Hotel interior designs - the best and the worst from insider Sandy Walter
What is your background?
I am American born who up until recently lived in Macau. I have lived in many cities in the US, England and throughout the world. My career began as an elementary teacher and then after 10 years in education and a Masters degree, I then returned to University for a degree in Interior Design. I pursued the design field with my first major position as Senior Interior Designer for Club Corporation of America. Club Corporation had over 300 country clubs, city clubs and athletic clubs throughout the world including several in Asia. In 1985, I created my own interiors company focusing on hospitality design, restaurants, private clubs, hotels and high -end residential work. It was at this time that together with my partner, we bought a two-star Michelin Restaurant called The Box Tree in Ilkley, West Yorkshire, England. During my time as owner and operator of this wonderful jewel box of a restaurant, I gained invaluable knowledge into how design affects business and the bottom line. Being the end-user and the person developing the budget, provided great insight and empathy for an operations team. It is not only about designing a beautiful ambiance that is important; but how that design functions, which makes it perfect.
In 2003, Ginn Clubs and Resorts in Celebration, Florida (yes that’s the name of the town) hired me as Senior Vice President of Interior Design. With this corporation, we handled the turn-key responsibilities from design through construction, purchasing and then onto operations.
In 2006, through the pursuit of a headhunter, I moved to Macau and became part of Wynn Macau’s pre-opening team. This was an amazing experience for 5 ½ years. After the opening of Wynn Macau and Encore, I joined Sands China Ltd. as Director of Design for the new development of the St Regis and Parisian Macau Hotel.
What kind of projects have you undertaken?
I have worked on everything from hotels to high end residential, offices, retirement villages and everything in between. Some highlights of my career include a 92-foot ocean going yacht and a US$60,000 playhouse for a very lucky little girl. I have covered the gamut of interior design to date!
What was your favorite and why?
My favorite area of interior design is definitely hospitality. And in remembering my favorite projects, we once developed and designed a private luncheon club and managed it for 7 years! The Peachtree Club is at the penthouse level or 28th floor of the 999 Peachtree building in Atlanta, Georgia. I was involved in every single aspect of the Club design, F&B concepts, graphics, purchasing, installation and then management. It was great to see the project through and then to finally run the operation. We created fantastic private parties, wine tastings and Celebrity Chef dinners to add to the experience at this deluxe private club.
What are some of the smartest hotel guest room design ideas you have seen?
The beautiful minibar and tea cabinet at St Regis Macau is one of my favorites. The exterior finish is a glamourous Rosewood and Kinon combination with high gloss lacquer finish in a vivid aqua blue! Stunning! The best designs are simple with well thought out details!
How about some challenges?
The challenging aspect is working closely with the operations team to meet their requirements, needs and desires while providing an aesthetically pleasing guest room. It is a tough nut to combine and balance these two objectives.
In terms of operational challenges, white leather is probably the hardest material to maintain and to keep looking good as it soils and quickly deteriorates. Wooden floors and velour or velvet upholstery are also difficult to manage as the room’s age and cause maintenance nightmares!
The worst designs are usually the designs that are too complicated or make the guests’ stay uncomfortable or awkward. Today’s guest wants simplicity, fewer buttons to find and ease of use. They don’t want to spend an eternity working out how to switch on and off equipment and utilities.
What would you suggest is the best process when undertaking guestroom design?
The first stage is the initial conceptual phase that includes presentation boards with perspective renderings, fabrics, furniture, lighting, accessories and artwork images. These are presented to the operations team and owners for their comments, additions and approvals. After approvals are achieved, the Design and Development team will create a mock up room. Ideally, the operations team and owners will provide input at the concept and design stages and kept apprised of the changes and inclusions throughout the process; however this does not always go as planned.
The best mock up rooms are those which are plumbed and wired so they can be critiqued properly through use and to be slept in; though this is not often possible. Once the mock up room is approved, the project moves into construction, purchasing and then installation phases. It is essential to work closely with the purchasing team including factory visits and also ensuring the specified items are fabricated in the correct manner. Many a bad decision has come about as purchasing may not understand that to compromise on the standards and specifications will comprise the overall design.
And often the Operations team, including Housekeeping and Management, don’t get any say until it is too late.
Any words of wisdom for hotel housekeepers?
Housekeeping should always ensure they receive the design and maintenance manuals with all finishes and materials. This must include the correct specifications and details for every piece of fabric, furniture, lighting and carpets. Having the supplier details is critical and ensures there is correct translation on all the specifications. In this manner, Housekeeping can protect the goods throughout their lives and keep the property looking fresh and beautiful.
Having knowledge of the goods may not appear to be of great importance; but overall being educated and understanding some basics in design can be exceptionally useful.