Going local, buying well, and playing it safe

By Marni Andrews

When Fairmont Hotels & Resorts decided to renovate The Fairmont Monte Carlo in Monaco, a landmark 602-room hotel fashioned after a yacht that had opened in 1975 as one of the first North American-inspired hotels in Europe, they knew they had to remain true to the hotel's design origins, says Giulio Artico, executive director, design and construction, Fairmont Hotels & Resorts.

Laurence Tisch of Loews Corporation and CBS had been instrumental in getting the hotel built. Princess Grace of Monaco (the former Grace Kelly from the U.S.) was involved as well. With such history as a backdrop to the renovation, it was evident to the company that the interior designer had to be American. Fairmont selected Wilson and Associates of New York, who focused on reestablishing the “docked yacht” design concept that had given the hotel its character.

“The fit was perfect and the product when completed was truly remarkable,” says Artico of the renovation that took place between January 2006 and April 2009.

While a successful renovation will incorporate a design that reflects the intent of head office so that there are no surprises at the end, sometimes inspiration can be found much closer to home than in the Monaco project. When the owners of the Jupiter Hotel in Portland, Oregon decided to renovate their guestrooms, they deliberately looked for local designers to get a creative, unique look.

"Staying local felt like the right choice," says Kelsey Bunker, who owns the property with Tod Breslau. "Having the new furniture produced in Portland instead of overseas matches our passion for making a smaller carbon footprint."

The Jupiter's renovated guestrooms have custom-designed desks and headboards, new linens and pillows, mod chandeliers, and 32-inch flat screen TVs. One of the designs by Portland’s Colin Fjeld is a desk/bench combination with zebrawood drawers and legs set at futuristic angles. Some guestrooms feature a handpainted wall mural of yellow bamboo. Combined with a charcoal carpet, white walls, window sheers in mustard yellows, and warm zebrawood, the rooms practically sing “clean and crisp.”

The newly renovated Marriott Renaissance Hotel in Vancouver also incorporated a multi-function desk in guestrooms that doubles as a dresser, according to Evangeline Imperial, director of sales and marketing. Imperial describes the overall renovation at the harbour-side city hotel as breaking Marriott out of the “sea of sameness” to stand out from other hotels. One of the focus areas was the lobby, which after the redesign introduced “Lobby Zones” that integrate business and social functions seamlessly. The Renaissance calls the relaxed yet productive work zones of “Cubbies” and modular tables and chairs “Public Privacy.”
 
Distinctive design, no clutter
Olivier Begin agrees completely with sourcing distinctive design, whether close by or farther afield. He is the district manager of Foliot Furniture, which offers hotel casegoods, seating and bathroom vanities.

“More and more hotels are concentrating on design to differentiate themselves from their competitors. They realize that if you offer the same product as your neighbour, at the end of the day it comes down to a price war and that’s not good for business.”

Renovations usually start with window and bed treatments along with wall vinyl and carpet. A complete in-room reno will also include seating, lighting, art prints and case goods, explains Lorne Grey, president of Contract Partners of North America (CPNA), which specializes in hotel furnishings, casegoods and seating.

Grey is seeing oversized headboards, often with centre panels in double rooms and end panels in single rooms to integrate the lighting so that nightstands have more tabletop room. Wall-mounted TV’s are replacing the older style TV armoire, which makes rooms look bigger, he adds. Not having to replace the armoire and integrating the lighting into headboards can actually save money even after purchasing the TV wall panels and larger headboards.

“The biggest trend is removing the clutter in guest bedrooms,” says Glen Blake, president of Howard Johnson Canada Franchise Systems Limited, with 55 independently owned and operated properties open across Canada. “Another is enhancement of the sleep experience.”

“It is important to ensure that you are spending renovation dollars in the right areas to maximize your return on investment,” says Blake. “There is no sense in renovating 100 per cent of your guest bedrooms if you haven’t made any updates to your exterior to help reposition your property.”

