Chris Blackwell, owner of Island Outpost Hotels
Simplicity is the key to future hotel success, says Blackwell, founder of
Jamaica-based Island Outpost hotels and the man who brought Bob Marley to
the world on Island Records.
“And the key to simplicity is a beautiful location and good food. I believe in
letting the location - nature - be the star,” says Blackwell. Fancy design
is better suited to city hotels.
He adds: “I use fresh local food, that's a minimum requirement now. It means I
cut down on importing, and it's healthier.”
Another important consideration for guests is music. All his rooms come with
CD players - and a selection of reggae, naturally.
Victoria Mather, travel editor of Vanity Fair
Free phone calls and free minibars are only a matter of time, predicts Mather.
She believes travellers going to top-end hotels are “sick to death” of
endless extra charges: “If a hotel costs a lot it shouldn't nickel and dime
over small things.”
Regarding free minibars, she said: “High end travellers are not going to get
wasted. But they'll find being charged for a Scotch in the evening when they
get back to their room extremely annoying.”
Complimentary internet is essential: “No hotel should ever charge.” As is free
mineral water: “The worst thing in the world is to be charged for water.
It's disgusting.”
Caroline Raphael, editor of the Good Hotel Guide
Foreign staff at British hotels are “fantastic” and the more that come to work
here the better, says Raphael. Why? “Wonderful people from Poland and the
other East European countries have a tradition of high-quality service.”
She admits that this has a drawback: “In some ways it's a shame as you can go
to a hotel in Scotland and not be served by a single Scottish person.” But
overall, foreign workers are positive, ending the “them and us” attitude
towards guests, Raphael says.
Robin Hutson, director of Soho House
Wired-up guests who check out the latest website reviews on sites such as
Times Online and TripAdvisor will finish off any hotels that still offer
“smelly carpets and uncomfortable beds”, says Hutson, who co-founded the
chic Hotel du Vin chain.
The online world is bringing a fierce meritocracy to the hotel industry, he
says. “If a place is not up to scratch, then it will get a roasting on a
review website. The result is likely to be better service and a return to
the “traditional essence of good hotel-keeping”.
Sinclair Beecham, owner of the Hoxton Hotel, London
People need to “stop wasting hot air talking about service” and “give guests
what they really want”, says the no-nonsense Beecham, who has moved into
hotels after co-founding the Pret a Manger sandwich chain. “Everyone talks
about 'improving service', but then they don't actually do anything.”
Guests want “practical things”, he says. At his Shoreditch hotel these include
retail price snacks; fresh milk in minibars; 3p-a-minute calls; free
newspapers; and five budget-airline-style rooms every night for £1 each.
Huw O'Connor, managing director of City Inn
In ten years' time hotels will have computers, not televisions, in rooms,
predicts O'Connor, whose City Inn chain has just introduced iMacs in its
rooms.
They allow guests to watch TV, access the internet, listen to iPods, and video
conference. The latter is possible via webcams. Security is ensured as
computers are wiped when turned off.
Claus Sendlinger, founder of Design Hotels
Sendlinger, whose hotel group prides itself on its design, says: “Minimalism
is going strong. It is really difficult to get right, but you can still have
an 80sq m room with two pillows on the floor and have it look cosy. You just
need to get the textures and the lighting right.”
He rubbishes the idea that service in design hotels is poor: “If it was, why
would people pay so much to stay there?” He added: “Staying at a hotel
should be an event. It's about sharing a philosophy of life.”
Thierry Douin, general manager of the Shangri-La Hotel, Singapore
“Highly personalised treatment of guests” is the way forward, says Douin.
Shangri-La has a computer system that keeps a detailed “guest history” of
customer likes and dislikes. For example, if the guest likes to go jogging a
map with routes will be left in their room. If they don't like to have their
bed turned down, that will be noted for their next stay.
“If you use IT subtly it can be great,” says Douin. “People say: 'How did you
know that?' The information can be as detailed as which side of the bed
slippers should be placed. There's a Guest History Manager at each
Shangri-La hotel.”
