Choosing Interior Hotel Doors That Balance Brand Standards with Your Creative Vision
With the rise of Airbnb and other personalized experiences in the travel industry, hotels must prioritize design more than ever before. Great design features, such as custom interior doors, set one hotel apart from another. Travel site Trivagosays, “In the pursuit to provide the ultimate unique experience to travelers, hotel design has become a powerful instrument of differentiation.”
As always, a hotel brand must present itself as unified across all its properties, and therefore distinct from its competitors. More recently, however, hotels are feeling the demand for distinctindividualproperties, each reflecting the uniqueness of the neighborhood where it’s located.
Balancing these two demands—adhering to stringent brand standards while also expressing your own creative vision—presents a potentially rewarding challenge for an architect. Custom hotel doors, fixtures, color palettes, flooring, and furniture all play their role in the brand experience. In this post we will focus on commercial doors for hospitality projects, which can make a bold statement and act as a unifying element throughout a property.
The Role of Hotel Doors in Branding
Since interior hotel doors influence the look of every part of a property, front-of-house and back-of-house, your choice of custom doors matters a great deal. Although doors are sometimes among the last things considered in a commercial construction project, they are one of the most visible to the property owner and integral to the experience of the hotel guest.
A hotel chain’s brand standards may or may not include strict appearance guidelines for every kind of door in every area. The only immovable requirements are building codes. Once you find solutions to fit each code requirement for every part of the property, you get to enjoy some flexibility on the aesthetics.
Trends in Hotel Branding
As hotels strive to reach a multigenerational audience, which includes the sought-after millennial demographic, they follow certain societal trends.
A key trend is to create a sense of location. In historic neighborhoods, especially, cities want big national brands to match their style. Customhotel doors can go a long way toward capturing a particular era or vibe. For example, louvered doors in a pool area conjure old Florida, while a stately, six-paneled door might speak to a Colonial look.
Open, contiguous spaces are increasingly popular for common areas. Some hotels are even trying desk-less check-in. Open spaces mean fewer doors, so more budget to direct toward quality and construction.
As for the rooms, some guests now select individual rooms based on unique features and decor. Of course, brand standards still dictate that certain amenities or elements remain consistent, but you may have more choices. Guest rooms are shrinking, too, with some even forgoing closets. This means choosing guest room doors and door placement that maximizes usable space.
Evolving technology greatly affects interior hotel doors, too. Many properties now equip their doors with smart locks that guests can control with their phones. This shift opens possibilities for more sleek, modern styles with less visible hardware.
All of these changes present new challenges and new opportunities for designers. Hotel Managementquoted Hilton’s VP of Architecture and Design, saying, “As branded hotels compete with Airbnb in the more in-demand markets, flexibility in brand standards is vital.” Therefore, he added, “the ‘hard brands’ are offering more latitude as they move into valuable markets.”
Colors and Finishes for Interior Hotel Doors
Doors are a good place to play with color. A hotel chain might use the same custom decorative doors across its properties but vary the color or finish. Use factory-finished painted wood doors to introduce a pop of a bright or bold color, custom painted to the hotel’s palette. Try varying door color from guest rooms to common areas, as well as office spaces. Or, for a more playful brand, use one color for a whole floor and then a different color for the next floor.
Conversely, you might opt for a neutral gray or white door or a factory finished stained door to balance otherwise busy design elements. The choice of veneer can take the look from casual to upscale. Think beyond the traditional oak and maple veneers and explore all the options to find the perfect balance of branding and beauty. A sophisticated, classic hotel door like a stile and rail can match virtually any style.
Hotels tend to renovate their properties every six to eight years, so even for an existing property, decorative doors provide an opportunity for a refresh. Simply upgrading doors to the latest styles, colors, and entry technology can make a big impression.
Hospitality clients tend to be pretty savvy about design and construction. They will guide many of the choices but also look to you for your vision and for your recommendations about quality architectural products. From luxury to standard, the Masonite Architectural product offering can help set the tone and convey a hotel’s unique identity. Reach out to one of our knowledgeable representatives to get your project started today.
Masonite Architectural – Want help?
Our expert field of Territory Sales Managers can help guide you through the process. We’ll make sure you get the perfect doors to delight your clients on opening day (and for years to come).
We can apply our expertise of wood type, grain, stain and door design to complement your space. Often, designers give door hardware more consideration than the door itself. Masonite Architectural knows the whole opening matters. We offer a wide selection of veneer options and available material choices.
If you’re ready to get started on your current project, you can call 1-877-332-4484 or email us archinfo@masonite.com