The hotel business is a competitive one. It’s 2022 and travellers are not anymore just looking for a place to sleep and shower, they are looking for a holistic experience. The top hotels today are aware of the fact that they need to offer their guests something that creates a memorable experience and makes them want to come back again. A lot of time and focus is invested in the hotel room interior. We will in this article discuss some of the best ideas out there, which hopefully can give you inspiration when designing your hotel room.

We’ll also touch on a couple of modern technology tools that can enhance the guest experience and at the same time be part of the design. 

The best hotel room interior ideas to attract more guests 

The product that hotels are selling is a hotel room but not essentially selling it off. Rather, guests are paying for the experience of staying, meaning the hotel room interior is in many cases the actual product. Let’s have a look at how to best enhance it.

Optimise the bed

The bed is the central part of the room. Travellers pay for a hotel room mostly because they need a bed to rest at night. Since the bed is the star of the show when it comes to hotel rooms, it also needs a lot of love from designers. 

The first important thing is the size. Our tip here is to not compromise with it. In other words, go for a king-size bed. This has a profound visual effect on the room as a whole and is the first thing that catches the eye of the guests. A big bed gives a very welcoming impression and can also take off focus from other parts of the room.

Individually adaptive beds from Duxiana, Malmö

Needless to mention, the bedding needs to be fresh, crisp, and comfortable. If you have the time and expertise to experiment with colours, it can create a unique atmosphere. But going for plain white linen bedding is a traditional choice that always works. Also, make sure the bed is soft and embracing. Another factor that can increase comfortability is silk pillowcases. The first thing many guests do when they enter a hotel room is to try out the bed, and the first impression is the most important one. 

Make the bed permanently safe from bed bugs

There is nothing more horrible after travelling than returning home with bed bugs – it’s every traveller's worst nightmare. Today, far too many have already fallen victim to them with approx. 40% of European households experience it at least once. Besides mental distress, physical itches and a big disinfection bill the rising health risks involving bed bug bites make it people’s largest silent concern when travelling.

Unlike regular rooms that get infested, Valpas’ smart bed legs capture the first few bed bugs that arrive with guests before infestations. As a result, Le Pigalle Paris is never infested with bed bugs.

Thankfully, hoteliers can come to the rescue and solve this distress from their guests upfront by making themselves permanently safe from bed bugs. Valpas is a new design standard for hotels that frees guests of the bed bugs they may carry, so they don’t travel home and the hotel never gets infested. The standard consists of anti-bed bug bed legs with a Nordic design that connects to a smartphone. Thanks to its dual-purpose – bed bug safety and a bed leg – the standard embeds elegantly into already over 10,000 hotel rooms and is easy to install ahead of an opening, and even easier to maintain after it. Request a sample for your hospitality project here.

The space surrounding the bed

The next thing that impacts the guests is the surrounding area of the bed. Remember, everyone has a bed in their home. But almost no one has a defined surrounding area. So, this is an important part of your hotel room interior.

The first thing you can consider is a wrap-around headboard. It makes the sleeping space feel cosier and more well-defined. Plus, you can apply different designs and textures to this headboard to enhance the overall appearance of the room.

Hôtel du Jeu de Paume, Paris and their comfortable space around the bed

Another way to separate the bed from the room is by putting it on a platform. This instantly creates multiple space options in a single room. You can also put lights underneath the bed to give the appearance of a floating bed. These are all tips that can give your hotel bed that extra edge that can motivate people to come back or share their experiences with their social network. 

Floor situation

Carpeting the floor is a well-known practice among the top hotels. And the reason why they do it is simple: guests love it. This age-old component of the hotel room interior is still one of the best design options.  Bold and soothing colours for the carpet are the general recommendation. And to fully maximise the experience, the colour of the carpet should match the walls and surroundings.

Another popular trend in floor design is sheepskin rugs. This is one of the few luxury items that make the interior feel truly like a hotel room. Plus, guests love the fluffy feeling on their feet.