Gordon Campbell Gray, owner of One Aldwych in London and Carlisle Bay in
Antigua
Lavish, OTT places will start turning off guests, who are developing a new
understanding of luxury, says Campbell Gray: “Some hotels are jaw-droppingly
ghastly: hoteliers seem to think that if people have money they want
something flash. There's no understatement, and so much ostentation. You get
picked up in white Rolls-Royces with music menus. It's bull****. On the
beach people ask: 'Can I clean your sunglasses?' It's pretentious.”
He believes luxury will be about being careful about carbon footprints,
tasteful art, and touches such as freshly squeezed orange juice.
Olga Polizzi, owner of Hotel Tresanton in Cornwall and Hotel Endsleigh in
Devon
Rooms are going to get bigger, according to hotel owner and designer Polizzi.
Ten years ago most rooms were 35sq m, but this has increased to 45-50sq m.
Polizzi believes people want bigger rooms as the size of homes is getting
smaller: “It's so expensive to buy a large home, especially in London, so
when people stay at a hotel they want space. Space is a real luxury.
Bathrooms are getting bigger and bigger. Separate showers as well as baths
are becoming standard.”
Kit Kemp, co-owner of Firmdale Hotels
High-quality fabrics and original pieces of modern art will mark out the best
hotels from those that won't stand the test of time, says Kemp, who runs
seven London hotels. Kemp commissions pieces from up-and-coming artists, as
well as her own carpets, fabrics and wallpaper.
“It's got to that level now,” she says. Kemp believes that discerning guests
are turning away from places with “cheap furniture made in the Far East”.
Her quality test for fabrics is: “Never use a material that you wouldn't
want to sit on in the nude. It mustn't be too prickly.”
Ken McCulloch, owner of Dakota hotels and the Columbus in Monaco
Stylish design will soon be standard at all top hotels, no matter what the
price range, says McCulloch, the founder of the ground-breaking Malmaison
chain of chic UK four-star hotels. He recently launched Dakota hotels, a hip
chain that prizes itself on offering rooms for less than £100. He says:
“Great design should be a given.”
But he believes that the hotel industry has been cynical as many owners have
introduced “design as a kind of quick fix”. These hotels are “hopeless”
without a culture of good service and good food.
James Lohan, managing director of Mr & Mrs Smith
Lohan believes that all inclusive, “but not in a naff way”, will come into its
own. This will include tipping. “It's all about the customer feeling
comfortable and not having to worry about anything,” says Lohan.
Anouska Hempel, hotelier and owner of Anouska Hempel Design
Bigger rooms divided by screens will replace the traditional bedroom and
bathroom formula, says Hempel, who is partly redesigning her Blakes hotel in
London.
“Spaces have opened up amazingly for me,” she says. “The young are travelling
much more and they need the space to move around in a very different way but
they need to be able to close bits off with screens too...everything will
connect and be fluid.”
I believe that more and more people will start shifting towards designer and boutique apartment and house rentals for their accommodation needs. Hotels in the UK in many cities are incredibly pricey and weak in the quality of the service they are offering. At the same time although it is currently a relatively small market the availability of high end designer serviced and rental apartment and houses is growing rapidly particularly in the UK. For the price of a small double room, with silk cushions on your bed and extortionate internet hire and mineral water charges available in a mid range hotel it is now possible to hire beautifully interior designed, luxury houses in the UK complete with hot tub, molton brown toiletries, jacuzzi and mod cons out of a luxury interior design mag e.g. on sites such as www.myholidaylet.com. I'm sure as this market grows people will just reduce the time in hotels when they can unless it is for 1 day on business.
Angela Hempel, London,
I am not bothered about the fancy toiletries or the minibar - I can supply my own, thank you, although a bottle of still water and a bar of soap that is bigger than a postage stamp are both welcome. What really grates, and cannot be realily supplied by me, is the quite usual absence of a hair dryer, socket and mirror close enough together so that I can see, preferably sitting, to dry my hair, and light levels so low that I cannot comfortably read a book. Two hotels in the Hotel du Vin chain failed miserably on both counts recently and deserve to be roasted for such basic ommisions. (see comment by Robin Hutson)
Lydia Gray, Wigan, UK
In the future, I would like all hotels to have free internet access, and complimentary bottles of water (locally sourced)in the room. Hotels need to become more eco-friendly, and environmentally sustainable.
Jo, Bury St Edmunds, UK