaged.
Lighting Design
To encourage guests to spend their downtime in the hotel bar rather than retreating to their rooms, it’s essential to create an inviting environment that meets their needs. This typically involves utilising lighting and other features that adapt throughout the day, providing a bright and open atmosphere during daylight hours and a more intimate setting in the evening.
For a truly impactful design, consider incorporating statement light fittings that double as décor, effectively maximising the use of space. To learn more about the crucial role of lighting in hotel interiors, check out our blog post on the importance of lighting in hotel interior design.
Incorporating Technology
Some of the best bars, regardless of whether they are in a hotel or launched as a standalone business, bridge the emphasis on design flair with the infusion of technology and other enhancements.
Details like interactive menu, automated ordering systems, and unique entertainment can all contribute towards the overall guest experience – with the more impressive the details and features, the longer guests are likely to stay to enjoy and take it all in.
Such technology integrations can also serve to elevate the operational efficiency of a bar and ensure a connected experience for guests and staff members alike.
Art and Decorative Elements
One of the quickest and easiest ways to make your hotel bar more unique is through the decoration that you integrate into the space. Selecting art and other accessories that tap into your theme and that emphasise your location or key selling points is a great way to lean on the details that make your hotel popular.
Unique items that contribute to the narrative of your hotel and that continue the guest journey will all prove beneficial in designing a unique and memorable space.
Utilising Outdoor Spaces
If you’ve got an outside space that could elevate your hotel bar, then consider this a sign to go for it and deliver the kind of inside-outside bar space that modern guests love.
Not only is this the perfect opportunity to open up your hotel’s communal spaces in the warmer summer months, offering special cocktails and drink offers on sunny days, but it also invites guests to immerse themselves in the outside space around your hotel as well as their room.
We love seeing hotels embrace their outside space with cohesive design choices – be it through colour, texture, or decorative details.
Building a Signature Drink Menu
Finally, what better way to upgrade your hotel bar and give it a little unique personality flair, than with signature drinks designed by your in-house team.
This is a great way to develop and define your hotel bar’s identity and can reignite the theme of the bar in a way that gives guests something to photograph, enjoy, and remember when they leave. You never know, your signature drink could even become a local must-have that draws in locals as well as hotel guests!
In essence, opening and fine-tuning your hotel bar is a great way to keep guests engaged in your hotel space when they’re looking to socialise and step away from their room. There are tons of ways that you can fit the hotel bar into the experience that you offer, with some of the above tips all focussed around ensuring that the bar space you offer is unique and memorable.
For tailored advice on how to build a bar that’s perfect for your hotel and for your guests, get in touch with the Carroll Design team and book a consultation today.