Hotel Keppler is another Valpas member hotel who designed their room to feel spacious, timeless, and comfortably elegant.

Desks and benches

Strategic placement of desks and benches helps both with design and utility. A very large portion of the top hotel rooms include a desk somewhere in their room. They know many people are travelling for business reasons and those guests will surely appreciate it.

If you don't have enough space for a desk, then consider putting the bed in the middle. Then place the desk behind it. This will prevent clutter but you are still able to include an important part of the hotel room interior.

And if space permits, you can also place a bench at the end of your bed. This will help your guests conveniently place their luggage or put on their clothes. Moreover, it is a nice visual addition.

Stylish and handy bench from U14, Helsinki

For rooms in your hotel that have a good amount of space, create a lounge area. Include a small couch, chairs and a coffee table. In that way, you are making the best use of the space by adding functionality to the room in a cosy way. 

Include artwork

Artworks are one of the main things that can give your hotel room an extra edge. Many people may have bland walls in their homes but when they are in the mood for a vacation, people can really appreciate hotels that have taken the extra step to include unique paintings or art that hangs on the wall.

Moreover, artworks are an effective way to make a statement about the hotel. For instance, you might not have the option to make that much distinction in terms of other components of interior decoration. But you can choose a specific style of art and artists to convey a sublime message about your hotel to the guests.

Instead of normally framed artwork hanging from a wall, you might also go for a mural. And the best place to create a mural is the wall behind the bed. If you successfully manage to include a stand-out artwork in your hotel room, it will be one of the highlights your guests will remember from their stay.

The Valpas member hotel in Paris, Le Pigalle, has despite limited square meters created a hip and unique atmosphere. They can also ensure their guests that they are 100% bed bug free.

Colours and lighting

Colour and lighting set the atmosphere of a room. As you want to keep the atmosphere of your hotel room interior peaceful, our tip here is to go for colours accordingly. One of the safest choices is to go for a grey and white combination. This is giving a peaceful vibe to the room and is something the greater percentage of hotel guests are comfortable with.

Other choices include soothing shades of blue, green, or pink. Sunny yellow is also something that hotels lately have experimented more with. It is important to take the location of the room into consideration here. For example, if the hotel room is overlooking an ocean, blue can sure work well. On the other hand, if the scenery is lush mountains and trees, then green can be the perfect complement.

When it comes to lighting, there are generally two things that one should focus on: Firstly, the daytime should permit plenty of natural light into the room. Important to follow a compatible design for that. Secondly, it is important for nighttime to give the option to the guest to choose a shaded and concealed lighting that is moody and relaxing.

Panoramic windows for ultimate natural light access from The Barö, Inkoo

Another hotel room interior strategy aspect to not forget is to include mirrors. First a functionality perspective: your guests do need mirrors to prepare themselves while going out. But they do also affect the lighting and overall vibe of a room. Make sure to take advantage of this mandatory item to make your room feel more spacious.

Details to look out for

Complimentary snacks, slippers, towels, drinks, and coffee sachets are some of the fun details that guests expect in a room. However, be sure to arrange it in a way that does not seem cluttered. A trick here is to keep them at a minimum and organise them artfully.

Needless to say, you must have free Wi-Fi. At this point in human history, the internet is like food, water, and air. No matter how well you design your hotel room interior, people will not think twice about moving to a different establishment if the internet options are not up to the mark.

Hotel F6, Helsinki

Hotel F6 in Finland is a design hotel well known for its elegance and innovativeness. They are also a Valpas member hotel and have noticed it actually has helped them increase booking. Read more.

Conclusion

Invest time and creativity when you design your hotel room interior. You don't want to sway too much away from what is accepted as a general norm. Meanwhile, you do want to make a distinction. Finding balance is both the key and the challenge. If you want to take your guest experience and your guest safety to the next level, start a conversation with us today.