With so much inspiration for office and residential design stemming from hotels and the leisure sector at large, EG takes a look at five of the most exciting hotel trends around the world for the next few years.
Urban placemaking
Rosewood Hotels and Resorts’ first property in South America, set to open in 2021, may well set the benchmark for regeneration projects. The luxury hotel, housed within a “vertical park”, takes its inspiration from Brazil’s Atlantic Forest. Formerly a derelict maternity hospital, the scheme offers 151 rooms and 122 suites. Its features include a caviar bar, an adjoining music studio, screening room and high-end retail stores.
High-tech hospitality
Smart hotels are by no means a new concept, but technology and artificial intelligence continue to be key focuses for hotels seeking to reduce costs and provide innovative experiences. Alibaba’s FlyZoo hotel, which it unveiled in late 2018 in Hangzhou, China, has taken tech-driven hospitality a step further. The 290-room hotel is keycard-free and cashless, with facial recognition doors and AI management systems. Robots serve food, mix cocktails and fetch toiletries and laundry.
Becoming vegan
As eco-awareness reaches new heights, more businesses are moving towards ethical tourism. Scotland’s Saorsa 1875, the UK’s first fully vegan hotel, opened in Perthshire in June 2019 with 11 rooms. The concept is entirely free from animal products, including its furnishings, cleaning supplies, staff uniforms and vegan-certified electricity. With demand for eco-conscious products and services on the rise, similar locations will likely soon follow.
Desks and beds
While hotel lobbies and cafés have provided haunts for freelancers for several years, dedicated workspaces are on the rise to adapt to changing lifestyles. Hotel group Accor last year outlined plans to roll out its co-working brand Wojo across 1,200 locations in 2022; Ennismore’s The Hoxton opened its co-working concept in Southwark in February this year, after launching its first space in Chicago last year.
Game-changers
With more than 2.5bn gamers across the world spending more than $152bn (£117bn) on games in 2019 – up 9.6% year-on-year – more operators have spotted an opportunity to capitalise on the fast-growing, if niche, market. Hotels with e-gaming facilities have already opened in Amsterdam and Taiwan, but larger entertainment companies are now starting to make their move. This was highlighted in January this year by Atari’s plans to open a chain of videogame-themed hotels in the US, beginning with Phoenix in Arizona.
Space oddity
It may sound like it is out of this world, but the first space hotel could be set for lift-off sooner than people might think. Aerospace start-up Orion Span is aiming to launch its luxury concept Aurora Station in 2021, with trips lasting up to 12 days for four guests. Hot on its heels, The Gateway Foundation plans to build a rotating, orbiting hotel (the Von Braun station) for guests by 2025. If either of these manage to navigate the technical and regulatory challenges ahead, it will mark a launch of intergalactic proportions.
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