The hotel lobby has always been a combination welcome mat, front door and sitting room for guests. But lately, it’s become so much more: lounge, collaborative workspace, even a lab for resident mixologists.
So while pop-up bars and mini art galleries are part of the scenery in today’s lobby, “high-energy” was something hoteliers wanted to avoid – at least in the 1980s, when the Baltimore Washington International Holiday Inn updated its look.
The airport hotel was facing increasing competition for business travelers, and in Hotels & Restaurants International’s June 1987 issue, it was featured as an example of an effective lobby remodel.
The hotel gutted its coffee shop and added smaller, more cozy F&B spaces. The ground-floor restaurant was subdivided. The lobby bar was raised, centered in the space and given a more intimate, residential atmosphere – with warm woods, a granite bar and overstuffed chairs – to cater to guests who checked out at noon to relax while they waited for afternoon flights or have last-minute meetings.
“We discovered that travelers do not want a high-energy bar at this time of day,” the director of design explained.
Some priorities for contemporary lobby designers may have changed – for instance, the lounge carpeting was black with a confetti pattern chosen to hide cigarette burns – but no matter how they express it, designers are still focused on the comfort of the guest above all.
Look for more design innovations in HOTELS’ June issue, which focuses on hot trends in design, F&B and technology, and features interviews with change-making hoteliers from around the globe.
#ThrowbackThursday takes place weekly in 2016 to celebrate HOTELS’ 50th anniversary.