From serving mainly as a check-in and check-out area in the past to becoming a multifunctional space, the hotel lobby is becoming smarter and dynamic By Rituparna Chatterjee
In recent years, hotels have come to accommodate a growing variety of functions and suffice to say they have become destinations in themselves. In the past, hotel lobbies mainly served the function of catering to guests, who were checking-in or checking-out, with basic seating arrangements, but now they have become the epicenter of social and business activities. Every space in the lobby is being designed with a view to accommodate the varying needs of every guests – be it for relaxing and socialising or for business and networking. Today, the surge in business travel has led hoteliers to provide multifunctional spaces that offer both comfort and functionality to guests who are either there to conduct transactions, create networks or engage in casual conversations. The latest design trends in hotel lobbies include creative and strategic segmentation of spaces to include areas for intimate conversations, socialising and business negotiations. Tables for laptops, charging stations and a sufficient number of dining outlets and lounges are also making their way into modern hotel lobby designs. “Hotel lobbies have evolved quite a bit. Over the past few years, in our opinion, there have been multiple reasons for this evolution, out of which one of the important ones is the overall rationalisation factor. Today, hotel lobbies have become more sleeker, more space optimised and above all more smarter in literal sense,” states Ar Prem Nath, principal architect and CEO, M/s Prem Nath & Associates.
Hotel lobby designs are highly governed by individual hotel brand standards and philosophy with each having their own unique look and feel. “The one thing in common is the new age building techniques that goes into making that same concept. Nowadays each hotel is doing their own R&D and changing their designs occasionally to cater to the new age clientele. Hotel owners are also increasingly associating themselves with hotel operators who are constantly reinventing themselves and are keeping themselves abreast with the latest design trends that are internationally acceptable,” opines Bobby Mukherji, principal architect, Bobby Mukherji & Associates. Interestingly, it has been observed that travellers have also become more accommodative. When they travel to a specific category of hotel, they expect the same standard, look and feel. “It is understood by most travellers that the dynamic use of space has not only made the lobby space more multi -functional and easy to access, but also adds to the much required economy, which in-turn trickles down to the best deals the traveller tries and gets,” points out Ar Nath.
Focus on function
Despite the growing significance of smart hotel lobby designs, the lobbies of budget, two or three star category hotel brands are yet to evolve further when compared to luxury hotel brands. “With rack rates like Rs 3000-Rs 3500, you cannot afford to have elaborate lobbies since it would require huge investments. However, a few brands like Lemon Tree Hotels are evolving and investing in R&D to create smarter lobbies without increasing the room rates. But competition is coming in from the international hotel brands,” states Mukherji. Adding more to this, Ar Nath mentions, “Budget hotel lobbies are very space conscious and are kept to their optimum use, the same lobby is also openly accessible and usable as a waiting cum cafeteria – which in earlier times were separately planned/ segregated spaces. Also one must not miss that security features too are more visible now, keeping in view a possible safety threat, especially at the key access point – the entrance lobby.”
ROI is a significant concern of all hoteliers. Since lobbies require sufficient investment, more and more hotels are maximising its functionality by including business centres, coffee shops, meeting spaces, to name a few. “For instance, Le Meridien has the ‘Le Meridien Hub’ concept, while Marriott has the great room concept. More and more hotels are transforming their lobbies into a business hub and a living room but not for free. Hotels are designing the lobbies to cater mainly to hotel guests and avoid outside guests. Even if guests come from outside it is at a cost. Free seating has been kept to the bare minimum. Moreover, to make the hotel guests come down, hotels are also equipping the lobbies with different functional spaces like coffee shops, day and night bars, lounges of various types, internet kiosks, communal cables,” highlights Mukherji.
Going green
Today sustainability is becoming a part of way people are living – whether at their homes or hotels.
A survey conducted by Travel Advisor showed that 62 per cent of travellers in the US are looking forward to more green practices in hotels they stay in. 84 per cent believed that ecological practices will not be a hindrance to their hotel experience while 52 per cent stated that moves towards sustainability will not impact the cost of their hotel stay. With the establishment of the Hospitality Sustainable Purchasing Index by the Hospitality Sustainable Purchasing Consortium, hoteliers can expect a better guidance in creating a sustainable design for their hotels. “To start with, hotel lobbies are being integrated with eco-friendly systems, starting from energy efficient LED lamps, water saving faucets, low VOC sealants, refrigerants and paints, ozonisers and treated fresh air systems, smart air-conditioning systems with flexibility to work on lower loads without waste of energy, and much more,” mentions Ar Nath.
However too much focus on sustainability also impacts the design. “When you start focusing too much on sustainability then it is difficult to achieve the right atmosphere in the lobby. If we have to look for building materials in my immediate hinterland, which is going to be mined and manufactured within my 100 km radius then the quality suffers. Unfortunately in India when it comes to building materials we are a 100 years behind, we are forced to depend on manufacturers outside the country to create these spaces,” avers Mukherji.
Future designs
Future belongs to smart hotels, smart not just in its engineering, planning or sustainability, but also in terms of use. “We foresee that the future has a lot of technological advancement in store for us, especially hotels shall see an increased use of technology be it from guest check-in to systems installed in the room, which are more occupancy based and guest focused. Also, keeping in mind the security threats, hotels world over are now having a great focus on the accessibility zoning of the hotel right from the outside of the hotel up to the very specific access to each floor and further to guest rooms,” predicts Ar Nath, adding that, currently their firm is developing a hotel, which not only boasts of 300 plus rooms, villas and cottages, it also talks of an overall development spread over about 50 acres of land, with its own party lawns, launch/ promotional event grounds, theme park, artificial wave pool and the works, making it a destination be it for a wedding or a launch or a weekend getaway. Agreeing to the same, Mukherji states that technology will be a focal point of hotel lobby designs in the future with the need to provide better and free Wi-Fi connectivity along with more functionality being integrated into the design.