🍍 An ode to boutique hoteliers

Plus: Hospitality as a catalyst for revitalizing neighborhoods

May 10, 2022

This morning I’m flying to New York for Skift’s Future of Lodging Forum. If you’ll be there, let me know and let’s catch up.

In today’s issue, you’ll find:

  • An ode to boutique hoteliers

  • Hospitality as a catalyst for revitalizing neighborhoods

  • Designing transformative environments: reflections from the former design director at Soho House

An ode to boutique hoteliers

“Anytime I have the chance to speak with a boutique hotelier, the conversation without fail always turns to talking about the importance of community - and I love that,” Dana Miller writes for Hotels News Now.

“It's my belief that after more than two years of practicing isolation and social distancing, more and more people will be yearning for the days of close human connection again. A common theme I hear from boutique hoteliers is they want nothing more than to have their properties be an extension of the communities they are in. Whether it's through on-property programming that blends locals and hotel guests together, using local vendors to supply goods at the property, or staffing the hotel with neighborhood experts, boutique hoteliers do a darn fabulous job at executing these creative endeavors.”

Whether you have a boutique hotel or not, it’s worth reading her article to see examples of this in action.

Hospitality as a catalyst for revitalizing neighborhoods

Some call it the “Ace Effect” after the hotel brand famous for setting up shop in offbeat neighborhoods and then transforming those areas into new capitals of cool.

But there are so many examples of other hotels doing this, including DAVE Red in Athens.

The hotel occupies the former KKE (Communist Party of Greece) headquarters in Omonia Square in Athens, which had been in a state of run-down neglect after the demolition of its original water feature. The hotel is one of the centerpieces of a redevelopment scheme to make it a UN–certified “sustainable destination.” It features a mural on the mezzanine that honors the building’s history, an “adults’ playground” with pool tables, original Nintendo and Packman consoles, and a balcony with hammocks. (Sign me up for all of this!)

Designing transformative environments: reflections from the former design director at Soho House

After more than four years as Soho House’s design director, Linda Boronkay launched her eponymous studio in September 2020. She shared her thoughts recently with Hospitality Design.

What do you love most about hospitality design? I love creating a fantasy, a sense of escapism, which is easier to achieve in a hospitality environment. Here, we can use stronger design features and bolder concepts as people come to have a great time in search for what they don’t have every day or at home.

How has the hospitality world changed since your career first started? Design is becoming more exuberant, experimental, and bolder. At the same time, people are more well-traveled so they are looking for experiences that are authentic and sympathetic to their environment—to the architectural, cultural, and historical context.