What does the post-pandemic future look like for one of hospitality’s key public spaces? A recent #FrameLive event charted the hotel lobby’s future.

As hotels in key territories begin to reopen, the first impressions they make on long absent guests will be critical. Which new rituals are reformatting the heart of these destinations, and what will stay the same? We investigated what’s next for the hotel lobby during the talk, which brought together Frame editorial director Robert Thiemann, Ed Ng, co-founder of AB Concept, Glenn Pushelberg, co-founder of Yabu Pushelberg and Larry Traxler, senior vice president of Global Design Services for Hilton. 

As Traxler put it during the panel: ‘We are evolving back into a new normal. And that new normal is starting to look remarkably like it did in 2019, with a few aspects that have been put in place to give people comfort – to come out of their home cocoons – and start travelling with comfort and ease again.’ Here are three main takeaways from the discussion.

Cover and above: New York City's Moxy Times Square Hotel, designed by Yabu Pushelberg, is 'anchored by flexible, vibrant spaces that spark a sense of community, connectivity and youthful vigour.'

Guests need choices 

In hospitality environments Pushelberg thinks it’s necessary to give people the choice to design their own lobby experience based on their comfort levels, creating programming that suits the needs of guests who seek extroverted and introverted spaces alike. ‘It’s important to work from the side of the customer, because ultimately, that’s how you’ll satisfy the goals of the hotel. Part of our duty is to really think hard about what the customer wants and how the pandemic has affected them,’ he explained. He notes the need to find 'kind and gentle' solutions. 

‘Post pandemic, we of course need to address all those issues of cleanliness, of ease – of getting around without being too close to people. But the customer ultimately should have the choice. Over history, hotels have always been social centres, and that’s really what I think people still want from them. Creating artificial barriers in social environments . . . that is the antithesis of what people emotionally desire.’

A CGI of W Residences Algarve, the first W Hotel location in Portugal, designed by AB Concept. It opened this spring.

Experiences are (still) key

‘We're starting to see much higher demand from our guests for creating experiences,’ shared Traxler. Echoing Pushelberg, he said: ‘People do want human contact. We’re really starting to think about transactional spaces – or transitional spaces – in a different way, like creating connecting corridors between a lobby space and the lifts or a F&B venue and making those places where people can land . . . spaces that are energized and dispersed in terms of their density.’

Ng sees hotel lobby design – and hotel design itself – going in two ‘polarized directions.’ On one hand, he pointed out that people have gotten increasingly accustomed to more casual lifestyles during the pandemic, and that should be mirrored in luxury experiences. At the same time, though, ‘we’re also craving more monumental moments that really imprint in our mind,’ he said. Lobby interiors that strike a balance between these needs will be essential for success. 

A render of Canopy by Hilton London City, which is slated to open 27 July.

Hotels are here to stay

‘The hotel industry is not going away, as some people have said, even suggesting that maybe New York City was going away – but we see real estate in New York booming at pre-pandemic levels,’ emphasized Traxler, who stated that, in some markets, Hilton’s hotels are already outperforming 2019’s peak travel demands. ‘Now, anybody who's in the design industry that was slow in hospitality last year, has moved into residential, and they're expanding their entire operation, because both are booming now. The hospitality and residential sectors have been the big winners coming out of this. We're going to start seeing a new age where there's additional creativity and new opportunities to reinvent the hotel experience because people have been away for a while.’

Watch the full talk here:


WORDS
 LAUREN GRACE MORRIS
LAUREN GRACE MORRIS RECAP HOTEL INSIGHTS HOSPITALITY FRAMELIVE HILTON YABU PUSHELBERG HOTEL LOBBY SOCIAL SPACES AB CONCEPT