HotelsMag April 2020 | Page 63

WHERE ARE YOU GETTING

YOUR BEST IDEAS FROM RIGHT NOW ?

Christoph HOFFMANN The industry should be watching individuals who understand that a return to authenticity is imperative in hotel concepts and design , not just going back to the old but understanding why those dying crafts are correlated to what ’ s happening today in hospitality . While technology consumes us , it ’ s the analog world that inspires us .

Chris JANNOU It used to be you had certain expectations about a room , but now that ’ s completely on its head with places like the Soho House in New York that are redefining being in a temporary living space . The coolest idea I ’ ve seen recently is the First Class capsule hotel in Tokyo ; it was modeled on a first-class cabin on Emirates Airlines . I thought that was brilliant .

Edward MADY By being customer-obsessed , we can tune directly into what the guest wants and needs versus what we ourselves might think they want and need … From Gallup and Metis / artificial intelligence to review sites , social media , guest interviews and more , we have increasing access to a wealth of customer-driven ideas — many of which we can act upon in the moment .

Mitch PATEL How do guests feel when they walk in the door of our hotels ? What is their journey through our hotel like ? Have we made a positive impact on them ? When we satisfactorily and honestly answer those questions and follow through , we end up heading in a direction that resonates with our guests .

Muriel MUIRDEN A trend that ’ s going to be huge this year is food-driven hospitality , where the restaurant or food overrides the other aspects of the hospitality experience … The ultimate experiential hotel , the Star Wars Hotel , is going to be taking reservations shortly . I ’ m curious how you create a hospitality experience where you ’ re completely immersed in a sci-fi adventure from check-in on .

Leland PILLSBURY We ’ re keeping an eye on the alternative lodging space , which continues to evolve . Sonder is elevating the Airbnb concept to a more professional approach , taking apartments in major urban areas , standardizing the FF & E , the service , and branding them , creating almost a deconstructed hotel in multiple locations .

Ramsey MANKARIOUS When a well-designed , successful restaurant has great food , a beautiful design , lots of action and lots of buzz , I find that phenomenal .

Neil JACOBS I ’ m inspired by great design , but more importantly by a great narrative . I love a little company called J . K . Hotels ; it has three hotels in Italy and just opened one in Paris . They have a sensitive , beautiful design , they ’ re very small , they serve delicious food , have a wellness component and are super stylish … My problem with traditional luxury is that it ’ s all become the same thing , it ’ s become homogenous and it ’ s harder to differentiate among the brands .