A hotel room has to work hard. It has to offer good looks, comfort, practicality and a home-from-home for your guests. Whilst at the same time be cost-effective to maintain in order to earn its keep. But when it comes to striking a balance between form and function, there are common design mistakes that any hotel room can fall foul of.

1. Bad lighting

Few of us still sleep with the lights on but bad lighting can seriously cast a shadow on your guest experience. Rooms benefit from multiple light sources that allow guests to change the overall brightness to meet their own preferences. And controlling the lighting needs to be at your guest’s convenience too. Make sure the bedside lamps aren’t too bright and that the controls can be easily reached from the bed. And completely ditch any fluorescent lights – they were ever not a design mistake?

Only one bedside table and light – but what about the guest sleeping on the left?

2. Bold colours that are not restful

It’s great to be able to make a design statement in a room, especially using colours that are on trend. But overuse of bright, powerful colours will not help your guests get a restful night’s sleep. If your chosen theme colour is bright or bold, use it sparingly. Consider using it in throw cushions, lampshade and in wall art. Also, you could choose a patterned curtain fabric that includes the colour in smaller amounts.

Ham Yard Hotel in London uses a very stimulating red but as an accent colour.

3. Oversized furniture or too much furniture

We’ve all been there. Bought that amazing super-king bed that we saw in the store and now you can’t open your wardrobe doors. Even generously sized rooms will feel cramped if they are full of furniture. Floor space is key. For smaller bedrooms, consider a smaller double bed. Alternatively, make each item of furniture earn its keep by having more than one function. For example, a bedside that is also a desk or a dressing table that is also a TV stand. If something can be wall-mounted do so, it frees up the floor giving a greater sense of space.

So many great space-saving ideas such as the long wall shelf keep floor space and surface’s clear. Image from domino.com

4. Lack of technology

You’ve installed free wifi throughout your hotel and you’re patting yourself on the back. If technology was a guest room – you’ve just added the bed. Today’s travellers – especially millennials – expect more than access to wifi which is now considered a necessity. A common hotel room design mistake is insufficient charging sockets as multiple devices may need to be plugged-in simultaneously. With the number of connectable devices growing from two billion in 2006 to a predicted 200 billion by 2020, hotels cannot afford to not invest in greater room technology. Hotel apps that allow personalisation of temperature, lighting and interaction with other hotel’s facilities are fast becoming must-have hotel tech. The Marriott City Centre hotel knows how to do it.

Marriott City Centre hotel in Charlotte, USA is an industry-leader for hotel tech. Rooms include Bluetooth connectivity for TV plus room key apps.

5. Clutter

When a guest comes to stay with you, they need to feel welcomed and accommodated. Part of that comes from having somewhere to put their belongings. Clear surfaces are more inviting and tell the guest that room is theirs to use. It might only be a phone and a toothbrush. But if the room is full of brochures, tea & coffee making facilities, lamps and potted plants, the result is a feeling of being unwanted. And that’s a big design mistake.

No design mistakes at the Radisson Blu in Schipol: subdued colour scheme with a bold accent, multiple light sources and all those clear surfaces… Design & images property of Creneau International

6. Looks over comfort

Achieving the wow-factor with hotel room design is what we want. It creates a memorable stay for your guests and really enhances their customer experience. However, if that fabulous-looking armchair is so low to the ground that it’s uncomfortable to sit on, what is it for? The fifteen throw cushions on the bed look sumptuous and inviting. But how practical is it for your guests to have to shove them off the bed to lie down. Not to mention the laundry bill! The panel curtains are in an exquisite print but don’t completely cover the window. The wow-factor will lose its value if the bedroom simply does not perform to the same expectation as the looks suggest. These are over-design mistakes. A trend rising alongside the millennial market is for simpler room design. Comfort without fuss.

At the end of the day, it’s all about the bed.

Let Floresy contribute to your good hotel room design with our floral design service.