When someone visits a hotel, they will expect their room to be laid out in a way that is accommodating. As a hotelier, how you choose to lay out your hotel rooms will probably go a long way toward ensuring guest satisfaction.
We’ll take a few moments to talk about hotel room layouts right now. We’ll discuss what the term means, the basic requirements, and some ideas for the different types of hotel rooms.
When someone brings up the subject of a hotel room’s layout, what they are talking about is the arrangement and design of each of the guest rooms within a hotel. That includes the way the furniture is placed, the fixtures, and the amenities.
Ideally, you’re looking to create an environment for your guests that is comfortable and functional. A hotel room’s layout is one of the key parts of the guest experience. As the one making the decision how to set up each room, you can proactively influence how a guest is likely to feel from the first moment they step inside.
As a hotelier, you should know that the way you choose to lay out each guest’s room matters a great deal. It impacts operational efficiency, guest experience and satisfaction.
A room that you have set up nicely is likely to encourage recommendations from your guests, as well as positive reviews online and the likelihood of a future stay. Your hotel’s reputation can get a boost from these things. You’re liable to bring in more revenue and to increase occupancy rates by not neglecting this relatively simple detail.
You don’t just need to set up a guest’s room correctly for their sake, though. When you have a room set up in a way that makes sense, it streamlines maintenance tasks and housekeeping. This will improve staff efficiency and reduce your operating costs.
Your staff will be able to do more in less time with the proper room configuration. These faster turnaround times mean you can get the room back into shape and ready to be sold again.
Now, let’s discuss the average room’s basic requirements.
No two hotel rooms are going to be exactly alike. However, the most basic requirements for a hotel room should include:
Safety Features: These will include easy access to emergency information. There should be secure locks on the windows and doors. There should be smoke detectors as well.
Climate Control Abilities: Each room needs individual climate control. This includes heating and air conditioning. Guests should be able to adjust each room’s temperature easily.
Technology and Entertainment Options: Most rooms these days should have charging stations for guest devices, Wi-Fi access, and a TV. These should be conveniently located and easy to use.
Lighting: The lights you install should be functional, but welcoming as well. That probably means a combination of accent, ambient, and task lighting. An overhead light, desk lamps, and bedside lamps will be in order.
A Seating Area: This is an area that can accommodate guests. A small dining table and chairs, an armchair, or a sofa might be in this space. In a smaller hotel room, this area may double as a workstation.
A Well-Equipped, Clean Bathroom: Each hotel room should have a private bathroom. There should be a toilet, sink, and a bathtub or shower. There should be excellent lighting and ventilation. The bathroom should be well stocked with all of the essential toiletries as well.
Appropriate Storage Space: There should be a luggage rack, as well as a dresser, closet, or wardrobe for clothing. If there is sufficient storage, that allows guests to keep their room neat and tidy.
A Functional Workspace: Each guest will need a dedicated space where they can get some work done. A desk and chair are usually sufficient. There should be power outlets there, as well as convenient lighting.
A Comfortable Sleeping Area: Finally, each hotel room needs to have a bed that offers support and comfort. It should have quality linens and pillows. Since the bed can be considered the focal point of the room, it should be easily accessible.
You should also be aware as a hotelier that you might have legal or brand requirements having to do with a room’s layout to which you must adhere. These will typically depend on a hotel’s affiliation with a collection or brand, as well as its location.
Most of these requirements have to do with general safety. Depending on who you have identified as your target customer, you might explore the corporate travel requirements of the companies that supply business travel in your region.
The larger corporations will probably ask about your hotel’s configurations or bring up other subjects that the average consumer might not. They may ask about safety features if that is part of the company’s corporate policy.
If you know that attracting the business of such companies will be instrumental in your hotel’s success, then it will certainly be helpful to familiarize yourself with that company’s needs before you make any room layout decisions or design any floor plans. Once you have answers to these questions, solutions and ideas will begin to take shape. You can start to design rooms that will appeal more to your specific customers.
When you create separation between the spaces in a room, you should optimize the flow for interactions within that space. For instance, you may have a mixture of families staying with you on the weekends and business travelers during the weeks. This may equate to more flexibility in your layout elements.
