Word: designators
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 2000-2009
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
These new travelers are far more adventurous, far more curious and far more tech-focused than their parents. "They're interested in things that are a lot less traditional, things that have much greater personality and the experiences that are a little less predictable," says Yesawich, "which is why design has become the primary basis of differentiation for these lifestyle hotels. They don't want stuff that looks like it was all shipped out of the same warehouse in North Carolina...
Both Aloft and NYLO hope to attract locals to the lobbies and thus appeal to the new traveler's desire to experience regional flavor while moving around the country. NYLO not only has design features that play up the locality, like cowhide rugs and glass chandeliers in the shape of antlers in Texas, but, like Aloft, also will offer local entertainment such as bands, art shows and movie nights, along with staff members who may be desk clerks by day but are dancers, writers and artists by night...
...design its 15 hotels and the 12 more coming this year, Anhut says the company looked to retailers such as Barnes & Noble, Starbucks and Nordstrom rather than demographics for inspiration and used retail-store designers to create some of the spaces. Anhut, like McGuinness, talks about a hotel that provides an experience--notes to guests are written in haiku, and the staff comes from behind the desks to help with luggage or discuss the best local restaurants. "Their customer is maybe a little more conservative than Aloft," says Chris Woronka, an analyst who follows the hotel industry for Deutsche Bank...
...them by. Marriott redesigned the lobby of its Fair Oaks, Va., location with a bar, communal-seating areas and a snack area. "It used to be that guests went in the room and latched the door," says Brian King of Courtyard. "Now they want to come out." The new design will be rolled out at most of the 700 locations by 2010. Like Aloft, Marriott is also eliminating the long, chest-high check-in desk, replacing it with pods that will allow clerks to step out and interact with guests...
...analyst thinks perhaps some companies have read a little too much market research and forgotten why people like hotels. "They can be inclusive and have casual design," says the analyst, who asked not to be named, "and still offer a reward in travel--like traditional pampering. That's probably going to have to be added to a few of these concepts." Freitag says it will be interesting to see how well Aloft and others can penetrate a segment that Hilton and Marriott currently own. "Will they win a piece? Yes. But how big?" says Freitag. "That's the $12 billion...