Say goodbye to check-in desks, energy inefficiency, and floor after floor of identical rooms. Hotel design is moving in exciting directions, and the hotels featured below showcase the latest trends. Maybe it’s time to pack your suitcase and check out some of these innovations for yourself!
1. Playing Up The Past
More and more, hotel guests are drawn to properties that have an interesting history. That’s why visitors find the recently renovated Charmant Hotel in La Crosse, WI, oh-so-sweet, and not just because it’s housed in a former candy factory. The 67-room boutique hotel has incorporated some of the factory’s old features—including maple flooring, an old iron staircase and exposed brick—into a lavish new design that showcases the building’s past. The hotel’s color scheme brings to mind chocolates and nougats, the front desk does double duty as a candy counter, and the lobby features a display case with vintage candy boxes and equipment.
2. Going Green
Imagine a hotel with carbon-fiber bikes, produce grown on-site, solar panels, furnishings made from recycled wood, and fabrics and cleaning supplies made from organic materials. Sound appealing? Then you, and the growing number of people selecting hotels based on their sustainability practices, will love Napa Valley’s Bardessono. The hotel recently received LEED Platinum for its environmentally friendly design, proving a luxurious hotel can also be green.
3. Doing Away With Check-In Desks
Do you dread impersonal, tedious hotel check-ins? You’re not alone. Andaz West Hollywood is one hotel making arrival an enjoyable experience. Guests relax on comfortable couches and enjoy wine, coffee or soda while roaming hosts with iPads check them in, help with their luggage and offer suggestions about the local area. Besides making guests feel more welcome, Andaz’s friendly, relaxed approach transforms the lobby into an inviting social space and helps the hotel make an excellent first impression.
4. Blending Indoor And Outdoor Spaces
Nature lovers, rejoice. Hotels are ensuring guests can enjoy beautiful surroundings 24 hours a day, and the Ledges Hotel in Hawley, PA, sets the standard for other hotels to follow. From Ledges’ multi-level terrace, guests are treated to picturesque views of waterfalls flowing over rock formations, and the hotel’s rustic wooden furnishings, walled garden and panoramic views make guests feel close to the great outdoors. Better yet, a $2 donation, added automatically to each reservation, supports the Delaware Highlands Conservancy and ensures that future visitors to the region will continue to enjoy its spectacular beauty.
5. Adding Whimsical Design Elements
Want a hotel where more differentiates rooms than the number on the door? Check out the Quirk Hotel in Richmond, VA, a playful boutique that ties in with Richmond’s eccentric art scene. Each of Quirk’s 74 guest rooms features work by regional artists, and anyone eager to see more of the local talent can catch an exhibit at the hotel’s art gallery or take one of the hotel’s tours of local murals.
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