Art is one such area that can really upgrade the interior appeal of a property if selected well. Don Ross is the owner of ManorHill Fine Art, a contractor service for hotel art. He recommends placing art in key visual locations to get the most visual impact. There are just a few such walls in a hotel, according to Ross, and they include reception, perhaps a main hall, the dining room, a key conference room or a banquet hall.

"New artwork can provide an updated look at a very affordable price considering its visual impact," he says. His most popular theme is the landscape, especially peaceful scenes featuring colour and water.

Northland Art Company is a publisher/distributor of reproductions from some of Canada's most important historical artists such as the Group of Seven as well as some contemporary masters. Marketing manager Deborah Bremner says that a number of hotels and resorts in Ontario's cottage regions of Muskoka and Georgian Bay have purchased Group of Seven reproductions since these are the areas where many of the originals were painted.
 
Quality for the long haul
Grey of CPNA is adamant about the necessity of paying for quality, since ongoing maintenance is costly and a property should ideally be able to keep new furnishings for 10 years, maintenance free, and sell them to smaller properties at the end of that cycle.

“Quality never costs as much as it saves,” he says, citing a property he knows of in the Toronto area that wanted to save money. They elected to use cheaper furniture with ironed-on veneer edging tape and melamine drawers with inexpensive drawer guides.
“After nine months, [I have heard that] they have an ongoing maintenance problem,” he says. “This property did not save a thing and I am sure that guests will pick up on the quality of the product.”

Lucie Carbonneau, general manager of JSP Industries Inc., which produces all-wood, upper end furniture, says that the most successful renos are those that improve look and comfort such that the property feels like a brand new hotel. To achieve that, carpet, linen, fixtures and sometimes furniture will need to be replaced, she says.

“If well chosen, furniture can last for two décor changes, normally up to eight years. But this is not true for lower quality product or pieces that are too ‘hip.’ Customers are not easily fooled by a quick [change up front] without the underlying feeling,” says Carbonneau.

"The main [design] goals for the chains right now are comfort and feel," says Andrea Faggion, marketing manager, Sita Enterprises Ltd., which imports high quality Italian chair frames. "[They're] plush, upholstered and with fabric and finishes that are warm and 'homey.'"

Faggion says that quality, detail and longevity of product are all being emphasized, even to the point of sacrificing economics. Sita's best selling frames are the modern "X" back and the classical Louis XVI with the fully upholstered Parsons frame much less in demand. Popular finish colours are medium walnut, espresso and chocolate.

“It’s all about feeling at home in a hotel room,” agrees Leo Vogel, senior vice-president of sales and marketing, American of Martinsville, which provides custom and semi-custom casegoods and upholstered seating for the hospitality industry. “Casegoods are being created to embody a home office feel and a family room retreat.”

Another trend, says Vogel, is the use of alternate materials such as quartz and laminated mirror as a casegood material. In lobbies, he is seeing modules and “comfy” meeting spaces that retain an open, inviting feel.

“We see owners concentrating on the guest experience, specifically refreshing public areas and guestrooms to create an enhanced perception of the property,” says Lin Saplys, project director of the Chamberlain Companies, which offer integrated design and construction project delivery services. “The quality bar is continually rising and to be competitive, especially in a depressed market, you must keep up.”

Timeless, modern design
Michelle Nicholls, director of hospitality for the Brick Hospitality Group (part of The Brick Group), says that hoteliers want to make sure that the changes they make are fairly timeless, enhance the guest experience and that products such as technology/electronics are the latest available in order to maximize dollars spent.

"Other things we're seeing are smaller scale refurbishing projects that include a fresh paint colour, new bedding and linens, an updated headboard and lighting or hoteliers doing renovations in phases," she says. "They may replace casegoods and install flat screen TV's on a floor by floor basis."

Don Folstad is a partner with Dimension 3 Hospitality, which builds and is managing eight hotels currently in Western Canada.

