If you’re planning a new hotel design or hospitality space remodel, it’s important to remember that the materials that make up your design send a clear message to its subsequent visitors. First impressions are everything, especially in the hospitality industry.
Experienced designers know that creating a successful, welcoming hospitality space means using high-performing materials that maintain their style.
Staying on top of today’s top flooring color trends will help architects achieve the style they’re after — and choosing the right flooring materials will help that style last.
What Customers Want to See
This year brought unexpected restrictions and travel complications for the hospitality industry, and it’s given a lot of businesses time to reevaluate their strategy. McKinsey Research studied the effects of COVID-19 on the travel and hospitality sectors, noting the evolution of customer needs: “[Hotels] must manage customer expectations, recognize that these will continue to evolve, and prepare to act agilely to address health and safety concerns.”
That might take a revamp of your business strategy. Architects and designers “must revise their commercial strategy for the restart, with an eye toward the next normal,” continues McKinsey’s research.
Part of the hospitality experience is your building’s visual design. While there are a few popular looks in hospitality, the main goal is occupant comfort. Architects can deliver the best look for their clients when they consider what’s going to make indoor guests feel most at ease.
“In a tech-dominant world, we have seen a strong swing back to unadulterated, natural materials and organic forms, used in new and nontraditional ways,” says William Harris, principal of AvroKO design firm, for Architectural Digest.
Flooring Trends: Looks They’ll Always Love
The data from McKinsey Research tells a story: today’s traveler wants convenience and ease from their hospitality experience.
Designers can create an environment that evokes simplicity by using clean lines and understated elegance. Today’s flooring color trends follow this idea of comforting, simple style.
Neutrals Never Get Old
Neutral finishes and natural materials invite guests to relax, and using wood in your design adds a touch of rustic comfort. Scandinavian-inspired designs that use natural details and a soft color palette can bring the right ambiance to guest rooms and hotel lobbies.
Making Color More Dynamic
The raw beauty of wood gives hospitality spaces a warm, welcoming feel. By choosing a natural brown flooring, and combining it with a wire-brushed finish, designers can give the space a grounded, yet elegant, foundation for style.
The dynamic texture and color of the TXTURE Collection (seen below) from Nydree can help accomplish this elevated style in your lobby, hotel rooms or communal areas. And because it’s stronger and more durable than traditional hardwood, building managers can rest easy knowing that style will last.
Going Dark and Luxurious
As for color choice, “Nostalgic browns continue to grow in popularity, skewing away from the yellow, orange, and red undertones of yesterday and toward more modern rich ebony and dark chocolate hues,” according to Sherwin-Williams Global Color and Design Center (GCDC). “These grounding finishes add a touch of understated luxury to the home.”
If your client isn’t sure about a gloss, matte or weathered look for their space, help them understand their options for color and finish. “As personalization becomes more important to today’s consumers, these one-of-a-kind finishes allow homeowners to add a unique sense of flair to their space,” according to GCDC.
Classic Hues as a Canvas
Maybe your client wants to stick with traditional hardwood colors with more yellow or honey tones. You can help them keep their design fresh by playing with plank sizes: wide or narrow planks will deliver a different feel to the space, depending on the style you choose.
Designers can also use flooring colors strategically throughout a space, by contrasting those colors with other details in the room. This Courtyard Marriott offers guests a bright and welcoming communal area for visiting and eating, and uses contrasting flooring to make the design more fluid.
Toward the Future: Flooring Trends in Hospitality
According to McKinsey, the recent decline in the hospitality sector isn’t a death knell. “In the long term, travel will return because of an important shift in consumption — an accelerated pivot from buying things to buying experiences about the hospitality industry.”
When designers pay attention to the customer experience in these spaces, and the trends that make those spaces inviting, they help to ensure the future of the industry.
Find out even more about flooring from Nydree or request a quote for your project today.
