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- Discussion Paper 1: Working Internationally
- Discussion Paper 2: Restoring Grand Hotels
- Discussion Paper 3: The Science of Hotel Operational Planning
- Discussion Paper 4: The Architect’s Role On-Site
- Discussion Paper 5: What do Six Stars Really Mean?
- Discussion Paper 6: The Benefit of a Specialist Architect
- Discussion Paper 7: Resolving Design Issues Prior to Construction
The Science of Hotel Operational Planning
By Kevin Miller, Principal Director
Over recent years, I have spent the majority of my time on hotel operational planning. We see a great number of schemes prepared by others and it is reasonably easy to identify those architects who haven’t designed a hotel before. The guestrooms and front-of-house are, in the main, well thought out but, among novice hotel architects, there is usually little, or no, thought given to how the hotel operates behind the scenes.
Take, for example, hotel entrances, of which there are essentially four: one for staying guests, another for conference delegates, the third for goods and the fourth for employees. In a small budget hotel, everything could come through the front door and the separation of the four elements merge into one.
However, the greater challenge occurs with upper market hotels. Here, hotel guests should not clash with conference delegates so their respective circulation and servicing routes should not intersect. Hotel employees, let alone guests, should never have to come in contact with the delivery of perishable items or the removal of refuse. In the best-planned up-market hotels, no guest sees the servicing performance beyond housekeeping or room service in guestroom corridors. These should remain not only invisible but also efficiently planned to reduce travel distances and, if possible, to separate the delivery of clean elements, such as housekeeping items, from perishable produce. How often do we see schemes where there is no thought given to the distribution of goods from the delivery dock to the various parts of the building and their onward progression to the guest area.
For any owner or developer to persuade an operator to come on board, or for a building to be financed, there needs to be an intelligent analysis and a resulting design scheme worthy of serious consideration by the various parties. Clients need efficient pathways through what is essentially an ants’ nest of numerous tunnels leading to the Queen which, in our case, is the guest. Long live the Queen!
Email kmiller@reardonsmith.com to respond