He is noticing that customers are becoming more demanding with features and amenities and that they’re favouring Danish-inspired design—straight lines, heavy sections in terms of woods, and away from the dark woods into more ombre shades.

“There’s a marked trend toward much more contemporary design that is far different than what the average person might have in their own home,” he says.

“With flat panel TVs, two years ago the standard was 32 inches, now it’s up to about 40 inches. And it may go larger as costs continue to go down.”

Saplys of the Chamberlain Companies is seeing a lot of renovation activity with the relaunch of entry level, full-service hotels.

“The IHG relaunch of brand awareness has been a major catalyst for many of our projects. As is Hilton’s introduction of the reno brand Doubletree, which has spurred the rebranding of older hotels. Doubletree will become very visible throughout Canada in the next few years. The Starwood Group has also been aggressive with regard to renovations and rebranding,” adds Saplys.

In terms of plumbing fittings and washrooms, chrome finished contemporary-styled products are proving popular with hotels, says Peter Ashton, commercial sales development manager for Masco Canada Limited, which manufactures and supplies brand name plumbing-related products.

“Technology is an important element making its way into the bath,” says Donna Church, manager of marketing & communications, Kohler Canada, which offers a wide variety of plumbing fixtures.

For upper end renos, she notes Kohler High-Performance Gravity-fed technologies that deliver very high-powered bulk flushing power and clean performance for toilets. For showers, the DTV II unit provides music, ambient lighting, chromatherapy and steam through a sleek digital interface.

Sustainability continues
“Although sustainability is now really a way of life, we continue to see its impact on Canadian hotels. Beyond simply installing efficient plumbing products, hotels are also encouraging visitors to actively do their part. Hotels are responding by choosing sustainable options such as high-efficiency toilets, water conserving showerheads and aerators for faucets,” says Donna Church of Kohler, who adds that natural materials such as glass and cast iron and earthy colours are popular choices as they contribute to the theme of sustainability.

American of Martinsville is seeing a lot of interest in green materials, according to Leo Vogel.

Claudio Nigra, sales and marketing director, ProTerra LED, says that lighting can use upwards of 25 per cent of the industry’s electrical needs and it remains an ongoing priority for improvement.

ProTerra’s linear LEDs can be installed as a line of white-balanced LED chips into existing fluorescent tube fixtures. The cost savings and “green” advantages come from the highly extended lifespan of the LED system, the components of which are warranted by Samsung to last a minimum of 50,000 hours.

ProTerra is dealing with an American hotel chain who want to use the LED technology for its planned renovations of storage and public areas.

Value of staff buy-in
Giulio Artico of Fairmont Hotels & Resorts has learned that "the people on the ground" tend to know operational issues very well and that including their opinions in a renovation project can be fruitful. Artico says he never discounts any comments or suggestions he receives from staff when he meets them in a corridor, or from repeat guests.

"With staff, [a renovation] is interesting and exciting. They get to see the project evolve on a daily basis. They look forward to the final product and are always curious and happy to give their opinion," he says.

Ajay Nehru, owner of the Days Inn Edmonton Downtown, discovered the value of staff opinion while renovating his property, which at 12 months and more than $2 million, was three times as long and twice as expensive as he'd anticipated. Much of this was due to unforeseen plumbing and electrical issues. He knew however that he wanted to include staff in some of the decision making.

"We shortlisted the carpet samples and solicited the opinions of staff. The result was two-fold: staff shared a great deal of practical knowledge such as how a particular carpet would hold up against stains. Second, they were involved in the decision-making process and as a result we received great buy-in with respect to the renovations," says Nehru.

At the end of the day, it is still a relatively tough lodging market given the economy in the U.S. and to a lesser extent Canada.

The hotels in the upper end have suffered most but all have realized that remaining highly competitive, whatever their class, is of primary importance to retain consumer appeal. Renovations are one obvious route to that end.