Your hotel room floor plans will start to resemble more than just doors and walls. The paths of the potential guests who will be walking through the rooms should become easier for you to envision.
Hotels that are part of a chain will probably have fewer options available to them when it comes to room setups, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. If you belong to a larger brand, it will likely have requirements as to what your rooms are supposed to look like.
You can review the hotel chain’s resources, looking at things like furniture options and preferred suppliers. Deciding between the available options should become even easier once you also have some idea of your specific requirements and goals.
Now, let’s look at some traditional examples of hotel room layouts.
There are always going to be different hotel room sizes, and different hotel room types as well. However, you can almost always count on a hotel having a standard room that is duplicated again and again on each floor.
In this type of room, you will have a standard double or queen-sized bed. You may even have a king in some instances. Whichever one the room has, it will be situated in a rectangular space. The bathroom will be the only separate space in the hotel room, complete with a door.
You will want to have some separation between the work and sleep areas. You can usually achieve this with the positioning of a desk and chairs.
The work area will have furniture set up in such a way that suggests this part of the room is for being awake and active. The rest of the room will be taken up by the bed for sleep and relaxation.
A step up from the traditional or standard hotel room will be the luxury one. In many hotels, there will be fewer luxury rooms than standard ones.
In most cases, the layout for these rooms will be similar to that of the traditional room. However, there will be some distinguishing features that mark this one as being more opulent or luxurious.
You can expect these rooms to have some additional square footage. They should have access to premium spaces as well. These might include a balcony or another way to see a view that the ordinary rooms do not have. The bathtub may be larger and have jets. There might be luxury appliances. There may be an additional bed or a larger one.
You can potentially upsell a guest who arrives and has a standard or traditional room booked. You can extol the virtues of one of these more luxurious rooms to each customer when they’re checking in.
If you know your target audience or market, that can benefit you when it comes to selling your luxury rooms. If you have set them up with features that are likely to appeal to your most frequent customers, what you describe as being in a luxury room might resonate with them.
Many hotels will have a few suites as well. These ones are normally larger and more luxurious than either of the other two options we’ve mentioned.
With a suite, there should be a separate area for sleeping and one for working. There will probably be a closing door between them.
The sleeping area will also have furniture where a family can gather, relax, and spend time together. The door will close on an office-like space where an individual can get some work done in the midst of their travels.These rooms will often have a kitchen space as well.
Depending on who you expect to be staying in your suites, you can make other decisions regarding the furniture and other necessities. You might install doors that shut quietly. Perhaps you’ll install blackout curtains. Some suites may have an additional small bathroom.
If you are operating a hotel that has smaller rooms, what you choose to do with that space becomes even more vital. You can’t waste even a centimeter.
You will need to prioritize only what is most essential in the room. This is often where multifunctional furniture can come into the picture.
You might have a seating area that can quickly be converted into a dining area. A workspace may become a breakfast bar with a few slight adjustments.
Now, let’s conclude with a few additional hotel room layout tips for hoteliers.
Optimization of small spaces is a clever thing you can do that your potential guests should appreciate. This often includes the addition of features like sliding doors, open wall hanging options for clothing rather than closets, stacking side tables, and fold-down desks.
If you can learn to optimize small spaces, your guest rooms can appear more attractive to a wider variety of customers. They will appreciate that you’re taking advantage of all the available space to enhance their experience.
The addition of multi-functional design elements can work in your favor as well. You might add some small ottomans that can provide additional seating in rooms where the hotel guest wants to do some entertaining.
If you install a swivel desk, the room’s occupant can choose which view they want when they sit there. If a room has a kitchenette with some raised seating, that can turn into an additional workspace option for a guest who is traveling for a work-related purpose.
Depending on whether your hotel is part of a chain or representative of a larger brand, you may have more or less flexibility with what you can do with the layout of your rooms. If you’re an independent hotel, you will have more options, and you can get creative if you like.
However, don’t forget that when a guest stays in one of your rooms, they will probably expect it to conform to certain conventions or norms that have long been established in the hotel industry. You can always tinker with a hotel room’s layout, but you want the guest to still have access to everything that they might reasonably expect.
Making sure you have an accurate description and photos of each room before a guest books ensures they know exactly what they’re getting.
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