Is your hotel in need of a renovention?
To stay relevant and thrive in the marketplace, it may be time for your hotel to engage in a “renovention.” While renovations are vital to stay competitive, it’s also important to reinvent your hotel to help cater to the evolving needs of your customers. In the hospitality industry, change in guest preferences occurs quickly and constantly. What’s the difference between a renovation and a renovention, and why is it important to the financial health of your hotel and to the guest experience?
National brands typically dictate that their franchisees upgrade their interiors on a seven-to-10-year cycle. Property improvement programs (PIPs) are cosmetic and include refreshing the finishes and replacing worn furniture. After 14-20 years, the renovations are required to be more aggressive with upgrades typically reflecting an evolution of the brand prototype, with internal and external renovations. While refurbishment and “lipstick” are helpful, it’s often insufficient for capturing generational trends and demands.
Renoventions can help raise the hotel’s standing in the marketplace, elevate the guest experience, and increase RevPAR. Renoventions are transformative with a focus on responding to evolving needs of the guests. Gen Z has different expectations than millennials and Gen X. Baby boomers are still a significant part of the travel industry, but they aren’t the future of hospitality design and trends. Who can predict what Generation Alpha will demand?
Renoventions are more than surface aesthetics, new finishes, and comfortable furniture. They require researching trends and market preferences to deeply understand and celebrate the local culture. Historically, storytelling has been reserved for luxury brands in locations with a rich history or in envrionmentally intersting locales. Every location has unique stories to tell and should be celebrated in the renovention.
GIVE THE PEOPLE WHAT THEY WANT
With previous generations, hotel selection often was driven by the room rate, or the availability of a hot shower, a soft pillow, and a sports bar in the lobby. Younger generations demand experiences and leadingedge technologies in their overnight stays. They seek healthy hotels friendly to the environment. They love a good story and interesting details that can be posted on Instagram. Aesthetics are key.
To elevate your hotel above the competition, it may need to be transformed through a renovention. A renovation typically is more temporary, surface-applied, and can be implemented immediately. A renovention will take longer but can be completed in phases during many years. It’s of equal importance for a transient-branded hotel as it is for an independent boutique hotel.
Some principles to consider when renoventing a hotel include:
Tell the story
Discover the unique character of the hotel’s context, history, and culture. Celebrate this story throughout the hotel’s interior and exterior design. This should extend to food and beverage offerings, artwork, accessories, and architectural details. Storytelling helps create meaning and intention for all design elements.
Create experiences and Instagrammable moments
Design a unique courtyard or rooftop amenity with details that promote socialization and encourage selfies. Utilize interesting LED lighting, music, textures, and pleasing aromas to aid in staging experiences. Strengthen these experiences by appealing to all the senses.
Upgrade technology throughout
Offer the most current technological advances, including voice-command systems, customized apps, high-speed internet access, and robotics. Provide remote check-in. Younger generations demand cutting-edge technologies at their fingertips.
Improve the environmental-friendliness
Blur the lines between interior and exterior spaces. Relocate a few parking spaces to create an exterior courtyard with interior spaces spilling outside. Remove heavy drapes and celebrate natural light. Use natural and recycled materials. Add plantings to interior and exterior spaces.
Integrate healthy design strategies
Consider operable walls that allow fresh air into common areas. Introduce germ-killing sunlight into dark areas of the hotel and use ultraviolet germicidal light sources in elevators, heavy traffic areas, and mechanical ductwork. Replace all entry doors with sensor-operating doors. Provide more air movement in commons areas.
Thoughtful renoventions are essential to your hotel’s financial sustainability in the marketplace. New hotel brands are being developed rapidly to meet market demands and become the next big thing. Competition is fierce and being distinctive will create a marketable advantage. A renovention will help elevate your hotel, celebrate the ever-evolving needs of guests, and will transform your hotel into a unique, sought-after destination for travelers of all generations.
