According to award-winning designer Pierre-Yves Rochon, ‘the future of the hotel is space’. ‘The rooms of the future will be bigger,’ he explains. ‘The division of space used for working, dressing and the bathroom combined should take up half of the room: sleep uses only 2sq m.’

Experienced hotel architect Patrick Reardon agrees. ‘Wherever possible, guestrooms, especially at the luxury end, are becoming bigger and the footprint of the bathroom is becoming a larger percentage of the overall guestroom area,’ he says.

In the present climate where travellers are looking to get the most from their money, hotel designers and operators need to research the expectations of hotel clientele, and space is one of a number of considerations being taken into account in high-end hotel design.

Pleasing regular guests was a concern for Guy Oliver when renewing The Connaught in London. ‘They were afraid that is was going to be modernised in a way that would take away from its atmosphere,’ he says. ‘I wanted the hotel to have a fresh feel but also to respect its heritage and for it to feel like a private home rather than a hotel. The Connaught room or suite style is to have the feeling of being in a private house but with incredible staff looking after your every need.’

The renewal of existing features while updating the look is the focus of refurbishment projects such as Rochon’s Savoy. ‘The Savoy should be traditional English design, not a PYR-design hotel,’ Rochon comments. ‘I had to learn the British style. Some rooms were listed. We had to improve the rooms to feel they are new, with respect for the past.’

Designs that are easily adaptable is another consideration in hotel design. Sabine Scsepka is a consultant for Austrian practice LAB Architects, whose concept for The Ring in Vienna she describes as ‘new modern Viennese’ without being ‘cheesy tourist.’ The hotel’s ‘cafe au lait’ palette was implemented to lend itself to future alterations. ‘There is a large trend towards refurbishment in three to eight years,’ explains Scsepka. ‘We used a warm neutral base of dark brown, cream and beige, and the accents are in fabrics, bedclothes and curtains,’ – items that are easily changed.

Resilient furniture and fabrics are, of course, chosen for longevity. High performance, mould and mildew resistant fabrics supplied by firms like Agua Fabrics can help room designs and case goods last longer. The choices designers and their hotel group clients make regarding case goods can also depend on image and housekeeping. ‘Some, like Firmdale, want a sense of luxury and vibrant colours’ says Rodney McMahon, managing director of Morgan Contract Furniture. ‘Others play safe. For example, four-star hotels use faux leather for easy maintenance.’

After a wise expenditure on room staples, attention falls on gadgets. It doesn’t appear that budgets are being spent differently to accommodate such things as audiovisual equipment; rather the key is whether the guests will use what is provided.

‘In a hotel room, you want to find things you take for granted at home. You expect it when you’re spending £175+ per night,’ says David Morris, director of Proof Consultancy, which is currently working on the riverside Queensbridge House hotel in London.

Morris highlights ‘connectivity’ as a major concern for the future, because despite many hotel rooms currently guaranteeing high speed and/or wireless internet, DVD and CD players, travellers find that ‘they can’t interface with facilities in the room,’ explains Morris. He mentions Accor’s multimedia panel that allows guests to connect mp3 players and laptops to a flatscreen TV and play music or use the TV as their computer screen using WiFi. Thus, he argues, a business traveller does not need a large room, just the right equipment in it to get the job done.

Frederik Aspegren, general manager of Columbus Monaco, believes that while state-of-the-art technology and gaming can be fun for the leisure traveller, ‘after a while it becomes too much, and they start looking for comfort,’ he says. ‘You can’t build comfort just around the technologymad minority.’

Chelsea-based interior designer Helen Green also recognises that technology has its place, but also its limits in today’s guest room or suite. ‘Technology is hugely important to ensure the guests can use laptops, televisions, iPods and telephones with minimum fuss,’ she says. ‘Technology moves quickly and hotels have to carefully manage how to maintain a modern feel without having toconstantly change AV equipment. The challenge of the designer is to recognise which trends are passing phases and which are here to stay.’

Brian Williams, managing director of Swire Hotels, says the group’s research into customer preferences has revealed a dislike for some technology. ‘Many customers have told us that some hotels are becoming too “hightech”, so much so that it is hard to work out,’ Williams explains. ‘We have opted to keep technology efficient and available but as simple to use as possible.’ Swire Hotels’ newest venture, The Opposite House in Beijing, uses such ‘efficient’ technology in bedside controls for window blinds and lighting.

‘High definition TV and high speed internet links in all rooms as standard,’ is John Stefanidis’ prediction for the future. ‘There will be a trend for simpler, less ostentatious hotels with an emphasis on great design and comfort,’ he adds.

Helen Green is expecting the desire for comfort to prevail in the coming years. ‘We are designing towards greater comfort and away from the minimalist styles which were prevalent in the early part of the decade,’ she says.

However, this point has not been agreed by all. Ceri Hayzer and Annalie York of Malmaison designers Vivid Interiors, anticipate a split in which designers will select ‘either minimalist design or opulent boutique styles.’

Aside from the gadgets, designers and operators agree that in principle, guest rooms ought to evoke a sense of place, avoiding global carbon copies within a hotel chain. At The Opposite House, architect Kengo Kuma included elements of Chinese decor and used reclaimed Chinese oak to make the floors, furniture and bathtubs. Designer and consultant Rachel McLane describes her work on the Feversham Arms boutique hotel in Yorkshire as a ‘typically English home from home,’ with heritage colours, wood burning stoves and oak beams.

Chris Sanderson, co-founder of trend forecaster The Future Laboratory, has identified a trend he calls ‘bleisure’ (ie business and leisure). He expects guest rooms to be more humanised, with more colour and soft furnishings plus better soundproofing and tactile finishes.

‘The distinctions between work and play are dissolving, particularly amongst people in their mid to late twenties,’ Sanderson says, and cites recent American research by the Travel Industry Association, which reports that over 60 per cent of business travellers now add a leisure component to at least one trip per year, and that two thirds are accompanied on trips by family or friends. This, he says, is an indication that hotel operators will soon ‘not be able to tell the difference between who is a business traveller and who is not’.

This piece was first published in the January 2009 issue of idFX Magazine