PHOENIX—“Talking Great Design” was another think tank session at the Lodging Conference held at the Arizona Biltmore last week. The session moderator was Stacy Shoemaker Rauen, editor in chief, Hospitality Design magazine. Panelists were Siobhan Barry, partner and executive creative director of dash design, Gary D. Dollens, global head design/product and brand development for Hyatt Hotels Corp., Roger Hill, chairman/CEO of The Gettys Group, Kemper Hyers, senior vice president, head of design for Starwood Capital Group and Michael Suomi, principal, vice president of design, Stonehill & Taylor.

Discussion points were customer analytics, new projects, emerging trends, and successes and challenges. The session kicked off with a pretty good summation of the importance of data.

“Data is not everything but close to it,” said Dollens. “We almost have too much of it but it important to share data in the right way, and it is useful in looking at how we want to operate a hotel and design to it.”

A love-hate relationship about data clearly was established early on in the discussion, with some taking Dollens' way of thinking and others begrudgingly conceding that it is a necessary evil, of sorts.

“Data is a tsunami,” said Hyers. “We are more in the 20^th Century because we are smaller but I still want to be open minded. We now put out data from a sustainability standpoint, in essence, flip the data around to share our recycling stats, etc.”

In the broader sense, some pointed out that technology should enhance a hotel stay, not be the focus of it, saying good design isn't about technology. Barry pointed out that technology can't be too much of a focus but as a necessary layer, instead focusing on the “holistic experience” and how people use a space.

“There should be a focus on the entire experience from booking to opening the guest room door,” Hyers said. “It should be cohesive, not chunks of experience.”

Technology can also assist with back-end operations. In addition, the group acknowledged that the ever-important wireless connection for guest access is the biggest issue of all, and the largest flatscreen won't matter if the channel lineup is not high definition.

Turning to pure design, the group pointed out that good design has a soul and is timeless. Hill said it is like a good novel that “you want to read each page to the end and read again and again.” Suomi said it is important to create a unique character and a sense of place.”

“It is harder to transform a project, which is like digging in an old sandbox, than creating something of the moment,” said Hyers.

The discussion then turned to the big topic of the conference and perhaps the decade: the Marriott/Starwood merger, “the moment of the industry,” said Hyers.

“Marriott/Starwood will be challenging for the hotel owner because there are about 30 swim lanes to define,” Hill said.

Hyers agreed, said the swim lanes are very close together and Marriott is focused on getting the basics right.

“Too many Marwood products is a high-class problem to have,” Dollens said.

Some final thoughts were that communal spaces allow design to do more with less, art is almost becoming bigger than interior design and hard surface floors are preferred by the majority of guests.

Instant Insights /

Even Designers are Talking Marriott-Starwood

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